boundaries

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    A great question to ask #boundaries #Anxiety #Depression #PTSD #Relationships #FamilyAndFriends #Hope #MentalHealth

    I saw this question in my Wife’s office this week and I instantly thought how profound and powerful it was.

    “Why am I saying yes to this?”

    How many times and situations would thought have been helpful. I hate saying no to people because I don’t want to disappoint them. Yet, often by saying yes I am disappointing myself.

    I intend to start asking myself this question, often.

    28 reactions 23 comments
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    Boundaries Are Self-Care In Action

    Pause for a moment and think about all the things that are being asked of you. When we give all of our selves to so many other people and things, we are often left with no energy, time and love for ourselves. Protecting your own needs is a critical part of honoring your self worth.

    It's not only "okay" to say no to things that do not serve us, it is our obligation to our own self-care and peace to decide how to use our energy, time and resources. Boundaries are self-care in action.

    #selfcare inaction #boundaries

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    Mentally Healthy Boundaries

    Do you have some people in your life that are a bit “too much” to be around? They maybe a friend who demands a lot of attention. It could be a co-worker who has one drama after another. We used to say “that person has so many issues, they need a magazine rack.” LOL! Maybe your family member is jealous of your new apartment, your new smart phone, your new boyfriend, your new fill-in-the-blank.

    I have someone in my life who is “too much”. During the first 5 or 10 minutes of the phone conversation, I feel as if I have been hit by a Mack truck. This person just talks about one thing after another, so fast and furious that I do not even know if she is taking breaths. I have even told her to breathe just to give my ears a chance to rest.

    Boundaries

    Boundaries are important in relationships. They define where you end and the other person begins. Sometimes people cross those boundaries. When that happens, sometimes it opens us up to triggers that could send our mental illness into a downward spiral.

    I have heard the term “energy vampires” for people who suck the very life out of you which initiates poor mental health triggers. The examples of people above are energy vampires. They are the types of people who make you feel like you need a recovery nap after being with them.

    Setting up appropriate boundaries with these people will keep you from experiencing triggers and keep your mental illness from spiraling out of control. The boundaries I have erected around myself to protect my fragile mental health from being sabotaged from the person I mentioned, keeps me sane.

    What types of boundaries do you have in your life to protect your mental illness or mental health from energy vampires?

    Call to Action

    1. Assertive Communication. Reminding the energy vampire that you are part of the conversation too by reiterating something you said earlier and saying you didn’t want it to be missed.

    2. Asking for Space. It is okay to ask for space if you are doing life together like at the office. You can politely say their huge personality is a bit much to handle at the moment and you need a break.

    3. Say No. It is okay to say no. Let me say that again, it is okay to say no. You are not a door mat for someone to walk over or to take advantage of.

    Your Stories

    #If you have any ways you handle these energy vampires, please email me at lifeconquering@gmail.com or simply put your ideas in the comments.

    References

    www.boundariesbooks.com

    “What Is an ‘Energy Vampire’ and How to Protect Yourself”

    #boundaries #MentalHealth #MentalHealthAwareness

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    Common Goals and Interests

    I feel,
    Within,
    A silent yet raging sea-
    A boiling pot brimming,
    My dancing loon of a heart trips about upon a craggy cliff.

    And it is at these times I feel a lack,
    That alien void,
    The dark wonder that creeps along my spine,

    Is there anyone,
    Anywhere,
    With a soul close to mine.

    #Poetry #Loneliness #alone #boundaries #Friends #Family

    1 reaction 3 comments
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    Boundries

    I’ve always had trouble with boundaries. I’ve spent a lotttt of time analyzing why but the right answer is probably the simplest answer. I have a hard time keeping and maintaining boundaries because growing up I didn’t have any. I didn’t have anything to truly call mine. Not even my thoughts and emotions were my own. My mom is a therapist and since I was young she had the power of pulling everything out of me and reinterpreting them in her own voice. I have a lot of family living all around the world and many months out of the year, my bedroom, that I share with my sister, would be lent out to people whose name I’ve already forgotten. Anything I wished to keep private, I would have to hide because again, my room belonged to whoever needed it most that month. Having two full-time working parents, I was taken care of by other families more than my own. Everyone had access to me and people abused that access. Boundaries wasn’t something I was familiar with until I went to college. And the thing about not understanding boundaries is that you consistantly make your presence unwanted. I’ve dealt a lot with feeling unwanted in my past, but that was not my “fault”. Dealing with being unwanted because you didn’t respect boundaries, yeah, that’s your fault.

    A little while ago, I did for a friend what no one has ever done for me, and that was sticking up to a person who truly wronged her. See, I was wronged in the same way before. So yes, I had something deeper driving me other than seeking justice for my friend. I was personally invested. Thinking about it now, I really thought I would feel better about my situation if her situation was handled “correctly”. Maybe it would show me that you don’t need your own family to stick up for you, that you can create you’re own family who would do it without question. That a person, who’s place it’s absolutely not, to interfere in a family that’s ultimately not theirs, is actually a good thing. The best thing. Because what’s better than someone doing something nice for you, when they truly didn’t have to, when it wasn’t even their place to do so. Anyways, that’s what I was thinking. How wrong I was. The person who had done my friend wrong was her cousin. Yes, prior to this, this person was a good friend of mine as well, but more importantly she was my friends cousin. Again I was reminded how thick blood was compared to water. What I would have killed for someone to do for me, I was obliterated for. And looking back, now that I’m not in the emotional state I was in when I made the decision to interfere, how correct they all are. What the fuck was I doing lol? How many times do I have to learn that at the end of the day, people will always choose themselves. Their blood. Why did I put myself in a position AGAIN where I had to be reminded my place. It doesn’t matter how wrong family do each other, family stick with family. Not all family are mine. It’s so crazy, because this is so something a year ago me would do. I thought I had grown past this. Past trying to do right by others at the expense of myself. Past trying to deal with my own shit by fixing other peoples. It’s insanse how other peoples problems feel so much easier to solve than your own. Because I’ve been known to do that, you see. I’ve always been the one eager to put a smile on someone’s face. Eager to make someone’s day. Eager to take the shoes off my feet to give to someone else. Eager to feel like I am the reason someone else is feeling joy. There you go again. No Boundries. My dad at a young age would tell me I try too hard to make others happy. That I go out of my way to solve people’s issues, inserting myself where I don’t belong. I think I just need to realize that I belong in the bedroom that gets handed off to whoever needs it most, and accept it. I thought I was doing good, finally feeling comfortable being in my own company, trusting and committing only to myself. And I was, I really was. I've come a long way from the scared little girl I used to be. But as it turns out I need a little more work. Because wow, has life been teaching me lessons. It's not enough to create boundaries with people who hurt you; I have to remember to create boundaries with people I love and want to protect as well. #boundaries #Depression #ManagingDepression

    9 reactions 6 comments
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    "Be nice"...

    For years, whenever something happens I always hear that inner voice that sounds like my mom that says:"Be nice." As a child, I did so, as a teen, I was reluctant yet I did, as and adult... I'm literally screaming "I DON'T WANT TO!!!" at that same inner voice. I can be a nice person, I care about people more than I really care to admit, but I realize that being nice to some people all of the time literally feels like I'm still holding the door open for them to take all of my time and energy. I am still learning to set boundaries and it was always hard for me to say "no" to people for this exact reason. I want to learn how to balance this because I really don't want to be trapped in this same narrative for the rest of my life. #MentalHealth #Depression #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #innervoice #boundaries

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    My Toxic Mother

    Adapted from:

    The Mental Health Impact of Cutting a Toxic Parent Out of Your Life

    Monika Sudakov _______________________________________

    My Toxic Mother

    Going no-contact with someone is a really difficult and painful decision. Going no contact with a parent comes with even more grief and challenges.

    Society has a built in stigma against children who cut parents out of their lives.

    A toxic relationship is defined as one that is in any way hurtful or that negatively impacts your life. Often the toxic individual doesn’t realize they are toxic, and they may in fact suffer from mental illness.

    If they still are unwilling or unable to change their own behavior, the only choice one has is to remove that person from their life.

    Codependency and favoritism have made it very difficult to make that cut. I was a momma’s boy and often referred to as “the prince.” We are getting a hot meal the prince is here.” Plus, all my outbursts and hospitalizations caused my brothers to distant themselves instead of ask questions to understand my illness. Still 30 years later, it is still hard to built a solid relationship with them.

    In my case after repeated attempts at establishing boundaries have failed because even after being informed of the ways in which she may trigger me, she still does. She hits me with zingers.

    Zingers: Remarks, comments, and discussion topics that I have told her numerous times to avoid. eg Covid, politics, NEWS, her health drama

    In my own struggle to keep my distance from my toxic mother, I have been met with much angst. Mostly from my brothers. It has been hard enough to try to grieve the lack of a healthy mother-son relationship, but it has been even harder to be met with not just hesitation, but downright anger, unacceptance, and not understanding by my family This is my choice to protect my emotional health and well-being.

    What I want you to know is that nobody has the right to dictate what is right for your mental health. You know how you feel. You know the truth. Nobody else can feel that for you.

    Nobody. I repeat, nobody has the right to tell you why someone shouldn’t be toxic to you. Only you can determine what is right for you, mentally, emotionally and physically.

    #MentalHealth #Men #boundaries #selfcare

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    Reflections on social media

    Social media can be addicting... I want to be active and take part in it, but I don't want to lose myself to the temptations that feel built specifically for my ADHD. Is there a program that restricts social media? (I.e. only let's a person post twice a day or only lets you spend 30 minutes on it a day before it locks you out based on your settings.)

    If not, then there should be. Time management is a huge issue that a lot of people struggle with, especially if you have ADHD or other mental health disorders.

    I know there are apps and programs that allow you to block sites entirely, but I get lazy and tempted, especially when I'm depressed. I know I can unblock it at whim and I won't always feel like going through the hassle of turning it on and off. Maybe one of them has a timer built into it that can you can schedule for every day or week or month (interval options are important). I need to do more research, but maybe one of you good people knows and uses something they like and could save me some time?

    #social #SocialMedia #MightyTogether #Addiction #boundaries

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    Isolation / Avoidant Attachment / Boundaries ?

    The image says: "My past is an armor I cannot take off, no matter how many times you tell me the war is over." -- Jessica Katoff

    My therapist offhandedly said something about avoidant attachment style a few weeks ago and it totally changed how I think of myself and made me realize how I am really experiencing the world.
    I was always the good kid who did the right thing and helped others. I wasn't wildly popular, but just a solid *nice* person. Up until very recently, I would have told you I was a "people pleaser", and really needed the approval and love of others.
    It turns out I have some serious anger raging inside of me that I never knew was there - and it is anger toward all those people I was nice to, all those people I helped, all those people I smiled at and befriended. All the people I listened to. All the people I never said "no" to. All the people who never *saw* me.
    My last boyfriend told me all the time how he had never felt so well understood by anyone in his entire life until he met me. How could I tell him that I didn't feel at all the same about him?
    I don't know how to stop this angry part of me from putting up a barrier to protect myself after decades of no one even bothering to notice that I might have reason to be angry and that I was in fact angry. I don't know how to switch my thinking from "boundaries" to "giant flaming wall" because I'm angry that I spent all my time and energy understanding other people so well and they never did the same for me.
    I don't even know if this post makes sense, but it is such a wild mind shift for me that I am struggling to know how to think or process things these days. Thanks for reading and for being there.

    #Isolation #avoidantattachment #boundaries #Relationships #Therapy #MentalHealth #Depression #Anxiety #spiritualabuse #EmotionalAbuse #narcissisticabusesurvivor #Family #angry

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