Blogs
Seeing your self-harming friend suffer in silence can't be easy. However, sometimes trying to help can only make things worse. Approaching your friend with patience, kindness, and understanding is vital.
Surviving mental health stigma during awareness efforts might seem like the last thing anyone would need to do. After all, awareness efforts are designed to foster honest conversation and combat the stigma around mental health and mental illnesses. Despite the good of these efforts, however, there are still ways that people might be negatively impacted by them.
As Halloween approaches, the pandemic has made many people nervous about celebrating it. After all, most trick-or-treaters do not understand the concept of social distancing. That is why it is very important for teenagers and adults to set a good example by following social distancing rules and teach children to do the same. Here are some ways to cope with Halloween anxiety and reduce the spread of COVID-19.
How are you doing with anxiety in this "new normal?" It's been several months now since COVID-19 began greatly impacting our world and increasing anxiety for so many. There have been so many changes in everyone's lives. Regardless of your situation, every person has been impacted by COVID-19 in some way.
In my experience, there is a monumental difference between healthy, relational sex and addictive, compulsive sexual behavior. As a recovering sex addict, I have witnessed firsthand the detrimental impacts of using sex as a means to cope with or numb your emotions. Some might believe that habits such as this are harmless and merely a rite-of-passage for most young adults, but I am here to tell you that unhealthy sexual behaviors do not have to be your normal way of life. You can willfully choose a different path and intentionally decide to utilize sex in a healthy way.
Who doesn't want more happiness? But when you feel like you need a change and don't know which way to turn, life can feel nothing short of confusing and frustrating. I've found that coming back to yourself and focusing on what fuels you can be powerful. When you can settle in and determine what's actually important to you specifically, a world of happiness emerges.
After not hearing schizoaffective voices since February, I heard them twice in late August on a family trip. I thought I could just chalk it up to being away, but then I heard them again last night at home, on September 22. I am heartbroken.
They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Most of the time, this is a positive statement; it helps people make sense of the difficulties they've faced and find something good to take away from some of the worst moments in their lives. But does hurting yourself make you stronger?
Anxiety can make work or school difficult. A strong sense of perfectionism can make starting and completing tasks daunting, sometimes leading to incomplete work and missed deadlines. Fears about presentations can make life miserable. Even worries about sitting in a quiet room where others can see or hear you or stressful situations with coworkers or classmates can cause anxiety symptoms to skyrocket. The effects of work or school anxiety can make every day miserable or even keep you at home in avoidance. One approach to deal with this is to become a SCUBA diver.
Healthy sleep habits are an essential part of bipolar disorder management. They are also some of the most difficult habits to develop. Proper sleep habits are critical for physical and mental health, but the highs and lows that come with bipolar disorder can make it exceptionally difficult to wind down at the end of the day. Unhealthy sleep patterns can lead to a vicious cycle of mood instability that wreaks havoc in every facet of our lives -- work performance not least among them.
Where do we go from here? Most of the family thinks just to let her hit bottom and then if she reaches out to help any we can. Some want to just keep paying her bills and just let her sit in the house with no responsibilities. Never been on medication and impossible to get to her when she refuses to talk to ANYONE.
Help.
On the day we agreed to videochat to make things less awkward IRL she woke up with a migraine so we rescheduled to the day after, I made sure to assure her that it was okay and to take her time. Later that day, in the late evening we had a nice chat but suddenly she stopped replying, even though nothing had happened. The day after I texted her good morning and said I hope she was feeling a little better. she wouldn't open my texts.
A couple days after I sent her a longer text saying that even though I had only known her for a short time I care a lot for her and would like to know how she are doing, telling her I'm there for her, assuring her I'm not going anywhere even though things might not be very easy. She wouldn't open it.
A week later I sent a text saying not to feel bad about not answering and that I will be there when she is able to answer again. It's been two weeks since this and she still hasn't opened my texts. She hasn't been active at all.
I don't know what else I can do. I assumed she might have fallen into a depression. I have tried to just not think about it anymore, and I haven't that much but when I do it sort of kills me inside...