selfawareness

I believe this word is harmful to the mental health community. It was coined by authors who meant well, but were coming from their own experiences in childhood that formed biases towards how they saw people with mental illness. When words like “ toxic” are used to describe someone, they are no longer seen as human, the same as the word, “evil”.

When we use humanizing words such as a “person suffering from mental illness”, a “dysfunctional family”, “poor parenting skills”, “generational trauma”, we are seeing the root of the problem, rather than blaming the victims.

This by no means is dismissing the pain and trauma someone suffered as the result of growing up in a dysfunctional family system, or excuse anyone’s poor behavior. It doesn’t invalidate anyone’s feelings either, everyone is entitled to their feelings. What it does do, is allow the individual and future generations to understand the underlying issues, so they can get the care they need to heal without stigmatizing the very illnesses they have inherited or developed as a result. Now, I know this is very hard to do, to not use these words in our vocabulary. I am guilty myself and catch myself often. When I do, I bring awareness to it and remind myself that these words are not helpful for anyone. It’s especially hard when I am really angry, or have a flashback, to not regress to labeling others and stigmatizing my own community.
Self awareness is often painful, but always enlightening and ultimately healing.

#selfawareness
#destigmatization
#PTSD
#c -PTSD
#Relationships

I have been struggling with my mental health for the last several months. I am pregnant and honestly just chalked it up to that. My depression has gotten better but I am still lacking something fierce in motivation. It was really starting to freak me out that it's been seven months and I haven't gotten back on my feet. I've never been down this long at least not for a long long time I thought I was better than this?? My anxiety was rampant and some days leaving the house seemed incredibly terrifying. And it made me feel even worse when I was judged about it. Told I'm just choosing to be this way and I need to act like an adult. That I'm just lazy and immature and don't realize how serious it is I'm about to be a mother and need to step it up. When really that's all I think about. I feel so guilty being what feels like crippled by these emotions and thoughts. I felt like there has to be something wrong with me something deeper. Am I just crazy? Am I broken? Am I that selfish? What is it?? I am trying my hardest every day to keep the negative thoughts away and do things that will help me and try to focus on and surround myself with positivity. But I'm easily discouraged by these comments about my character. Nevertheless, I stay trying. I have been feeling a lot better now that I will have a few weeks to myself without prying eyes or unnecessary comments. And the other day I finally decided to pick up the book I was loaned a while ago. I never thought I'd take the time to read it after all I wasn't grieving anyone I felt “fine”.

I have never been so wrong in my life.

Reading this woman's story about the loss of her husband and her journey reached far into my heart and dragged out all the emotions and feelings I've apparently been suppressing.
I suffered the loss of my best friend a little over a year ago. It derailed my entire life and left me gasping for air. It affected every aspect. I grieved heavily for a few months before getting distracted by some asshole but we won't get into that as I already have in my other posts. And then there was a couple months of intermission but I was mostly distracted by the break up. And then I met my now partner and we are expecting so there goes yet another distraction.
It never really occurred to me that I am in fact still grieving my best friend's death. After all, I wasn't crying about him I did miss him and thought about him every day but I was mostly stressing about my problems and the roles expected of me. At least that's what made sense.
My partner has never expressed jealousy or displeasure in me being sad or talking about my best friend passing and missing him but something just felt wrong about it to me.
Maybe just bc my ex Was jealous and a jerk about it🤷🏻‍♀️
So I never brought it up or thought about it really. But subconsciously I was missing the heck out of my bff and it devasted me.
He was always there for me when I needed him. He didn't always know what to say but he always had my back and would get me out of the house when I was going through heartbreak. We worked together and he made work bearable. He believed in me and encouraged me to remain strong when I was down and made me feel beautiful in his own way. I could honestly go on and on. And that's why I think I get even more sad now because now he is the reason I am sad and he's not here to help me get back on my feet. 💔

Reading this book and seeing how grief was affecting her began to feel like I was reading about myself. The closure I felt with gaining self-understanding made my eyes well up with tears.
I'm not broken or crazy.
I am grieving.
And that is something I can work on and heal from.
I can get better.
Everything seems achievable now. Hope is making its way back into my heart. I feel relief.
I decided I wanted to find a grief group for support. I found a place only a few minutes away and am waiting to hear back from them that I can start attending the group sessions. It's not much but its a start.
There is a giant hole in my heart from where my best friend used to live. I am ready to begin my healing journey and find myself again.

There is no set time for you to grieve.
It is different for all of us. But we all deserve a safe place to talk about the ones we've loved and lost. And we all deserve healing and happiness. And we all deserve to feel related to and heard. I welcome all and any advice anyone has about how they helped themselves heal after the loss of a loved one. And I hope others who are in the same boat as me find their path to healing as well💕

This may not end up being a very well-liked post, but nonetheless I feel led to share it.

I pride myself on being a nonjudgmental person. I strive to put aside differences in favor of relationship.

This view of myself has recently been challenged as I am beginning to believe we all have a tendency to stigmatize others, even if it is subconscious, due to cultural upbringing. In the past several months, I have befriended two individuals, one of which practices a different faith than I do, and the other who has a lifestyle that contrasts with my traditional conservative values. My experience with them, connecting with them online and before I learned of these differences, has brought to light the fact that had I met them knowing of these differences, I would have been less inclined to see them for who they really are, amazing, thoughtful, and kind people. Before we point fingers at others for their stigmatizing beliefs, maybe we should look within to see if we, ourselves, are unknowingly doing it to others. This in no way excuses the stigmatization of others, just like their behavior in no way excuses ours.

"First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.". - Matthew 7:5

#TheMighty #MightyTogether #Stigma #StopTheStigma #Judgement #selfawareness

When my world came crashing down, I was forced to find my way in the world. Every bad decision I made altered the course of my life. I was stuck in a rut as my father described it. Unfortunately for me; it was much worse than that.

The rut was one thing and the need to pull myself out of it was ever present. Sadly the rut was only the beginning of a life-time of negative emotions and regret. I wish I could have experienced the trauma and continued with a positive attitude and I did attempt to forget about the people who hurt me. No matter how hard I tried to forget and move on I was stuck reliving the trauma over and over again.

Angry, sadness and revenge continuously played on my mind. As time has passed I just wanted some closure from the incident as it is forever haunting me. Even an apology would make me feel a little better instead I am stuck in self-loathing and misery while the people who hurt me continue on as though nothing happened.

While everyone my age was having a good time and enjoying their youth, I would spend each weekend isolating in my room. Weekends trying to forget what happened to me with the help of marijuana. I was my own worst enemy, imprisoned and desperate for a solution. Just like everything else in my life - I was looking for an easy fix. An easy fix which I am still looking for to this day

I have come to realise that trauma will be ever present in my life. It has become a part of me whether I like it or not. The victim mindset has plagued me for years and I need to make a change. I need to let go of the negativity and anger once and for all.

#Recovery #PTSD #Depression #selfmedicate #Sadness #Pain #hurt #suffering #Addiction #Hatred #Jealousy #anger #despair #gloom #Doom #Love #Support #TheMighty #MightyTogether #Friendship #Family #people #places #things #control #Emotion #sad #feelingbetter #Slowly #Survivor #illness #struggle #adversity #Sabotage #selfawareness #Reflection

The last major social media site i used was IG. I am a creative person and i used it for that purpose. I was kind to others, tried to be real in my posts and also supportive of others who were creative people or those who enjoyed my creativity.

Over time i met artists in a few areas that i have appreciated for years. Many of them were very kind privately but publicly adhered to this role of having to maintain a public facing ego. At the end of the day what mattered was numbers of likes, follower counts and feeling better than others it seemed although privately they were genuinely great people.

None of this probably is a surprise to anyone here reading this but after awhile i found it difficult to watch other people, creative or not, well known or not, feel as though their self worth depended on like and follower counts. It became incredibly depressing to see people liking their own posts to increase counts to inflate their status in some artificial way. It became so obvious none of it was healthy no matter how many genuine connections could be made there, the platform itself was the issue.

I had stopped using other major social media long before IG was the only one left. Extremism and negativity that prevails on all sides of every issue became overwhelming and i saw it for how nonsensical and toxic it is.

Now i spend my time offline mostly or when i'm online viewing content and not participating on platforms that deliver it otherwise (YouTube, private Twitter to see news on things i follow / enjoy / am interested in).

For years as i struggled with my own mental health i felt as though i was unhealthy, but the more i pay attention, the more i see in the world around me...

I see how far i've come and how well i'm doing considering the health issues i have. I'm not attacking people online, arguing with strangers, yelling into the void picking fights, and i'm no longer spending my time being depressed by seeing good people get turned into egomaniacs seeking likes and followers on IG.

I may not be perfect, i may still struggle at times, but as far as i can see in 2022 given life on Earth in general, i'm doing pretty well considering and that's what counts.

#SocialMedia #Instagram #Ego #MentalHealth #Awareness #selfawareness #OnlineHealth #online #Society #BipolarDisorder #Anxiety #PTSD #Perspective

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.

Bruce Lee was a Hong Kong American actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and the inventor of Jeet Kune Do, a style of martial arts. He was also an impressive philosopher who had a brilliant outlook on life.

These are my favorite bits of advice from him.

1. Be yourself no matter what.
“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”

2. Don’t be afraid to own your mistakes.
“Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.”

3. Don’t waste your time on nothing.
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.”

4. Always go with the flow.
“Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.”

5. Don’t anger on a whim.
“A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.”

6. Humble yourself.
“Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory.”

7. Whatever you do, give it your all.
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

8. Life is about more than yourself.
“Real living is living for others.”

9. Strengthen your endurance.
“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one”

10. Develop love wherever you go.
“Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.”

11. Keep it positive.
“As you think, so shall you become.”

(From tracking.truthfinder. com)