Blogs
Can I share a fundamental, irrevocable truth that you just might need to hear? Your personal identity is more than an eating disorder. Even if you cannot imagine a life without this illness right now, I want you to know that recovery is attainable, and you are capable of existing in a world that does not revolve around your eating disorder. How can I voice this with absolute confidence? The answer is simple—in these past few years, I have been on a crusade to unearth and reclaim my own identity outside the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa; so if I can do this, I guarantee you have the same potential, too.
When you live in the present and focus on the now, your self-esteem will grow. Poor self-esteem is often accompanied by worrying about the future or getting stuck in regrets of the past. I want to share how I learned to practice this skill. Living in the present can be challenging at first, but you will find it worth the effort as your self-esteem grows.
I joined HealthyPlace a year ago as a way to better understand my posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis. Writing about the impact PTSD has had on my life has been therapeutic, and I've learned a lot about myself in the process. I've also found great comfort in the online mental health community HealthyPlace has provided. However, it is time for me to move onto new adventures and say goodbye to HealthyPlace.
Having community support when living with dissociative identity disorder (DID) is an important part of dealing with the disorder. Dissociative identity disorder can feel like a burden in more ways than one. In addition to dealing with the multiple conversations happening in your mind, you need to maintain your “outer shell,” or the parts that other people interact with the most. What do you do when the people around you are unaware of your condition?
Trying to stop binge eating at night isn't solely a matter of willpower -- especially when you've suffered or are suffering from an eating disorder. I know firsthand how distressing this behavior can be for those of us who are struggling to take control back from this food-centric disease, but the tips I am about to share can help.
When I first read online that once I started really digging in to my recovery, things would get worse before they got better, I thought I understood. I thought it meant that acknowledging my pain would cause me more pain at first, but then it would heal and I would be "better." I knew that was a naive way of looking at things, but I still believed that would generally be the process. Boy, was I wrong.
In recent years, I have become very interested in learning more about how what I eat affects my mood and mental health. More specifically, I have found it helpful to learn about how diet can affect anxiety.
Self-injury, poor body image, and eating disorders often travel together. After all, a poor body image is something many self-harmers often share in common, and that poor body image can turn into an eating disorder. Developing a healthy relationship with our bodies is a crucial step towards recovery.
Mental health stigma not only changes how we perceive people, but it also changes the perception of learned behavior. When we take a deeper dive into behaviors that are written off with the excuse of the person doing them being "unstable" or with even harsher language, such as "psycho," it becomes clearer how mental health stigma can mask learned poor behaviors.
Some with bipolar disorder appear high-functioning online. I'm one of them, according to some of those who follow me. But high-functioning bipolar online is not the same thing as high-functioning bipolar in life. Read on to learn about what high-functioning bipolar disorder really is and how it looks online and in-person.
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...