Mental Health Monday: Processing Trauma

Trauma comes in many forms and can cause long-term effects, ranging from mental and emotional responses to physical symptoms. For the purposes of this post, I'm concentrating on mental and emotional trauma, which HelpGuide.org divides into three categories: One-time events, such as an accident, injury, or a violent attack, especially if it was unexpected or happened…

#MHMon: The Struggles of Getting a Diagnosis

The Struggles of Getting a Diagnosis By Emily Deibler When I was in high school, I would have given anything to be diagnosed and treated. The general consensus was that I was an emotional teenage girl, and that I "thought everything was the end of the world." I suppose I can't exactly blame everyone for…

#MHMon: Self Care

Today we're going to talk about self care. Self care is incredibly difficult when one is suffering from mental illness. If there is a person in your life who has mental illness, this is one of the biggest ways that you can help them, other than simply providing an ear when they need it. Self…

#MHMon: How to Help Someone Having a Panic/Anxiety Attack or Meltdown

A couple of days ago on Twitter there was a post circulating about helping people with panic attacks that recommended hugging them. This was quickly shut down by hundreds--if not thousands--of anxiety sufferers who all said the same thing: If I'm having a panic attack, touch me at your own peril. It's not that people with…

#MHMon: Masks Off

"Masking" is the process by which people with mental health issues or disabilities hide their symptoms in order to blend in with society. This can include something like a person with depression forcing a smile, a hearing impaired person pretending to understand parts of a conversation when they can't read someone's lips or the person…

#MHMon: My CSP Care Kit

Content warning: the following discusses Compulsive Skin Picking. While the details are minimal, if you are squeamish you might want to move along. This post also includes mentions of self harm. CSP is an easy acronym for something that has several really long names. Sometimes called dermatillomania, excoriation disorder, or simply Compulsive Skin Picking, CSP…

#MHMon: 2018, Year of the Squirrel

Hang on to your hats, this is going to be a long one. Last month I said that one of my main goals for 2018 is getting my mental health under control. I've struggled with anxiety and depression for most of my life, but it became a survival mechanism for me to hide it. Drawing…

The Worst Kind of Busy

I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that I need to slow down. At least a little. At least temporarily. The last two and a half months have been rough. Between deadlines and social/family obligations, I'm getting burnt out. I knew July and part of August would be bad. I was not expecting…