Blogs
Goodbyes are never easy, but this one comes with lots of gratitude. I've been writing for HealthyPlace for the past year, and the healing and changes I've managed have been mind-blowing. I started my position as a new freelance writer who was in the midst of her posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) struggles. While I thought I'd already healed my childhood trauma and all the wounds it had caused, I didn't realize how much further I could — and would — go on this journey.
While thinking about what to write about this week, I received a text from someone I had not spoken to for a long time, and it inspired me to write about nurturing healthy relationships when you have depression. The relatively quick conversation left me thinking about how the person and I had drifted apart. Yet, in all honesty, I wasn't sad about the drifting apart. What I once thought was a healthy relationship was not. It was very one-sided and unhealthy for me, living with depression. Thus, nurturing healthy relationships becomes not just beneficial but essential when you are coping with depression.
Supporting your loved one during a gambling addiction recovery journey is quite difficult. Seeing a loved one struggle with gambling addiction can be heartbreaking. You may feel a mix of emotions – concern, fear, anger, and even frustration. But amidst these feelings, one desire likely stands out: to help them get better. However, starting a conversation about a sensitive topic like gambling addiction can be daunting. In this article, I'll share some tips to guide you through this difficult but necessary conversation that serves as a starting point when supporting a loved one in addiction recovery.
I have anxiety while driving, despite my previously being a confident driver. I never worried about anything terrible happening while driving, but then I had kids, and my problems with anxiety and driving appeared. Suddenly, the precious cargo I was carrying weighed heavy on my mind. I saw potential accidents and danger everywhere.
As someone who has been on the healing journey for almost 15 years (and counting), I can assure you that there is no need to rush eating disorder recovery. Of course, this does not mean you should overlook urgent health concerns or delay the search for crucial therapeutic interventions. But once you are in a safe and stable place, the work to heal from those false narratives or unresolved traumas beneath your eating disorder behaviors can take years. This process does not come with a linear time frame, so moving too hastily through it could rob you of valuable growth opportunities. For this reason, I firmly believe there is no need to rush eating disorder recovery.
If you are active on social media, you are probably aware of the "bed rotting" trend. Coined by a TikTok user in 2023, this term has become synonymous with self-care for Generation Z. However, I believe that bed rotting is not an act of self-care because it occurs when getting out of bed feels impossible.
Emotional neglect stands out as a significant borderline personality disorder (BPD) cause. Looking back on my childhood, I can clearly see how moments of emotional neglect contributed to my struggles with borderline PD. Below are examples of daily symptoms and their root incidents.
Binge eating at festivals used to be an issue for me. Festivals have always been a highlight of my year. The joy, laughter, and abundance of food make these times special. However, for many years, the celebration was marred by my struggle with binge eating. Learning to manage binge eating at festivals was not easy, but through personal experience and practical strategies, I have found ways to enjoy festivals without overindulging. Here's how I did it.
When I started seeing a psychiatrist, he said I would get back to life before bipolar disorder (well, I was diagnosed with just depression at the time). He focused on it a lot. He wanted to know how I was doing compared to what I was like "before." But there are so many problems with that thinking. I'm not sure you can ever get back to life before bipolar disorder.
Maintaining friendships is no easy task, and it's all the more difficult when you have a mental illness. I should know; I struggle with double depression and generalized anxiety disorder, and many of my friends have mental illnesses like anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). That said, it is possible to sustain friendships even when you live with a mental illness. Here's how my friends and I do it.
You are absolutely correct when you said, "They're still going to act like people." People are people who will act in ways we wish they wouldn't -- even the ones closest to us. That statement can be a large pill to swallow, yet it is one that we need to get down if we want to sustain our mental health. I have a specific page in my journal that lists things I can control and can't. I often look at it to remind myself that I can't control other people's actions, choices, or feelings.