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Stigma can affect us all in a myriad of ways.
But stigma can be most harmful if it keeps someone from seeking out proper treatment that could provide them with the emotional well-being that they have sought for so long.
Last week, I wrote about the costs of drug addiction. This week, I’d like to focus on the rewards of addiction recovery. For many active addicts, their drug of choice is kind of like their best friend. The drug addict and the drug have this kind of love-hate relationship often seen in the best and worst of partnerships. So it’s no wonder that when the addict tries to let go of the drug there is often a great deal of difficulty.
I write a lot about depression and bipolar disorder in this blog. I also write other serious mental illnesses. Despite this, I don't believe I devote enough time---enough words---to other mental illnesses.
Counting Down: Five Mental Health Disorders Not Given Enough Attention
Let's hold off the discussion of Level 2 hyperactivity until I make a brief note of clarification. I am not saying that the four levels of ADHD hyperactivity are the be all and end all of adult ADHD. They are merely levels that happen when one enters the hyperactive state. I know some folks experience no hyperactivity as adults and if they do, they might experience more inside the brain hyperactivity, rather than bouncing off the walls. In the future, I plan on doing some posts about inattentiveness and other facets of Adult ADHD. I just so happen to be going through a hyper-cycle myself and writing about it is what struck my fancy.
Let’s say you are a Mom, just diagnosed with breast cancer. After the shock wears off, you get on the phone and quickly connect to a network of knowledge given you by friends and friends of friends. You get names of doctors, surgeons, hospitals; you learn about treatment options. Friends and family visit; out-of-towners send cards and flowers. People you hardly know stop by to deliver meals. You are supported by friends and family; confident in your health care choices.
- Or:
Let’s say you are a mom, and your 19 year old daughter is asked to take a leave of absence from college.
Recently I have been taking a mindfulness meditation course. This is pretty amazing seeing as I’ve always felt my brain was not still enough to meditate – not to mention, I’m pretty sure I don’t believe in all this new age stuff (although, technically, meditation is very, very old age stuff).
But I went anyway because mindfulness meditation has been shown to be beneficial for all sorts of mental illnesses (not surprisingly, particularly anxiety) and I try to be open to anything that may help-plus, bonus, no side effects.
And one of the things I had heard is that when you meditate you need to not think. Your mind is supposed to go blank. You become absent of thought.
But this turns out to be false.
Waste comes on all forms. Plastics, bodily wastes, and characteristics like empathy for others. Yeah, I know, we don't usually consider a good quality in ourselves as a waste - but in some cases, empathy is a waste of energy. When you're in an abusive relationship, your loving empathy for your abuser is a definitely a waste of your energy.
If you already have PTSD, you should be wary of being exposed to media coverage of traumatic news events.
With the way our society is plugged into around-the-clock news, it would have been impossible for you to avoid some kind of coverage about the Boston Marathon bombing. Whether through radio, tv or the internet, the topic, images and details have played out relentlessly over the past ten days.
How has that made you feel? If you're experiencing amplified or renewed PTSD symptoms, there's a reason for that...
A toolbox of creative coping skills can make mental illness recovery easier. It used to be that when I pictured a toolbox, two images come to mind: My toolbox full of art supplies which is used often and the toolbox sitting in storage. It contains hammers and nails and other strange things. But now I think of a toolbox in a new way. A toolbox of creative coping skills is a collection of ideas that we can use to combat, and learn to live with, mental illness.
The reasons that a person might harm themselves are as vast and complex as our individual genetic makeup. However, there seems to be one predominant goal associated with self-harm: release.
“I would resort to cutting myself for two reasons: the first being to release the tension, the build-up of emotions and thoughts that I just could not deal with. I wanted to scream but couldn’t,” said Julia P. who has battled and overcome self-harming behavior.
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.