recovery
Your illness does not define you. It's your resolve to recover that does.
Rise Up
Rise Up Showing kindness to people in recovery I am a recovering alcoholic. I have been sober for over 10 years. At the core of the recovery program is serving others. We learn to put others first and lose ourselves in service work. It is easy to forget my own problems when I am helping someone else and often, I end up feeling much better afterwards. I have always had a heart for serving others because my mother used to take me to volunteer at the nursing homes and the Red Cross growing up. I was also a candy striper at the local hospital.
By Staci Harrison5 years ago in Psyche
#BellLetsTalk
#BellLetsTalk Hi. My name is Keanna Barry. I am a 22 year old living with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses such as depression and P.T.S.D. I suffer from drug addiction and suicidal tendencies as well. September 2016 was the first time i was hospitalized. I was scared. I had never known how serious my problems were until my first admission. I was just 17 at that time young and impressionable. They had me taking medication and talking to a psychiatrist which didn’t seem to sit with me well. I was so against the tactics of what they were planning for me. At the time I didn’t understand that they were just trying to prioritize my well being. But at that time it didn’t look or feel like it at all. I was forced to stop doing drugs and even though I had no withdrawals it still upset me to the point where i had lashed out a small armour of anger from me onto the ones who couldn’t understand my dependancy on my substance and see why I had an addiction to even begin with. I felt I had to protect myself from these people. I didn’t know what exactly they had in mind when I was in there, they never told me so it was sort of like a free for all when it came down to being given therapy when yes i know the nurses aren't legal therapists or its not "required" in their job description but I feel I wouldn't have been so lost and confused in there because I just didn’t feel like their techniques that they do complete would work. Yet as I stand here today I’ll admit I was wrong; something I’m not completely used to being. That was the beginning of my recovery. For me I never expected myself to make it to where they had me. I grew up believing I wouldn’t make it to my adulthood but here I am. Today I’m here to tell my story and hopefully influence who ever is in this motion with me to heal and make peace with themselves. For the longest time I blamed myself for my illness. That wasn’t healthy of me to believe or act on. It took many months of self therapy for me to actually admit this. But I’m healing and it feels so great to be able to say that with an honest heart. I’m still on the road to recovery as my life has its many issues that I am working on to make amends. It takes strength and effort but it’s so worth the time it takes because even if it’s a long distance run the end mark still exists for you when you can finally reach that state. I had been feeling a lot more depressed in my last admission which had been a longer term stay of 19 months only by witnessing all of us who are hurt and had been in there for our own personal distraught reasons. And it’s quite sad to me that a lot have been in there for many years and they don’t seem to be as if they’re on their road to recovery. I do pray that they can find the wisdom to do as I have and take that action to make better with their troubles. I’m very keen on seeing myself and others working on whatever it is that makes us live uncomfortably. Because part of that is why I’ve been sick. Not being able to live comfortably but since I’ve began my healing journey I’ve found to stop living in fear and it’s something I’ve suffered with in the past to great extents that I was just so afraid of everything down to introducing myself, meeting new people, public speaking, being in social settings with strangers, and other things that revolve around being with other people. I’m getting lesser and lesser shy and less anti social but it’s a tough one to get past. I found out on my own that my “shyness” was in fact an error of being unable to know how to socialize properly and at certain times at all. Since when I was young I always found it so hard to be in social settings and it was so bad that it followed me into my adolescence. Now that I’m a bit older I’ve found reason for why I lived my life the way I did. But now that I am at this exact point in my life I’ve never felt so relieved. Relieved that I am okay. That things are falling into place and that I am not here alone.
By Keanna Barry 5 years ago in Psyche
Hillinskis Hope
Hillinski’s hope is a foundation started by Kym and Mark Hillinski, after their son Tyler tragically took his own life January 16, 2018. At the time Tyler was the starting quarterback for the Washington State Cougars. He was a happy go lucky guy, but unfortunately nobody knew of the problems going on in his head. I find what the Hillinskis are doing for the athletic community to be super vital. As someone that suffered for the better part 6 years due to concussions with no real answers. We need to change the narrative surrounding concussions and make people aware that they are damaging to your brain. You need to be careful with your brain because once that goes I don’t care how physically fit you are or anything else, you’re in serious trouble. It’s nothing to take lightly and with the Hillinski family being advocates for athlete mental health, hopefully we can curb the amount of former football players, and athletes in general, that take their own lives. Their selflessness is inspiring. To take a serious tragedy and use it to help others is absolutely incredible.
By Cody DeWeever5 years ago in Psyche
Are You Gaslighting Yourself During Recovery?
Most of us are familiar with the term “gaslighting.” It refers to the psychological manipulation that someone may use to cause another person to doubt themselves, to confuse their thinking. Well, imagine if you actually gaslight yourself. While that sounds silly at first, when you think about it self-gaslighting is a pretty common phenomenon.
By Patty Bell5 years ago in Psyche
Conquering Depression
They say time heals all wounds and the pain of the loss will fade but that is not entirely true . I have been told that phrase so many times from age 3 to present , that it has gotten old for me. The two things that have helped me throughout all the loses of my life is music and books . This is a how i overcame the the demons that come when you feel like your cursed by death and why i turn to music and books to make me happy and bring inner peace.
By Allie Taylor5 years ago in Psyche
Brunswick
Although this story that I am going to relate may not have a happy beginning; I can assure you that this story has a happy conclusion. It is with this story I hope to inspire anyone to give to others when they have extraordinarily little to give themselves. Allow me to begin this story by stating, emphatically that I wanted to die. This must be understood, or nothing good can come of this story. I suffer from Bipolar depression and Asperger’s syndrome. I have been struggling with these afflictions for my entire twenty-five years of life. The culmination of years of bullying, experiencing panic attacks on a daily because I misplaced something such as my wallet, or because of my foolishness that I accidentally locked my keys in my car and no way to drive back to work. It is events like these that trigger such manic episodes: I either scream, cry, bang my head against the wall, etc.
By Steven cuomo5 years ago in Psyche
Reflecting to start a new
I have spent all my life trying to live up to the expectations of society and have been my worst critic especially when I fail. I am the creature of habit to fall back to my old ways of depression and feeling sorry for myself when everything seems to be crumbling down. I looked myself in the mirror and hated the person staring back at me letting it interfere with every aspect of my life. I became a robotic form of working at a job I had no passion for and fake smiles, I felt as if I was losing my purpose with every fail, the negative voices reminded me I was nothing special. The only thing that did not die was my creativity for art and design which I believe is what kept my dream alive buried underneath all the defeat. November of 2020 I had hit my breaking point with almost one last breath to leave everything behind all the unfinished projects, unaccomplished dreams would be diminished, but everything also included my family. First time in my life I was actually glad to say I was not successful at wanting to do something that would have been in the favor of my own demons.
By Lisa Aragon5 years ago in Psyche
10 Things that happened in my first 30 days sober
Sobriety is a topic I openly discuss on my platforms. Most of the time, my writing on the subject is deep and emotion based. Being a part of the sober community I often come across those who are "sober curious" and wondering what the shorter term benefits are. A persons choice to get "booze free" is a big one and often times it can be tough to see a light at the end of the tunnel. There is hope, and the benefits come faster than you think. In no particular order, here are ten things that happened (in the first 30 days) when I quit drinking.
By Dena Danzig5 years ago in Psyche
Dobby is a Free Elf!
I adore the Harry Potter series. I first read all the books as a youngster and was excited when the movies came out. Many of the movies fell short, leaving out key content; however, after years of therapy, I finally came to terms that I can tolerate the movies. Any good bookworm will tell you the book beats the movie every single time, so my feelings weren’t misplaced. But I have grown quite fond of Harry Potter movie marathons. Hard to top that! Well, maybe marathons of the LOTR trilogy and Star Wars.. #nerdforlife #noshameinmynerdgame.
By Denae Taylor5 years ago in Psyche
Booze, Positive Vibes & BullSh*t
It's six o'clock in the morning. I was woken up by my four year old around 3:00, as is her new routine. So, here I am. I wasn't sure where to start on this platform as I haven't blogged in about a year. My social media consists of short, thoughtful posts. Yet, long form has eluded me for some time. Considering this is my first post, I'll begin with self observation.
By Dena Danzig5 years ago in Psyche
