A safe place to talk openly about mental health & illness
: The I got thinking about this recently because my best friend is a normalizer, and it really doesn't feel very good sometimes. But there are other times when normalizing aspects of mental illness can be helpful. So what's the difference? The invalidating way A little while back, I told my best friend that I… Continue reading Normalizing Mental Illness Symptoms: The Good & Bad Ways
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's term is social isolation. Social isolation involves an objective removal from social contact and relationships, which may occur voluntarily or involuntarily. The term perceived social isolation is used to include a subjective sense of loneliness. While loneliness and social… Continue reading What Is… Social Isolation & Social Support
Fellow blogger Skinny Hobbit recently did a post on ring theory, which I hadn't heard of before. She had gotten her information from an article on by Susan Silk and Barry Goldman in the LA Times on ring theory and the notion of comfort in, dump out.. The development of ring theory Ring theory was… Continue reading Ring Theory: Comfort In, Dump Out
Skinny Hobbit from Growing Into Myself recently did a post that contained this Youtube video. The video is about supporting someone who is grieving, but it's a powerful message about validation in general, which is what inspired this post. Many of us have chosen to blog because there are difficult experiences that we're dealing with.… Continue reading The Power of Validation to Support Others
Can you be alone without being lonely? Or lonely without being alone? I would say yes on both counts. Google gives this as the primary definition of lonely: "sad because one has no friends or company." A secondary definition is "without companions; solitary." For both definitions "alone" is listed as a synonym. Google's definition of… Continue reading Alone, But Rarely Lonely
I think we've probably all felt the urge at one point or another to give advice. We see the situation someone is in, and can't help but think if they only did X then things would be so much better for them. Chances are most of us have also been on the receiving end of… Continue reading Is It Appropriate to Give Unsolicited Advice?
The ways we can connect with others have changed a great deal since I was a kid in the 80s. Technology is light years ahead of where it used to be, which makes connecting easier in some ways, but mental illness likes to get in the way and put up roadblocks. How we communicate Back… Continue reading How Do We Connect with Others?
I never would have thought that I would feel like a stranger in my own family. Depression changed everything, though. I spent Christmas with my family this year. It was a small gathering - just my parents, my brother, his fiancee, and me. Except it didn't feel small; it seemed like there were far too… Continue reading Feeling Like a Stranger in My Own Family