While it would be great if recovery from mental illness meant that the illness would disappear and never return, for many of us living with mental illness the reality is that it's just not going to go away. That means adapting the concept of recovery to fit with our own individual realities (or chucking aside … Continue reading Finding Recovery in Spite of Mental Illness
It doesn't happen very often, but every once in a while I'll have a bit of time where my mood is fairly neutral. When I consciously notice that, it sets off a whole crazy train of thoughts. One thought is that I'm not sure I can believe that it's actually real. I'm suspicious that it's … Continue reading Does that mean I’m faking it?
My Wellness Toolbox by Alison Swift is a collection of the strategies that she gradually accumulated through her recovery journey after hitting her own rock bottom. Rather than preaching what does work, she shares what has worked for her so others struggling with their mental health can get some ideas to try out for themselves. … Continue reading Book review: My Wellness Toolbox
Self-care is about taking time to do things to take care of ourselves. Sometimes self-care is a more active practice, but it's also good to fit in some pure relaxation, and just be. Here are some of the things I like to do to relax: Massage: my massage therapist uses a weighted blanket sometimes, which … Continue reading Finding little bits of peace
In case you missed it... check out my review of Thriving Not Surviving by Dee Kelly. via Book review: Thriving Not Surviving And this is totally a coincidence, but I just noticed a post of Dee's saying she's offering this book for a free download today: https://gratefulsinglemoms.com/2018/10/16/download-my-book-for-free-today-only-2/
The world is pretty darn expensive these days, especially when income is limited related to our mental illnesses. But there are some pretty cool things that can be done for free, and here's a few that I've come up with: You may wonder why I've chosen a shaggy yak picture to go along with this … Continue reading The best things in life are free
Recovery means different things for different people. Here's what my recovery from depression would look like: confidence the ability to feel joy/pleasure resilience hope a sense of purpose and meaning feeling strong having a sense of control over my life being able to smile and laugh, and mean it looking forward to things being able … Continue reading What would recovery look like?
In Thriving Not Surviving: Bravely Pursue a Life That Will Blow Your Mind, Dianna (Dee) Kelly shows readers how to break free of what is holding us back and change the way we think in order to live the life we truly want to live. Anyone who's familiar with cognitive behavioural therapy will likely notice … Continue reading Book review: Thriving Not Surviving
Having worked as a mental health nurse for many years, it would be easy to assume that I'm usually the one doing the teaching and my clients are usually doing most of the learning. That assumption would be completely wrong. Yes, I've learned a lot in school and through continuing education, plus I've learned a … Continue reading What I’ve learned from my “psych patients”
