dontgiveup

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Borderline personality disorder: I got better, so I know anyone who suffers from it can get better too 🩷 #BPD #dontgiveup

I am so proud of myself for how amazing I have been doing. I really am learning to appreciate myself and love myself everyday, while currently going through a very difficult time. I was recently diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease and it has been extremely painful and debilitating. I take medications everyday, and I’m still doing my best to learn what I can about it. It seems impossible to do things I once saw simple: like house hold chores or brushing my hair. It has also ofcourse caused depression and anxiety, to the point where my psychiatrist prescribed me Ativan for when my anxiety is bad. I have not self harmed or attempted suicide in over 5 years. I can say that dialectical behavioral therapy did help me, as I feel like giving up but I still try everyday. #dontgiveup #MentalHealth #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #DBT #RheumatoidArthritis #BPD

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I am proud of you for making it here this far. It takes so much to keep on going, and that’s truly an amazing thing. It will get better. As hard as that may be to believe, bad days won’t last forever. Good days will come. Please, be there to see them. Keep on trying. Please 💛🎗

#Autism #Anxiety #SocialAnxiety #Depression #BipolarDisorder #MentalHealth #Grief #SuicideAwareness #Suicide #dontgiveup #YouGotThis #LGBTQIA #KeepTrying #GenderDysphoria #PTSD

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5 Types of Self-Care for Your Mental Health

I found this post on one of The Mighty's stories and felt it would be useful if shared :)

Read it when you have time

Have a good day

Don't give up :)

#selfcare #selfawareness #happylife #dontgiveup

There are five different types of self-care: physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual and professional care.

1. Physical self-care

While physical self-care can be anything from a Netflix binge to a day at the spa, there are many other activities you can do to enhance your overall physical well-being to contribute to better overall mental health. Examples of this include: eating healthier, getting regular exercise, wearing clothes you like, or taking time out of your day to get your hair or makeup done or getting. While many of these activities might be considered more “superficial,” I think they are essential to maintaining lower levels of stress. So go ahead and go to your favorite beauty store and splurge on one of those bath bombs for a night in the tub — you deserve it!

2. Emotional self-care

Digging a bit deeper now; emotional self-care is often simply the act of allowing yourself to feel your emotions for what they are — with little to no judgement. This can be especially hard at first, but the more you do it the better you can become. Some activities in this area include finding things that make you laugh, complimenting yourself when you look in the mirror, allowing yourself to cry when you feel sad, spending time with loved ones and re-reading/re-watching your favorite book or movie until you can recite every line word for word.

3. Psychological self-care

In my opinion, this is one of the most neglected areas of self-care that most people (including my past self) are lacking engagement in. For instance, it’s OK to say “no” to extra responsibilities in your life. This is a very small but effective way you might be able to reduce stress. Some other activities in this area include engaging your intelligence in other topics (like going to an art exhibit or history museum), be curious for a day, practice receiving compliments well from others, make time for self-reflection and last but not least, pay attention to your inner experience (thoughts, feelings, attitudes and so on). You might be surprised at how even doing one of these activities a couple times a week can have a positive effect on your mood.

4. Spiritual self-care

Whether you believe in God, Allah, Buddha, are agnostic or atheist, it’s important to embed spiritual self-care into your daily routine. In this case, spiritual doesn’t refer to religion or believing in a sort of higher being (although, it absolutely can if that is what helps you). Instead, in this sense, spiritual self-care is the act of getting in touch with your inner human spirit and soul. Some examples of this include contributing to causes you care about (donating money or volunteering), meditating, spending time in nature, engaging in inspirational videos or literature and highlighting the nonmaterial aspects of life. I realize that some of these suggestions may be vague, but they can be done simply by thought or writing them down in a journal. Essentially, everyone is different and it’s up to you to engage in whatever form of makes you feel best!

5. Professional self-care

Engaging in professional self-care is essential for those in the workforce, however, these examples can be easily applicable to those still in school. Some of these examples are very basic, yet often missed throughout a busy work or school day. They include: taking time to chat with coworkers/peers, decorating your workspace to your liking, balancing your workload (literally meaning taking breaks as needed), developing an outside hobby or area of interest and creating a quiet and reserved area to get your work done. Ultimately, when you are able to give your professional life balance, lessened stress may allow you to succeed in other areas of life.

All in all, the best things in life come with balance. While certain stress in life can be necessary and even beneficial in some situations (hey, we’ve all put off our work until the last minute and felt the surge of adrenaline to help us turn it in on time), it’s easy for everyday events to become overly stressful and unmanageable. Yet, change isn’t easy. It’s said that it takes about 25 days for something to become a habit. In the process of incorporating some, if not all of the topics listed, I highly recommend doing one thing at a time at your own pace. This way you can see how each aspect of self-care benefits your mental health, and you won’t become overly critical of yourself if you miss the gym one day, forget to take a break, or fail to spend more time with yourself. After all, life is just a journey in which we should do our best to enjoy it and not be too critical of ourselves when we don’t need to.

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The Sun is Shining

It may be gloomy where you are right now, it may even be pouring with rain and blowing a gale, but somewhere up there the sun is shining.

Pilots will normally take detours around storms, but for the really big ones they will have to fly above them. There is a moment of breakthrough when you fly above a storm cloud when the darkness, rain, lightning and buffeting stops, you come out the other side and you realise it is all blue sky and sunshine. It is as if the darkness was a mirage, hiding the beauty of the blue sky and sun that was always there.

Today the sun is shining. You are loved. That love is real, but it's just hard to sense it or be aware of it through the distractions of the storms going on right now.
There are many people who care about you and I personally believe there is a God who loves you and never gives up on you. Most of your friends can't get past the distractions, the storm clouds that surround you, but their love is real.
Close your eyes and know that the sun is shining today. Know that you are loved. You are cared for. The clouds block out the light and leave you believing the sun hardly exists, but it's there. Know that you are loved today.
I pray that you will see a few rays of light breaking through the clouds to remind you.
There is hope. There is always hope!
#sunshine #dontgiveup #Love #Hope

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Good days ARE real!!!!

The last few days have really been exhausting and draining emotionally. Definitely stepped closer to feeling like why fight. Nothing was going right. From not being able to get medication refill to simple as not receiving drinks with Mcds delivery. (Stupid but was the last nudge to break me)
Today I made myself get up early, and did two important errands that I've put off for a month. Both things required me to leave the house, which has been progressively getting harder. Also I haven't drove for 2.5yrs! So I just kept going and told myself I had to do this. I drove to both places, with my 4yr old, and completed my errands. Everything went smooth. Didn't get lost, didn't have to wait super long and my son was great being patient sitting. Now I ended my day with a random 2hr phone call with my 15yr old son. He rarely talks on the phone so this was amazing. So I'm posting this remind myself and anyone that needs to hear, that good days can really happen!They may be few and far in between but if you keep pushing, they will happen. #Depression #Anxiety #Fibromyalgia #dontgiveup #firstborn #Singlemom #Widow #Grief

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I’ve Made it to Age 40.

I turned 40 this week, and it has been a big deal for me. Not because I turned the big 4-0, but because I made it this far in life and a couple of times in my 30s, there was a chance not making it to this age.

I’m sure for many of us who live with bipolar and serious illnesses, reaching certain ages is a big deal because of all the struggles we go through living with our illnesses. Sometimes even low self-esteem and self-hatred makes the journey even tougher. When I turned 26, I wept because as a college student, I vowed to take my life at age 25 if I didn’t get my sh*t together (whatever that truly meant at that age). So, turning 26 was huge for me.

A few years later, I turned 30 and was devastated. My life was pretty much in shambles and I had no life skills to put it together. I felt so depressed I thought life was not worth living at all. A brief online chat with someone with paranoid schizophrenia changed my views, and a few months later I made the necessary changes to save my life, basically. Those changes were the best decisions I ever made, and I’m forever grateful that I made them.

There were still bumps in the road, though. Bipolar 1 disorder can be difficult and the world is filled with cruel, evil people who have no issue with destroying you as much as they can, or want. Those were dark times again for me. But I made it out. Crawling, wounded, emotionally battered, but I came out alive.

And here I am, age 40 and still here. I’m grateful I am still here. I thank God everyday for being there for me and I credit the Lord for guiding me when I didn’t realize I needed it. I also am glad, though, that I didn’t give up and kept on going.

That’s why I got this tattoo right below my wrist. The semi colon means continuing to go on despite wanting to stop. And “hope” means more than just being hopeful; it stands for “hold on, pain ends”.

I also bought a picture off Etsy of a Phoenix rising from the ashes. There’s always hope and you will always rise again. Not dancing and singing, and most likely wounded and devastated, but you will emerge from whatever or whoever tried to destroy you. And someday, you’ll spread your wings and fly again, triumphantly.

Thank you for reading, and cheers 🥂 #BipolarDisorder #SuicideIdeation #BipolarDepression #MajorDepression #IfYouFeelHopeless #CheerMeOn #dontgiveup #Surviving

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