Category: Acceptance
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Reconciling the Past and Staying in the Present
Amy Gambles piece on Reconciling the Past and Staying in the Present resonated with my experience. I often feel like I have fallen down from up high, and am less of a person than I once was. But I was not a star fixed in the sky; instead, I shot high, quickly achieving goals by…
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Dear Younger Me
You fuel your rage by seeing a psychoanalyst one to three times a week, exploring over and over how you had been abused as a child. You deepen your depression by studying psychodynamic theory in graduate school. Doing so defeats you and undermines your mental health. Yes, therapy will enable you to work through issues you have with your…
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To Conform or Not to Conform
Throwback Thursday, originally posted November 6, 2013:
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Ambivalent about My Dogs
I am ambivalent about posting these dog photos. Although I love my dogs, I am still suffering from PTSD from an incident in which I could not control them, and they viciously attacked a greyhound who had just been attacked by another standard poodle the previous week. I took full responsibility for the attack and…
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My Dad and Dementia
My dad has dementia – not Alzheimer’s, the most common type of dementia – but dementia nonetheless. His dementia has slowly progressed over many years and is greatly exacerbated by his heavy drinking. I am genetic heir to alcoholism, fear it, and drink minimally because of it. Because I am feeling pain and anxiety over…
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Holiday Drinking Triggers Me
Originally posted on STIGMAMA.com at Holiday Drinking Triggers Me, by Kitt O’Malley. Holidays I find unsettling. Not only are the days far too short, but visiting family can destabilize me and trigger bipolar symptoms. I acutely feel a genetic predisposition to alcoholism, drinking minimally, but craving intoxication, more so when triggered. The holidays trigger me for…
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Full Circle
This morning I interviewed with Mental Heath Association of Orange County to be a volunteer Hearing Advocate representing clients placed on mental health holds (involuntary psychiatric hospitalization for 72-hours). HEARING ADVOCACY – Advocates fill a legally state mandated role to ensure that involuntarily detained persons in a psychiatric hospital have the opportunity to express their views…
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Help My World is Chaos
We’ve been in the process of renovating our house over the last three years. My husband and I made the HUGE mistake of buying materials for several major projects up front, making decisions on the spot that should have been deferred and made one project at a time. We ended up with a house and garage…
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The Boundaries of Love
Laura Droege’s piece, “The Boundaries of Love,” is so insightful that I must reblog the post to share it with you. My personal boundaries can be at times poor and permeable, so I would do well to heed her wise words: “Loving others strikes a balance of sorts. We neither identify with other’s pain to…