Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders

There is More talk about Self-Care than the Most Critical Key to Happiness and Great Relationships of all types——-“SELF-LOVE”.

With this in-depth look at what Self-Love looks like-for your own personal growth, I would like you to take an honest look inwards and determine if you Practice Self-Love.
If you’re not, or if you’re not doing all of the bullet points given below, don’t worry— “Each morning, we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.”

As always, let’s have a great conversation about this topic below 👇 in the comments where you can use this space for your own place in your mental wellness journey. Not your mental illness journey— I am here as a friend to guide you through to the other side as much as possible—yes, that is where I stand, and the magic only happens if you let me—so how about more group members join in for your sake.

The Mighty friends that have opened themselves up to this opportunity are telling me and showing me that they are really starting to get it, and they are taking bigger, new, determined steps in their lives.

"Self-Love" refers to a deeper internal state of accepting and valuing yourself unconditionally, while "self-care" focuses on taking practical actions to maintain your physical and mental wellbeing, like getting enough sleep, eating healthy, and engaging in activities you enjoy; essentially, self-love is the mindset that drives you to practice self-care. Self-Love is the mindset too that heals the pain and keeps you in the light, Determined to keep pushing away any darkness and to stop doubting yourself.

Key points to remember:
* Self-love:
* A feeling of intrinsic worth and acceptance, regardless of circumstances
* Becoming your own best friend - treating yourself with the same respect and understanding you would give a close friend.
* Be the love you never received.
* Includes embracing your flaws
* Foundation for setting healthy boundaries and prioritizing your needs
* learn to say no when needed and clearly explain why
* Don’t seek Anyone’s validation
* Positive self-talk: Use encouraging language to speak to yourself, focusing on your strengths and accomplishments.
* Pay attention to your thoughts and feelings, recognizing negative self-talk and actively replacing it with positive affirmations/relabel upsetting thoughts
* Say something nice to yourself in the mirror — looking into your eyes & smile at yourself & say “I love you”and your name. (Yes, I actually stop myself to do this & it’s Wonderful)
* cultivate self-compassion
* Encourage Yourself
* Talk to someone you trust who *Has The Capacity To Listen*-and, Another Big Key Here is that ***Being vulnerable - completely honest and thorough- about what you’re going through with someone else is a major form of self-love because you’re taking the time to dig deep, regardless of how uncomfortable it is, And, on top of that, you’re showing yourself that you want to work out whatever’s going on with you***
* avoid comparing yourself to others
* practice gratitude
* Seek out opportunities for growth
* Creating a safe zone all your own is an act of self-love because it gives you a designated area where you can focus on your needs and emotions instead of other people’s. The key here is creating a space that feels good and peaceful when life is neither of those things.
#MentalHealth #Mindfulness #Selflove #Selfcare #Selfharm #SuicideAttemptSurvivors #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #Suicide #Trauma #MajorDepressiveDisorder #PersistentDepressiveDisorder #Depression #Anxiety #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #Agoraphobia #BingeEatingDisorder #EatingDisorders #EatingDisorder #ChronicIllness #ChronicFatigue #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #LymeDisease #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #PostTraumaticStressDisorder #PTSDSupportAndRecovery #PTSD #BipolarDisorder #BipolarDepression #AutonomicDysfunction #AuditoryProcessingDisorder #Deafness #ADHDInGirls #ADHD #AspergersSyndrome #AutismSpectrumDisorder #Addiction #CerebralPalsy #IntellectualDisability #Disability #Blindness #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #BorderlinePersonalityDisorderBPD #Fibromyalgia #ChronicPain #Migraine #IfYouFeelHopeless #BrainInjury #MotorDisorders #MultipleSclerosis #RheumatoidArthritis #Arthritis #Grief #Loneliness #AnorexiaNervosa #Relationships #SocialAnxiety #FamilyAndFriends #Caregiving #CrohnsDisease #CysticFibrosis #AlopeciaAreata #Cancers #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #ParkinsonsDisease #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #POTS #Stroke #Diabetes #SelfharmRecovery #RareDisease #DownSyndrome #AddisonsDisease #IrritableBowelSyndromeIBS #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #ObsessiveCompulsiveandRelatedDisorders #ObsessiveCompulsivePersonalityDisorder #DissociativeIdentityDisorder

Calling all Yogi's (teachers, therapists, practitioners, and potential practitioners!) to my new Yoga Therapy for Mental Health group. Let's support each other along each of our unique healing journey's.

Photo credit to Jared Rice. Thank you!

#MentalHealth #Anxiety #Depression #ADHD #PTSD #ObsessiveCompulsiveandRelatedDisorders #SchizophreniaSpectrumPsychoticDisorders #EatingDisorders #Addiction #Recovery

COMIC STRIP
A Day in the Life of a PWD (Person With a Disability)

Frame 1:
A woman in a classroom appears distressed.
WOMAN: Okay. So, I need to make a list for 'this'...oh yeah, and a list for 'that'...and I haven’t finished the 'other' list...Oh man, I don't have time for this!

Frame 2:
The woman is in the bathroom flushing the toilet several times.
WOMAN: One more flush, and it's clean...
OFF SCREEN: Will you hurry UP in there!

Frame 3:
The woman, looking distressed, is with a friend in a messy apartment.
FRIEND: Geez! What is your problem?!
WOMAN: I don't want to be here...(thinking): The clutter...It's too much. I can't focus!

Frame 4:
The woman is in the living room, checking a light switch.
WOMAN (thinking): Off, off, off...the light is off...
OFF SCREEN: For cripes sake, Jenn! Leave it alone, and let's GO!

Frame 5:
The woman is talking to her friend:
WOMAN: Wow! That's gotta be a one in a million chance!...a one in a million chance!...a one in a million chance!...(thinking): OMG! Stop repeating yourself!

Frame 6:
The woman is with another friend. The friend is picking something out of the woman's hair.
FRIEND (grinning): You have a fluff in your hair...I know, I'm so OCD!

I do not like the person that I have become, I don’t even know what I like or don’t like anymore. Who am I as a person? What do I value? It seems as if everything has been stripped away from me. Nothing makes sense anymore, and the things which aren’t supposed to make any sense in life are those that plague me day and night with a horrendous intensity. I experience constant guilt. I cherish those first five minutes in the morning after waking up before I am struck with the initial shock of OCD. It is like I only have brief moments of peace in interspersed between these obsessions throughout the day. First comes the obsession, then my anxiety kicks in, making it feel as though everything is going to crumple apart if I do not perform a certain action. There is no certainty, there is no room for logic. The only power which prevails this maelstrom is the bug bully — OCD.

Please do check out the entire article at:

lumosleviosa.medium.com/tales-from-an-ocd-mind-b3234a34c8c6

#ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #MentalHealth #MentalHealthHero #Anxiety #ObsessiveCompulsiveandRelatedDisorders #Mentalillnessfeelslike

I still remember my very first encounter with OCD. It greeted me with such a vivacious intensity that simply thinking of that day today is enough to get me all creeped up. When the first thought struck me, I was completely taken aback. I did not know that my mind could think this way. I never knew that it was possible for a person to feel such intense bouts of guilt all at once. It was like my mind had been hijacked by some invisible force so strong that only one puff was enough for it to tear down my walls. I was bombarded by innumerable obsessions, fears and accusations. It was only when I had uncloaked the monster that I had realised, it was me who was tormenting myself — I was my own monster.

Do check out the entire article at:

lumosleviosa.medium.com/3-things-i-wish-i-could-tell-my-youn...

#ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #MentalHealth #ObsessiveCompulsiveandRelatedDisorders #Anxiety #MentalIllnessStigma #MentalHealthHero