Tag: healing
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Avoidance Creates Anxiety
It started out relatively small. For reasons related to trauma, I have harbored a deep-seated distaste for country music and a hatred of Valentine’s Day, both of which have taken ownership of significant chunks of my life. How did something so little grow to consume such a big portion of my life? Easy…the answer is…
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Change the Narrative • Save a Life
One of the most difficult (and depressing) things I faced as someone struggling with clinical depression was the stigma surrounding reaching out for help when help was most needed. It boggles my mind how often people question whether a diagnosis of clinical depression is legitimate and whether or not medication is necessary. It blows my…
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We Don’t Talk (Enough) About Mirabel…
I first watched a movie long ago (and many times since) that truly touched my soul, as is often the case for viewers of many incredibly emotionally moving films out there. I am not unique – this particular movie has spoken to countless people around the globe. Several songs in it became instant successes practically…
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From Pain to Purpose
She sits across from me – at a sushi restaurant, a coffee shop, in a living room. We tell each other stories – about our kids, our travels, our days. We laugh…until we don’t. Her face and tone change. She opens up about the abuse or the assault years ago – at the hands of…
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A New Norm
The phrase we have all grown to despise since COVID lockdowns busted onto the scene and mask mandates were commonplace. This is not a blog in support or opposing certain political views about public response to a virus, but I think we can all agree that whatever we believe about that time, it was hard…
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Rage Hurts; Words Heal
In the aftermath of experiencing a traumatic event, survivors go through stages akin to the grieving process. Trauma leads to anguish and grief because it almost always stems from a loss – of autonomy, innocence, or health, to name just a few – and so, grief sets in. The grieving process is chaotic. The stages…
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Dear Younger Me
I look back on photos of a slimmer, slightly less wrinkled version of myself and I don’t wish I was her all over again. But I do wish I could talk to her. I wish I could sit with her and listen as she unpacked her pain. I wish I could help her make heads…
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Demystifying PTSD
I’m going to start by saying something controversial that some people will find hard to accept: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) isn’t a lack of faith or a stand-alone mental health issue – it is the side effect of an injury done the psyche, body, soul, and/or moral code of an individual. Symptoms I list…
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The Power to Say No. The Willingness to Say Yes.
One of the most difficult aspects of depression is the lack of motivation or energy to take action on anything, whether routine or adventuresome. And then, there is the anxiety that slams me with overwhelming fear that it will all be a disaster and I’m better off – safer – not leaving my house. This…
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Chasing Dopamine
It all started innocently enough – the crazy antics, the silly mannerisms, the hair-brained schemes – but what began as an overabundance of youthful energy became a lifestyle and here I am: a woman in her mid-*coughcough*-rties who is a crazy mishmash of organized spontaneity and anxious exuberance for life. Somewhere between paying a taxi…
Wisdom from the Trenches 