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A get questions from all sorts of family members and friends of people with mental illnesses and, luckily, many of these people want to help. The trouble is people feel intimidated by a diagnosis of mental illness. They don’t even know where to start to help. This is completely normal. A probable lifetime diagnosis is enough to make anyone feel powerless.
But you are not powerless. If you love someone with a mental illness, there are many things you can do to help.
First, let me state the obvious: When you are diagnosed with a mental illness everything is difficult. That being said, I believe there are certain things, feelings and experiences, that are probably more difficult then, say, making sure you eat lunch. I want to narrow it down to five because those of us living with a mental illness know that we could compile a book the size of a dictionary if we wanted too. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't want to do that, right?
Learn how to reduce social anxiety and increase confidence with three tips from therapist Emily Roberts, author of the Blog Building Self-Esteem
During my PTSD recovery, I had to wrangle with the idea of forgiveness. How to - and in fact, do you - forgive someone for the trauma they impose on your life? Whether what caused your trauma was premeditated or inadvertent how much and for how long and when is it appropriate to forgive -- or not?
Both of my kids get nervous. Yet all too often, they don't use nervous-describing words to state that they are nervous. Instead, they say, "I don't want to." And when asked why, they say, "I just don't want to." No reason.
Or else they say "I can't." And then, deparately try to convince me that they can't.
When they say, "I don't want to" do a chore, I get that there is a reason. I can agree. I don't like doing chores either. But when they say, "I just don't want to" go to a party when I know they always enjoy themselves at parties, this "I don't want to" is a telltale sign that they are nervous.
As a professional in mental health counseling with a strong background in Behavior Modification, I can tell when my patterns change. In the infamous words of SpongeBob SquarePants, I'm a crabby patty. For two weeks a month, premenstrual syndrome and menstruation (aka Aunt Flo) affect me and in turn, Bob.
Sometimes psychiatric symptoms can cause an encounter with the police. Sadly, these encounters don't always bode well for the person with a mental illness. More Than Borderline's Becky Oberg talks about how specialized training can save lives by teaching police officers how to deal with people in a psychiatric crisis.
My name is Patricia. A few months shy of my 32nd birthday, I’m approaching the fifth year anniversary of my eating disorder recovery. While I consider myself recovered from bulimia, this milestone has been occupying my thoughts in recent months. One recurring theme involves asking myself what does it actually mean to be “in recovery” from bulimia and when do you actually become “recovered”?
To say I was in a foul mood was an understatement. I'd been escorted by the police to the Midtown Community Mental Health Center's Crisis Invtervention Unit (CIU). I'd been waiting for a few hours to talk to a therapist, which is annoying even when psychiatric symptoms haven't flared up. But I was in for a surprise.
When you get to be my age you start asking yourself questions like, “What time is it?” and “What am I doing in Tijuana?” and “Where are my teeth?”
If you are about to celebrate a birthday, (if celebrate is the right word), you may be tempted to gaze across the seemingly endless succession of impulsive decisions, high-speed car chases down cul-de-sacs, and manic spending sprees littering the ravages of what you generously describe as “your life” and wonder how you managed to squander the cornucopia of opportunities strewn at your feet as a child.
Or not.
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.