I remember exactly where I was when the reports started pouring over the internet of the tragedies September 11, 2001. The world was rocked. A nation experienced the horrors of terrorism en masse trauma. The New York skyline was changed forever. Pentagon took a direct hit. Heroically a plane full of people changed their target…
How do you know you arrived at recovery if another set back occurs? Who sets the standard of recovery? I recently started following Voices of Glass, BoldKevin writes this post. http://voicesofglass.wordpress.com/2014/09/08/30-day-mental-illness-awareness-challenge-day-thirty/ I caught the end of his 30 day mental illness awareness challenge. His posts are awesome. His words hit right at the heart of…
Most people progress towards a goal with an expectation to keep moving forward. PTSD means set backs. Like driving an old jalopy you never know when a tire will blow, a part will fall off, or a water hose will spring a leak. I wonder what’s wrong with me that I can not keep moving…
Prayer – Meditation – Spiritual communication – Be Quiet – Pause – Reflect – Gratitude There are entire books dedicated to Prayer. Web pages by the hundreds devoted to meditation. I am no expert on the subject. I am sharing what works for me. In my opinion, prayer/meditation is a powerful coping skill. I will…
I was cruising through my WordPress suggested blogs and encountered this title: http://voicesofglass.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/mental-illnness-awareness-challenge-day-twenty-seven/ I love his quote: Suffering should never be turned into a competitive or comparative matter. For the minute we allow this to happen we disrespect the individual and have already set limitations on both our compassion and our support. Either for others…
A loaded question. Judy explored her perspective of why over on her blog http://theprojectbyjudy.wordpress.com/2014/09/04/why/ I’ve thought all day about her post. Did you know that to me one of the most important questions we can ever ask is Why? Why did I do that? Why am I reacting this way? Why am I waking at…
Knocked down again and again and again. Discouraged and little and afraid. A child so small so hurt so tired. One of the counseling sessions I had years ago, we discussed my dissociation. My counselor explained that everyone does it to a degree. http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/dissociation-and-dissociative-disorders He went on to say that with children, psychologist don’t understand…
I was teaching a class on emergency preparedness. As each person walked in the door, I handed them a band aid. After everyone was settled, we started. I asked people to list all of the possible emergencies that can happen. They started rattling off things like losing a job, car accident, lost child, earthquake, flooding,…
…with or without a name. From the age of 5 to 45 I had no name for the physical, emotional, and spiritual response that I had to living. My nightmares were dismissed as childish. My memories disappeared completely by the time I was in high school. Physical symptoms were disregarded as ‘you’re a teenager,’ ‘you’re…
We are the generation of stress. Hans Selye gave it a name and description http://www.stress.org/about/hans-selye-birth-of-stress/. He taught us about fight or flight then freeze was added. Taught us about the reptilian brain otherwise known as the amygdala*. Unfortunately, few people read his original work any more. Layers and layers of connotation were added to his…
PTSD - Accepting, Coping, Thriving 