What challenges have you faced in expressing your true gender identity?#GenderIdentity #LGBTQ #TransRights #genderexpression #GenderDysphoria #MentalHealth #Comingout #transvisibility #LGBTQ #Selfacceptance
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I’m usually lucky 🍀 and sleep 😴 quite well but after a cold an hyper focus on my breathing 😮💨from a stuffy nose thankfully I’m over my cold now. But I still have that body protective thing I was doing where I was so focused on my breathing it’s a silly dumb anxiety thing but it’s like you forget to breathe and instead of doing it automatically you are doing it short ish sometimes focusing on the breath is said to calm you down in meditations spiritually but for me it’s the opposite. Any tips for getting to sleep, I’m trying to listen to calming music and affirmations but it’s not working as well as it usually would. I’m like half resting but conscious and if I sleep deeply like REM sleep it’s very little. Please help :( I feel so dumb and annoyed at myself. Sometimes even during the day I have that thing too like checking with myself with my breathing 😮💨 and it’s becoming an annoying new habit I just want to function normally and stop the silliness which I didn’t have this annoying thing until recently. It’s like yes my body is trying to protect me in its own way with anxiety but I don’t need this. #Anxiety #Breathing #dumb #Silly #Anxiety #shame #barriers #struggles #advice #themighty #MentalHealth #Anxiety #Depression #Support #help #Listener #Selfcompassion #feelingdumb #feelingsilly #Selfacceptance #confused #bodysymptoms #sensations #Hyperfocus #Meditation #tired #Insomnia
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I was reading here on the mighty about acceptance and it got me thinking....overthinking in fact, so much so that I wrote a poem about it. It’s not great but I hope it gives comfort to some of you who feel like you can’t be accepted for who you are.
Accept yourself
Acceptance and love people claim comes from above..
Yet when it comes to it is “acceptance” in most instances real?
Is it some fictions phrase or is it something YOU feel?
Is it something you really need from anyone else?
Or is it something we can give to ourself?
Can you come and put this on for size??
With most people they say they “accept” you but that’s only lies..
What then is true acceptance?
Is it love? Unconditionally provided to you?
Or...is it something else worth working to?
Give YOURSELF!
Because you can and will..Find others’ acceptance still..
The true kind..the kind you’d always wished you’d find..
For now just work on yourself..
That is true acceptance
So put the nasty opinions of others back on the shelf..where they belong!
You only need acceptance from yourself because YOU are strong! - a short poem by camron botha
#Poetry #MajorDepressiveDisorder #Selfacceptance #ADHD #overthinking #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #MightyPoets #Selflove #Youarestrong #LoveYouMore #loveyourself #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #ChronicFatigue #PolycysticOvarySyndrome #Abuse #youareworthy
2 reactions Working on a new article for The Mighty about learning to accept intrusive thoughts as a part of my neurodivergent experience. Be prepared for snails. #ADHD #Autism #OCD #IntrusiveThoughts #Selfacceptance
Growing up undiagnosed, I was always the odd one out. Whether it was my weird quirks, my executive functioning challenges, my daydreaming or simply the fact how I perceived and did everything differently - achieving the same result but choosing the route most people wouldn’t consider and no, my routes usually weren’t shortcuts.
My brain needs logic. My brain needs answers. My brain can’t move on if I don’t have logic or answers. Ironically, at the same time – my brain is hyperactive. It can’t stop working. It jumps from one thing to another, not being able to stop. That is the beauty and sometimes a curse of having ADHD and Autism together. At times, it’s like having two forces working against each other.
On many occasions I remember thinking to myself or sharing with my mother that I wasn’t made for this world. Not that the world was cruel to me. I have been blessed in more ways than I can count but I felt the odd one out. Always. In every situation.
Such a beautiful blue sky. Is it looking blue to everyone? Or is my perception of blue different than others? - My communication differences in terms of interpretations were so stark that I began second guessing everything I was seeing.
Then there was eye contact.
Eye contact was and I guess still is the standard for respectful communication. On the surface, I never had trouble making eye contact. Inside my mind though, I had trouble tracking the conversations because I was forcefully focused on maintaining the eye contact and then the stress of making sure that my non-verbal communication was appropriate. Am I smiling enough? Oh no – my lips are quivering? And then my eye would start blinking rapidly.
I thought I was weird. I started acting like an extrovert to hide my quirks and my challenges with executive functioning. In many cultures, executive functioning challenges of a person who has no visible disability are deemed as laziness or are assigned other such labels.
Now that I know about my neurodivergence – I have extended some grace to myself. I no longer call myself lazy or assign labels to myself that the world once assigned to me.
I understand why I struggle to maintain consistency.
I understand why I forget things.
I understand that sometimes I eat for stimulation – just to keep my brain excited.
I understand why I am unable to do routine tasks that come naturally to most people.
I extend myself grace when my house is messy, or when the sink is full of dirty dishes.
I understand and accept that it’s okay to need help and it’s okay to need support and accommodations.
I know now that my brain works differently and instead of forcing it to be more like other people’s brain, I now want it to be the best version of itself.
Not better or worse than others because it’s not a comparison.
Just the best it can be.
I don’t know whether this post makes sense or not – there are many things I haven’t shared and want to but articulating my personal experiences into words for others to understand is probably one of the hardest things I have done.
Until next time.
#Neurodiversity #Autism #ADHD #actuallyautistic #neurodivergence #mylife #KindTheory #Acceptance #Selfacceptance #myinternalchaos
Picture ID: Photo of a multi-colored beautiful brain representing neurological variants and brain diversity.
2 reactions The new requirement for restaurants and cafes to display calories on menus will no doubt challenge people with eating disorders – myself included, as I have personally suffered with anorexia. Here are some things to remember, which might help if you’re struggling with this.
Firstly, calories aren’t the enemy. Calories are simply units of energy, which everyone needs in order for your body to carry out its basic functions. You wouldn’t tell your younger self that you couldn’t have that cookie because it had ‘too many’ calories in it, would you? You wouldn’t make your younger self have that plain salad instead of pizza would you? So why would you now? You are still as deserving as your younger self to have full food freedom and have permission to live your life to the fullest, without a number on a flimsy menu telling you otherwise.
Secondly, for someone with an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa, it may be hard to have foods that you’re scared you may not like, and it be a ‘waste of calories’. But calories aren’t a currency you spend, they’re something everyone needs to live! When you’re older, looking back on your life, don’t you want to say you made the most of it, and enjoyed it to the fullest? Don’t let a number control you. Calories aren’t money and you don’t need to ‘save’ them up, or decide what to get with them. You control food. Don’t let food control you. Because a life of food freedom, will always be better than a life listening to an eating disorder.
Lastly, calories aren’t an exact science. They’re simply an indicator of how much energy a food contains. Your body doesn’t care if it’s had X more calories than usual; it only cares that it’s getting enough fuel.
#BodyPositivity #EatingDisorderRecovery #anorexiarecovery #Selfacceptance #eatingdisorderawareness #tipsandtricks
One thing I can promise you is that once you push through the hardest parts of recovery, you will not regret it. I can't promise that things will be perfect, or that recovery will be easy. But I promise that you will find yourself again and things will be so much better than they are.
So, don’t let this new law knock you back. Get that pudding. Eat what younger you would really want. You wouldn’t tell your friends they couldn’t have something, so why would you tell yourself that? Don’t let a number on a menu get in the way of you enjoying yourself and creating memories. You’ve got this!
No I won’t forgive my abusers. I’ve fought with this for years. They don’t deserve any more empathy or compassion from me. I’ve battled this argument in my head, and with all the misguided souls who think I need to forgive, for all of us. I’ve cut most of my family out of my life for this exact thought process. It is never the victims responsibility to forgive. I’m learning the forgiveness I need is to forgive myself for not knowing any better. For being convinced for decades sacrificing myself for them was the right thing to do. #Selfacceptance #AnorexiaNervosa #MentalHealth
Hi everyone. I'm new here and it's the first time I've ever written about me in a mental health group. I'm suffering from BPD since childhood but only this year I received a correct diagnosis. And since I am probably older than the average of the people present here, I have accumulated years of failures and bad thoughts about myself, many acts of self-sabotage. I fight against the part of me that complicates every small or big daily choice, that makes me do things engaging more and more energy than necessary... losing time and self-esteem. But that part is not separate from me. I have to welcome her and listen to what she has to say. I know I can. I struggle to one day be able to trust myself.
I'm glad there is a place like this... (sorry for my english) #self -sabotage #Selfacceptance #BPD
I am a mother and an auntie. I wrote this for the kiddos in my life who I love so dearly. I hope that anyone who should need an extra reminder, young or awesomely young at heart that this may help.
#Poetry #growth #Support #iseeyou #Selfacceptance #distraction #Selflove #Selfrespect
Be humble
There's something to be learned from every single person you meet. We are not above anyone, any lesson or station in this life.
If you forget, life will happily show you where to sit.
Respect
Respect is a given. Because that's who you are. Trust is earned based on who they are.
Most importantly, respect yourself. If you don't, no one else will.
You deserve better from yourself.
Hard work
The things you love, have, and that are worth keeping come with hard work.
If it's easy, baby, it's probably temporary.
Kindness
If you can and want to be anything in this world, my loves, be kind.
Anyone can be thoughtless and cruel.
It takes a brave badass soul to be kind.
Be kind to yourself too.
Life is hard enough without you kicking your ass.
Be Brave
You will make mistakes, yet don't live in regret. You will be the hero and the villain in your and someone else's story.
That's everyone's common ground.
Be brave and forgive yourself.
Self-loathing is beneath you, my dear.
Be brave and be vulnerable.
You will grow more than you can imagine and love harder than you thought was possible.
Yes, there will be pain. There will be heartache.
Bravery doesn't mitigate pain.
Bravery will see you through to the other side of the coin, which is love, gratitude, and joy.
Be yourself
There's only one of you. Don't waste time pretending.
It feels bad. Let yourself be.
Those who love and care for you will be there to celebrate your truth alongside you.
Love
This might be the hardest thing I ever ask of you, yet I am asking anyway.
Love your beautiful, brilliant selves.
You must love yourself and set the tone of how others are to treat you.
Be courageous in loving yourself so well; everyone who knows you will see your light and follow in your footsteps.
You are setting examples for those around you every time you do.
Please, remember, dear one, people will show you who they are.
When they do, believe them.
This is part of loving yourself and remembering just who the fuck you are. Cause baby, you are star shine and magic.
Water your garden. Live your life so well and authentically that you plant seeds wherever you go. When things get tough, and all you see is weeds, look behind you to spot the flowers you have sowed.
Remember, I believe in you. I see you, and I am so damn proud of you.
Love you a megaton.
For the past 5 months I've been on short-term disability from work for the most intense depressive episode I've ever experienced. When I first started my leave, all I wanted was to get better, to get back to "being normal," which I haven't felt in about a decade. I know now that back then I was using negative coping methods and sheer force of will to act like nothing was wrong. But I still held out hope that I could be "like everyone else."
Over the course of my leave and intensive therapy sessions, I started (very bitterly) thinking that maybe I was just too screwed up, that I would never be that person I wanted to be. Those thoughts made me incredibly angry and sad and disillusioned with life. But the more they stuck in my head, the more I got used to them and started thinking about them differently.
Now I've given up on ever being "normal," whatever that looks like. And there's a certain relief that came with that. I don't have to expect myself to be perfect or even normal. Of course I try to do things that will help my mental health, like exercising, walking my dog, being creative, eating healthy foods, etc. But if I fall short of that, it's okay. This acceptance gives me permission to have bad mental health days without as much guilt or internal struggle.
I know that my depression and anxiety will flare up and if it ever gets as bad as it was in the spring I'll go straight back to my psychiatrist to adjust my meds (feeling that bad is not okay). But in the meantime I can give up on trying to be something I'm not and then feeling guilty when I can't be that person. It's really hard and also freeing to accept that I'm someone with mental health diseases.
#Depression #PTSD #Anxiety #Selfacceptance #RadicalAcceptance
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