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I realize I need to be my own hero, but it's hard. As someone with a highly self-critical brain and a history of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), I often struggle to take control of my own healing. In my experience, it's tempting to turn to others during difficult moments (which is completely okay and necessary sometimes) rather than turning inward and finding my own resilience. Self-sabotage takes merit over self-love and self-care, and before I know it, I'm spiraling into anxiety and grief, looking elsewhere for someone to do the work for me — to be my hero.
I'm coping with grief in sobriety. Years before I got sober, I sat in church basements and listened to folks talk about the pink cloud. They claimed that by removing alcohol and other substances from their lives, they suddenly viewed the world through rose-colored glasses. The pink cloud of sobriety is supposed to feel euphoric and sparkly. But for me, the opposite was true. If anything, sobriety has been a grief journey accompanied by a rollercoaster of intense emotions.
Severe or otherwise, dealing with brain fog as part of COVID-19 while preventing the spread of the virus requires diligence and effort when we don't feel like doing anything other than resting and recovering. How can we stay optimistic and motivated while dealing with brain fog and illness and waiting for wellness to return?
My husband, Tom, and I are celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary in September. He’s been very supportive of me in my struggle with schizoaffective disorder and anxiety every step of the way since we met. Today, I'd like to celebrate my husband.
For me, self-love is part of healing after verbal abuse. Individuals who experience verbal abuse may have low self-esteem, which can trickle into other areas of life. Without healthy confidence, people may neglect to care for themselves or regularly put themselves second to others. Understanding how to reintroduce healing self-care and self-love into your life can be challenging after breaking free from verbal abuse.
It's difficult to know the difference between introversion and social anxiety. When I was younger, I considered myself to be a shy person. However, I also knew I was an introvert and that I struggled with anxiety. Unfortunately, this also contributed to difficulties that I experienced in social situations and missing out on opportunities.
Recovery from addiction includes fear of the unknown, which creates skewed internal messaging. Challenging these feelings for validity is the best way to uncover their reason. After the haze of alcohol disappears, we face many complicated emotions, and our pesky brain will try to regress into old thinking. This skews whether these assumptions are valid -- all it takes is some self-evaluation to sort out which fears in recovery are false.
Creating a morning routine matters. Mornings can be tough when you have a mental illness. Warm covers, an hour of scrolling, and total denial of responsibilities used to be my go-to routine. While indulging in my escapism, I unknowingly set myself up for an unbalanced day. Now I've realized it's much harder to have a bad day when I've had a good morning, so building a healthy morning routine that helps my mental health has been essential in my recovery journey.
Moving forward to a life without verbal abuse can be challenging. It can be hard to break free from the abuser, find healthier relationships, and receive the love and respect you deserve. There is no designated timeframe to minimize the effects of verbal abuse in your life. Some people, like myself, go through years of therapy, while others may have an easier time with their healing journey to a life without verbal abuse.
Do you ever struggle to focus on work-related tasks because of bipolar disorder? A lack of focus and distractibility can occur in people who experience bipolar disorder and its episodes of mania and depression in bipolar disorder. These issues have affected my ability to learn and integrate new information and be efficient in executing important tasks. I have had to adapt new techniques to be successful at work and focus with bipolar disorder.
I also have DID. And I know that it is not safe for people or animals to live with me. This is just the facts and it’s devastating. I know that to be ethical and non-harming I have to live alone. To see me, I look kind and sweet. And parts of me are. But not all the parts. I’ve been officially diagnosed and in therapy over two years, and even if we all heal, I don’t think it’s worth the risk that I could hurt or kill somebody. Some risks can be taken, but I don’t think I could say, ‘hey- let’s move in together. By the way I had violent tendencies but I think I have it taken care of. You ok with that?’