.o()o.o()o.o()o.

A-Z distractions:

whispers-of-the-rain:

• A: Alphabetize your CD’s or movies.
• B: Bake or cook something tasty, build a pillow fort, blow bubbles, blog, begin a mood journal, build a sandcastle, buy a plant and take care of it.
  
• C: Clean out your room, complete something you’ve been putting off, color coordinate your wardrobe, compliment someone (including yourself), chew gum, count backwards from 100, color with crayons, crochet, cut up fruits, crunch ice, create your own dance routine, call a friend, carve a pumpkin, color your hair, cook a favorite food, cuddle with a stuffed animal, count ceiling tiles, collect sea glass at the beach.
  
• D: Dance, draw, drink something healthy and refreshing, do jumping jacks, dress up, decorate your mirror with positive affirmations and favorite photos, draw on the sidewalk with chalk, doodle on sheets of paper, donate to the less fortunate, decorate a ceramic mug, drive to a farmer’s market.
  
• E: Exercise, eat your favorite snack, enter the secret door, embark on an afternoon adventure, enroll in a class.
  
• F: Fly paper airplanes, find oranges and apples in your fridge and draw silly faces on them, finish homework before it’s due, free write, fold origami, fly a kite, feed the ducks, birds, geese, and squirrels at a park.
  
• G: Go on a walk, get some fresh air, give yourself a facial, go on a long drive, go shopping, go to the library, garden, get a massage, give someone a hug, go to the movies, go to the grocery store and buy yourself some flowers, get a henna tattoo kit, give yourself a pedicure, go to the park and play on the swings.
  
• H: Have a picnic, hang out with friends or family, hug a soft toy, have a good cry.
  
• I: Invite a friend over.
  
• J: Join a gym or a club, jump rope, journal, jog, jump on a trampoline, join in on social activities.
  
• K: Knit something, like a scarf or a dishcloth.
  
• L: Listen to music, look through old photographs, light scented candles or sweet-smelling incense, learn another language, learn the alphabet backwards, laugh at jokes, list your strengths, lie outside in a hammock and watch the clouds roll by, listen to a guided relaxation (x, x, x, x, x), learn calligraphy.
  
• M: Meditate, make a smoothie, make a CD or playlist of your favorite songs, make a list of things you are thankful for, mail a care package to a far-away friend, make a collage with pictures of your favorite things, make friendship bracelets, make a glitter jar (x, x, x, and x), make a notebook filed with song lyrics and quotes you relate to.
  
• N: Name 3+ of your positive attributes, name all of your stuffed animals.
  
• O: Organize your closet.
  
• P: Play with a pet, paint a picture, piece together a puzzle, plan out your dream house, pop bubble wrap, practice deep breathing (5 counts in through your nose, 5 counts out through your mouth), play a board game or cards, play a video game, participate in sports, paint your nails a new color, print out your favorite bible verse (or quote if you aren’t religious) onto a card and memorize it, play a musical instrument, put on your favorite outfit, practice dance moves, punch a pillow, pull weeds in the garden, pop balloons, put on boots and stomp around, play with silly putty or play-doh, put together a scrapbook.
  
• Q: Quietly take some alone time to breathe, calm down, reflect, and relax.
  
• R: Read a good book, ride a bicycle, rock climb, read inspirational quotes, rearrange your bedroom furniture, rip up paper.
  
• S: Spend time with friends, sing, stretch, smile at a stranger, snuggle up in a warm blanket with a cup of hot chocolate or tea, squeeze a stress ball, surf the internet, smell lavender, send a handwritten letter to someone you love, sit outside in the sunshine, style your hair, string a necklace, smooth nice body lotion over your legs and arms, splatter paint, scribble on a piece of paper until the whole page is black.
  
• T: Take a relaxing bath or shower, take pictures of something pretty, tidy up your bed, toss confetti, throw a foam ball at an empty wall, try your hand at a Rubik’s Cube, treat yourself to some ice cream, tourist a city, travel someplace new, take a walk through the woods and breathe in the scent of the trees.
  
• U: Use positive affirmations (such as ”I can do this,” “I am a capable person”).
  
• V: Visit with a friend, visit your local animal shelter and play with the animals, volunteer for a cause.
  
• W: Watch your favorite movie or tv show, write poetry, window shop, watch cute animal videos on Youtube, work on a crossword puzzle, write down your feelings on a piece of paper and then rip it up.
  
• X: eXpress yourself through art or writing.
  
• Y: Try yoga, yell into a pillow.
  
• Z: Zzzz’s - take a nap! Rest is important.
  

Additional resources:

• Click HERE for more self-care activities
• Click HERE for distraction websites
  
• Click HERE for relaxation resources
• Click HERE if you need a smile
• Click HERE if you need a hug
• Click HERE for crafts

(via mentalillnessmouse)

furiousgoldfish:

meirastuff:

fuckyeah-fangirl:

furiousgoldfish:

friendlyneighbourhoodtotoro:

furiousgoldfish:

trauma processing information ahead: you doubt your feelings relating to a certain event because when it happened you don’t remember as if it hurt you, you remember it as it maybe it wasn’t that traumatic, maybe it didn’t affect you so much, you feel like you handled it just fine and you weren’t so scared or pained by it back then and you don’t feel you can call that traumatic but then in present you suddenly get overwhelmed with pain and fear and grief and even anger and you try to stuff it down because NO IT WASN’T THAT BAD and you keep convincing yourself you’re overreacting because you can remember that it was not that bad and you keep thinking it didn’t even matter

So now try to remember when it first happened, it could be that you were still really small, or you were directly faced with the abuser/danger, or you were in unsafe environment where you couldn’t freely express, but the thing is, it didn’t hurt so bad the first time because you were unable to both survive and feel that amount of pain. Children’s bodies are not capable of withstanding traumatic amount of pain and survive, that pain is repressed and dissociated for later when bodies are big and strong and able to survive it. You cannot allow yourself to experience pain and fear that would make you extremely vulnerable and thus less likely to survive in traumatic situation so in that case too, your body represses the emotions and settles on dissociation until you’re safe enough and strong enough for these to be properly processed. 

Only reason it “didn’t feel so bad” back then is because your body repressed the pain and fear to save you. But the amount of pain and terror and anger you’re feeling now is exactly how bad it was. You’re only now experiencing on your own skin how actually bad it was! That’s how badly you were hurt. You’re not overreacting or making a big deal out of it now, you were unable to feel how bad it was before. Your feelings are always there for a reason, they’re generated inside you by harm that was done to you and you can trust them. Your reactions are not wrong, your feelings are not wrong, it was exactly that bad.

Is this true? Is this actually true? Because it explains a lot of shit and I need it to be true

Yes, yes, it is true, and I posted it precisely because it explains a lot.

I actually talked about with a doctor I trust the other day. And it is true, and very important that you know and understand it’s okay, it doesn’t mean you are “doing badly” in dealing with it, or in living your life now.

Mainly, I was telling him “But I was FINE back then. I dealt with it, and I moved on, and life went on and I know what triggered it but I didn’t expect the SUDDEN OVERWHELMING feeling of not being able to breathe and panic”. It may have been 10 years ago, and I knew perfectly why it was surfacing (a discussion earlier in the day), yet I fell like I was “making it up” because there was no “reason” for me to feel suddenly crushed by 10 years old memories (that I though had exactly zero influence on my life right now).

Also: Not just children can’t handle it, and it doesn’t have to be a “big” trauma to be incompletely processed. Sometimes, you just move on because that’s what you’re suppose to do / what’s most helpful in your situation, and you crash after (sometimes long long after) no matter your age.

Would this also apply if the reactions started occurring some time, even years later? Like, there was a gap of 5 years between an event & me developing PTSD symptoms linked to it.

Yes, absolutely. In my situation some things only occurred 10-15 years after. There is no time limit for how much later you start developing symptoms. 

(via furiousgoldfish)

oracle-at-deli:

Treat yourself how you’d treat a puppy: go outside at least twice a day, and don’t forget to feed regularly. Keep a supply of water on hand. Compliment appearance regularly (bc you’re super cute). Be above all kind to yourself– if you’re nice to puppies, you can be nice to you.

(via thegoddesslives)

Anonymous asked: does depression ever really completely go away? i mean, i'm a psych major, i should probably know some academic answer to this, but as someone who has been really really depressed before I can't tell because it just feels like it's always kind of there in the background. not nearly as bad and not nearly to the same degree of when it was bad, but just kind of there. and every time something bad happens or I have a really shitty day or few days, it feels like it's trying to come back to the front.

mentalillnessmouse:

mentalillnessmouse:

Hey Anon,

Personally, I don’t think it ever really goes away. Once you’ve gone through an episode of major depression, you’ll very likely go through one again. You can learn better skills to cope during tough times and you can ensure the good times last longer with a combination of medication and therapy. 

That lingering feeling of depression can be so irritating! It makes you feel like you’ll never be fully happy again, I know. You can get there. You just have to relearn certain skills. Here are some great links to get started:

• Self-care masterpost
  
• Here are some great posts on mindfulness.
  
• This is a step by step guide to belly breathing.
  
• Here are some exercises you can do that helps to keep you in the present grounding techniques. Mental grounding exercises. Physical grounding exercises. Soothing grounding exercises.
  
• Pleasant event scheduling is a very simple technique where you do at least 3 pleasant events per week so your life if filled with happy enjoyable moments. Here is also a Pleasant Activities List where you can rate how enjoyable you find an activity. Don’t worry about the scoring – this is just a way to help you gauge which activities to include that will help the most.
  

~Christa

Hey, I just wanted to throw my two cents in as well. Some people go through episodes of major depression and can come out of them feeling better. However, there may still always be some symptoms that linger, such as automatic negative thoughts and low self-esteem, just to name two. However, like Christa said, you can learn to cope with them and they may not always be as intense as they are now. It is true that it is common that most people with depression experience more than one episode throughout their lives, but that doesn’t mean you need to live in fear that the next episode may happen at any time, or believe that there is no point of getting better now. Things do get better and even in one person, every depressive episode may present differently.

Take care,

Ari