Therapists have suggested I think of my anxiety as a friend so that I learn to accept it as a part of my life. But the thing is, my anxiety is a bitch.
depression
Embracing the Darkness of Depression
Little can be done to change the fact that my brain is not hardwired as it should be, but plenty can be done to cope with the effects of the disease. Medications, therapies, and self-care techniques, coupled with a toolbox full of how to’s and what not to do’s learned by trial and error, make […]
I Found Pain Relief With Medical Marijuana
Living with a disease that causes chronic pain was never part of my life plans. I couldn’t have prepared for it. Even if I had known what was in store beforehand. Pain. Limitations. Treatments. Therapies. Depression. They’re all part of the package. Finding relief while learning to navigate around my restrictions became the sole purpose […]
Breathe
“Just breathe,” I say to Darcy, my six-year-old daughter. “Look in my eyes and just breathe.” She’s taken a fall on the sidewalk, running in the ill-advised flip flops I told her to trade in for more sensible shoes. “I told you so,” however, holds little satisfaction from a parent with a six-year-old. In young […]
Depression – The One Word I Wish My Kids Never Knew
Depression. As a writer, a lover of all words big and small, it is one of very few I can say I vehemently hate. The ugliest of words, it is. It defines everything that has ever gone wrong in my life, my head, and my soul. It is the catalyst that destroys all that I […]
Child, We Will Live Forever (and It Will Never Be Too Much)
“Are you going to love me, even when you die?” my daughter asks as we’re making lunch. “Forever and ever,” I reply, quickly, as I have before, to the same question. She knows the answer already, and she’s only five. These chats have become a recurring thing. “And even when I die?” Her concept of […]
Mental Illness and Who I Am Because of It
[nextpage title=”Page 1″ ] You’re stupid. You’re selfish. Grow up and quit acting like a child. Three statements I’ve heard so many times in my life I’ve begun to believe them, even repeat them to myself. Who am I? I’m nobody special, nobody you would remember in a crowd of strangers. Nobody you would seek […]
My Friend the Anxiety Monster
My friend the Anxiety Monster usually trails somewhere near me at all times, popping up when I can’t find my keys and am running late, or when somebody yells at me in person, or via email at work, or when my kids have stage 6 temper tantrums and I can’t get to the bathroom quickly […]