Mental Illness Cutlery

The mental illness cutlery drawer: spoon theory, fork theory, knives, and more

Big-T Trauma, Little-t trauma, and Mental Health Cutlery

I’ve heard quite a few people talk about not having been traumatized enough for their trauma to really count. I love me a good metaphor, and I think spoon theory and fork theory can be useful in explaining how little-t trauma (i.e repeated smaller stressors) can cause serious damage just like big-T trauma can. Spoons …

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The mental illness cutlery drawer: spoon theory, fork theory, knives, and more

The Mental Illness Cutlery Drawer: Spoons, Forks & More

You may have heard of spoon theory, a popular metaphor for dealing with chronic illness and energy-depleting activities. You’re probably less likely to have heard of a variant called fork theory, and you probably haven’t heard of knife theory. In this post, we’re going to do a deep dive into the mental illness cutlery drawer, …

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Mental illness life: comparing spoon theory and fork theory

Fork Theory: How the Anti-Spoons Affect Mental Illness

In my 15 years working as a mental health nurse, I had never come across the concept of spoon theory; I only learned about it once I started blogging. More recently, I came across fork theory, which we’ll look at in this post. I’ve gotta say, I’m loving the cutlery metaphors to represent mental illness …

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Applying Spoon Theory to Living with Mental Illness

One of the many things I’ve learned about through blogging is Christine Miserandino‘s spoon theory. In a 2003 essay, she described using the metaphor to explain to a friend what it felt like to have a chronic invisible illness (in her case, lupus). She and her friend were in a restaurant, and spoons were easily …

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