coping

Life presents variables; learning how to cope in order to master, minimize, or tolerate what has come to pass.

Give Yourself Permission to Be Different
It feels like it’s been a while. It has been a while. I’ve been trying to reconnect and it hasn’t been going well. It’s not that writing feels like work really, but that I’ve kinda become upset with the branding that has come with it. I have lost touch with it. I don’t want to do it. And it kind of sucks to see people who want to see me write become disappointed by the fact that I have given up something real to live this dream life and I have somehow managed to latch on-to a failure mentality before I’ve even started my career.
By cavia oplicus7 years ago in Psyche
Relapsing with Depression
I have not written anything in a while, having had some sort of writer's block. A few weeks ago my depression decided to slide its way into my life again and turned me upside down. It started slowly with me not sleeping it started to get later. To which now I am not sleeping until at least 9:00 AM and then sleeping all day. The moment I wake up, I seem to be instantly regretting it and wanting to fall back into a world I don't have to face. As if that wasn't already hard enough to stay awake, I could barely pick myself up to go the toilet due to such a lack of energy. This is the point I realised that there was an issue. I started fighting with the boyfriend, everything he did I started to snap I was becoming fed up with every word everyone was saying. I would snap if you told me the sky was blue. I was in deep trouble. You never really know the full extent of your depression. I peaked when I started crying at Hell's Kitchen, all because Gordon Ramsey shouted at someone. It felt so personal.
By Emma C7 years ago in Psyche
My Life with Anxiety Disorder
In 2012, I was attending church on a rainy night. All of a sudden, my hands start to sweat, and my heart starts to race a million miles an hour. I rush to the women's bathroom with the fear that I would have a heart attack or pass out. It was so hard to breathe because my chest was tight. My mom finds me in the bathroom and takes me outside. When I describe my symptoms to her, she tells me I'm having a panic attack. It was a surprise to me. At the time I didn't feel panicky. That's probably a foolish thought. However, my mom tells me that a panic attack can happen for no reason. She suffers from the same condition.
By Sarah Loyd7 years ago in Psyche
How I Made Positive Changes to My Mental Health
When I was young, I spent all my time putting myself down, battling my thoughts and feelings, not giving self-confidence a second thought, and feeling I was not worth anything. This was a result of the emotional and physical abuse I had endured in my childhood and early adulthood. As I got older and became a parent, I developed a very long struggle with my mental health, and I realized that something had to change or I would continue to lose everything.
By Carol Ann Townend8 years ago in Psyche
Late Night Conversations with Myself
I think a substantially large portion of our society would check off a box describing themselves to be "night owls" if asked about their sleeping habits. I'm not sure that there is truly a right or wrong way for an individual to live, but for myself, it has been a very grey area. For the longest time, I struggled with thinking this was how I was meant to be—no sleep at night and zombie through the day. Unfortunately, as I got older and began to see how others thought and operated, I learned that how I spend my nights is not necessarily the average way a "night owl" spends their nights.
By Jes Hicks8 years ago in Psyche
Painting Happiness Rocks and How It Helped Me
Art therapy uses the creative process of making art, whether it be painting, drawing, sculpting, or any other form, to improve your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Expressing oneself in this artistic way has been proven to help reduce stress and anxiety, improve self-awareness, and help manage and further understand the feelings one may be suppressing or unaware of.
By Nadine Belliveau8 years ago in Psyche
Foods That Can Help Reduce Anxiety
My 9th-grade son Jarret has a lot of anxiety. It might not help that Jarret's mother and I insist that he wear a bulletproof vest to school since President Sex Criminal refuses to possible gun control solutions. Then there's the fear of being picked last to play football and soccer in gym, even though we're practicing with the best soccer balls in 2018. And I bet Jarret is also feeling some anxiety since I've started seeing Chica Reyass, even though I assure him that the two of them are not in competition for my attention! So, I'm doing all I can to calm Jarret down, including teaching him about foods that can help reduce anxiety into his diet.
By Devon Thomas8 years ago in Psyche
Combatting a Day with Depression
We all get them, low points—some worse than others. With depression, a particular low point could be paralysing...crippling. The hardest part? Not feeling like there is a way back out of it—feeling like there is no escape from how much you are hurting. But, please hold on—because there is, you just have to keep going. This is how.
By Elle White 8 years ago in Psyche
The Tragedy of Relapse
When you're spiralling so fast, your mind cant keep up. Dizzy, entranced, and then it hits you. At 8AM, when you find yourself pulling apart a razor to free the blade while sitting in the bathtub, it hits you. And you're holding the false remedy to a day you can't seem to see the end to between your thumb and finger, frozen in spot, knowing that this isn't a slip-up in recovery. You've drifted back to a place where you can't cope—a place you need to heal from quickly, because you are running out of options.
By Elle White 8 years ago in Psyche
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival Is Mental!
Calling every single 'artsy' person from around the globe! Yep, it's that time of year again—the Edinburgh Fringe Festival: "defying the norm since 1947."
By Laura .8 years ago in Psyche
Niche Meme Therapy
When you think of a meme, what's the first thing that comes to mind? If you peruse Facebook frequently, you may immediately think of wine jokes and light humour about family dynamics, and the stresses of being a parent.
By Blaire Lizabelle8 years ago in Psyche
A Mental Health Ripple Effect
Recently, I started to have second thoughts about whether or not I should continue to write or talk about mental health online after a negative comment was made regarding the way I discussed a topic that was not only very close to my heart but also extremely important. I was gutted by the fact that something that I had put so much time and effort into could be perceived in such a negative way, especially when all I had wanted to do was educate others and help others understand some of the more complex sides of mental illness. After this happened, I started to become increasingly worried about what people might be thinking about me and my writing whenever I posted something online regarding mental health. Was I being judged negatively or positively? Was I sharing too much? Did I look like an 'attention seeker'? I thought about this for a while until I realised that the good things that come from being open and honest about mental health can outweigh the bad by far.
By Laura .8 years ago in Psyche