Blogs
Anthony D'Aconti
The first time I saw actress Jennifer Lawrence on the silver screen – for her critically-acclaimed role as Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games – I was nothing short of impressed by her incredible talent and acting ability. Considering the unprecedented success of the film, it’s safe to say I wasn’t the only one who found Lawrence captivating on her mission to conquer the epic battle known as the Hunger Games. But there is something else about Jennifer Lawrence that intrigued me – that the actress once suffered from severe social anxiety. Needless to say, I found her battle with social anxiety as fascinating as her battle in the movie.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is the manual that outlines all known mental illnesses, what they are, how they are diagnosed, and in some respects, treatment. In May, the DSM released its fifth version and with it came a change in how post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is viewed. While PTSD used to be categorized with the anxiety disorders, it now has been moved into a separate chapter called “Trauma- and Stress-Related Disorders.”
Happy holidays? Get real! Maybe a happier holiday will do. For many, the holidays are anything but happy. There's the stress to spend too much, dealing with family dysfunction and those feelings of insecurity from comparing your life to family and friends' lives. All of these can wreck the holiday season.
When you focus on the past, the problems and the feelings of frustration it produces takes away from all the self-confidence and self-esteem you have been working on. When we put our energy into negative thinking or those on the naughty list, our self-esteem plummets. Instead, focusing on feeling happier will make this a happier holiday for you and the ones you love.
Ever wonder if tapping on your face could decrease your anxiety? Having Adult ADHD can be stressful and decreasing anxiety is always a good thing to strive for.
On a normal day, I could have walked away.
Very few of my neighbors in this mental illness treatment facility are violent. That said, one of my neighbors, who has a history of aggression, recently started cussing me out with a mix of b-words and f-bombs, then challenged me to a fistfight. I took off my glasses and said I was fine with that as long as she threw the first punch. She told me ""#$%!, you throw the first punch, I ain't crazy!" and a social worker came and broke it up.
I went to my apartment and immediately had an asthma attack (Physical Disorders with Panic-Like Symptoms). I also punched a wall, bruising three knuckles. Not my finest moment, and not normal for me. But afterwards, I thought about what should happen when violence in mental illness treatment facilities becomes a problem.
Bipolar disorder has the simultaneous problem of being both underdiagnosed and overdiagnosed. While there’s little literature on overdiagnosis, what is clear is that the right people aren’t getting the right diagnosis all of the time. And while no one wants a false positive when diagnosing a mental illness, it’s also absolutely imperative that a diagnosis of bipolar disorder not be missed.
And unfortunately, all too often, bipolar disorder is misdiagnosed as Dr. Prakash Masand, CEO and Founder of Global Medical Education, says, "Missing the diagnosis of bipolar illness is all too common in clinical practice with devastating consequences for patients and families."
Being courageous as a parent of a child with mental illness is a huge challenge for me. I've always been an anxious person; even more so that I've become parent to a pre-teen. While I continue to be afraid of how the world can affect my child especially because of his issues, I push myself to allow Bob room to grow.
Do you have a bully inside your own head? Many adults with ADHD do. You know what I mean, those negative thoughts that keep putting you down and killing your self-esteem and self-confidence.
Making sure not to minimize the bullying that goes on between people, I have to wonder, where is the program for the internal bullying that goes on in our own heads?
In the context of peer support, I'm often asked about what eating disorder recovery means to me and how I 'got' here. Basically, I'm asked to sort of summarize the most important thoughts I went through while battling the disease; or now, looking back on it. I'm happy to share with you readers some of my most personal truths discovered along the way; things I know for sure about myself and about what my recovery was like, and also in regards to how I feel about my history with bulimia.
It’s cold. There’s snow. Ice is covering the roads. Heat is on full blast.
For those living in the snowy states, this is what you see everyday. Lately, when I wake up and look out my window, I ask myself, “Why didn’t I wake up an hour earlier to brush off my car?” Usually, because the roads aren’t plowed to perfection, my coffee gets cold by the time I get to work.
These are stressors that some people experience on a daily basis in the winter. Without the correct coping skills, self-harmers may see these obstacles as reasons to hurt themselves.
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...