coping

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

Mud
Mud. Cold, damp, lingering mud. Mike knew that he would never be able to get that image out of his mind so he never really tried. How could he really? No one in their right mind would expect him to forget or “move on” after what happened that morning. The problem was that not only did Mike not try to forget but everyone and everything in his life seemed to conspire to keep reminding him of the defining moment of his life every time he left his house or ate oatmeal.
By Fred Swindells4 years ago in Psyche
Psych Ward? Not Me, I'll Just Gaily Skip Along
No, I’ll never report suicidal ideation. And no, I’ve never taken myself to the hospital to be admitted, although I’ve seriously considered and attempted suicide countless times. I know this is wrong. But I have a bigger fear of psych wards than I do suicide.
By Catherine Kenwell4 years ago in Psyche
Hidden Senses: How Stimming Impacts On Neurodiversity
It is well known that many Neurodivergent people often struggle with their environmental surroundings. For us, stepping into the everyday world is like being thrown into a swimming pool, we are hit with an onslaught of sensory information from all directions which can become distressing and confusing. We lack the ability to filter these experiences so often need to find some way to channel all the extra information our brain is being exposed to so we function and be able to live our lives in a calm and regulated way.
By Kyra Chambers4 years ago in Psyche
The 5 Biggest Lessons I Learned from Trying to Love a Narcissist.
I spent two years caught up in the spiderweb of a covert narcissist whom I was thoroughly convinced was my soul mate. I believed that if I could just 'act right' (like he always told me to,) maybe the emotional rollercoaster would stop and the constant ups and downs would finally even out so we could just be happy.
By Lena_Ann4 years ago in Psyche
The Tragic Side of Me
I wasn't diagnosed as bipolar until 1999 when I was 35, but I'm sure I have been all of my life. One Mother's Day after I was diagnosed, I was with my mother and she had just finished reading her cards from me. I always gave her a sentimental one to make her cry and then followed that with a humorous one to stop the crying quicker. But on this day, her crying didn't stop. As I tried to console her, she started to apologize to me saying, "I didn't know what was wrong. Even as a baby you cried all the time and as you grew up I felt something was wrong, but I should have done something! I treated you so wrong sometimes and all this time you couldn't help it! I am so so sorry!" I hugged her tight and assured her that there was nothing she could have done. No one had ever thought that a baby could be "bipolar" or medicated for it. She did the best she could with the knowledge that she had, just like every other mother has done. "None of it is your fault!" I told her. We had a long discussion about everything that happened in my life that she felt should have told her to have me checked out. And many of them could have been attributed to being bipolar, looking back on them, but at the time, many other things could have been the cause too.
By T. K. Wilson4 years ago in Psyche
Letting go the Daoism way
A few years ago a client of mine introduced me to the work of Alan Watts*. (*Alan Watts (1915–1973) was an English Philosopher, writer and speaker who interpreted and educated his western audience on Zen Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism. His work still lives on today and I recommend watching some of his videos on youtube)
By Annika Lindberg4 years ago in Psyche
My Life with Numerical Dyspraxia
This article started off being about how I use maths in everyday life. Then It quickly progressed into how I cope with being numerically dyspraxic. It’s not something I really talk about but I’ve shared my experience in the hope that someone out there reads it and doesn’t feel alone like I did for many years.
By Carrie4 years ago in Psyche
Five Simple Ways To Manage Anxiety
Before we dive in, let me explain briefly about anxiety. When we face anxiety, we develop excessive worrying and uncertainty about a situation. It is caused by our body’s natural response to stress. Let’s say we are preparing for an important event, we might develop a thought like, “what if things didn’t turn out well as expected?” At times, these thoughts multiply and increase anxiety.
By Dharan Murali4 years ago in Psyche
I Am Somewhere Else
I’ve always had a fairly healthy imagination, I think, but at the height of the pandemic and the stay-at-home orders, I began going somewhere else in my mind. And the habit has not let up with the viral stats. It seems to have settled in, taken root. I don’t even have to close my eyes to leave, barely have to flick a switch in my brain. I feel it pulling when I so badly want to stay present, to listen to every detail about Harry’s pet dragon-tyrannosaurus-unicorn on the way to preschool dropoff in the morning. But I can feel myself slipping. I have created a dangerous and seductive exit. I know that it is selfish, that the people I love deserve my full engagement, especially in the little, in-between moments when slipping away feels so natural, so good. But then I defend it: is it simply survival? I have convinced myself that escaping has saved me from losing my mind, maybe for good, more than once. When the ugliness of the world opens up and we are able to peer into it, the deep rotting chasm, are we expected to take it all in and walk away unshaken, untouched by that sinister side of our collective truth? I think, with eyes wide open, we have to cope in order to survive. The answer may be as simple as that. But I still feel guilty.
By Brooke Hamilton Benjestorf4 years ago in Psyche
Living With Chronic Pain
It all began in 2005, I was an 11-year-old kid in school just playing around as usual. I tapped a friend on the back and she chased me around the playground, then onto the grass at the lower half of the school.
By Future Holidays4 years ago in Psyche
Old Danny
Pretty much anyone that knows me well knows that I was raised by a horrible, violent psychopath. He died at 41 of heart disease, or karma, whichever you want to call it. As old as I get, my subconscious still revisits him from time and has throughout the years. I’ve been taking a new nootropic, 5-htp recently and it’s giving me incredibly vivid dreams. I'm a bio-hacker and every now and then I get a surprise benefit from my personal experimentation. Last night I dreamt that some guy was getting high with me on my couch when he mentioned that Danny (father) had faked his death at 41 and actually lived across town with a new family. Of course, I questioned him as this was extremely stunning news to me but he stuck to his story so I went to investigate.
By J.D. Bradley4 years ago in Psyche
ADHD and How I.. SQUIRREL!
I sit here beginning to write this article when in all honesty I should be doing housework. I look around at the mess. Dirty clothes are strewn about the floor. Piles of random junk. Things are completely out of place. There's no organization whatsoever. Yet, I seem to know where things are. My organized chaos. I feel as though it's an outward projection of my mind. Chaotic but still functional. The joys of ADHD.
By kasey gresham4 years ago in Psyche