Author: Aimee Eddy

SELF-INJURY ALTERNATIVES

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   What do you do when you want to stop injuring, but you are finding it hard to resist the temptation? How do you resist that craving, that need to end your inner pain? It seems impossible to refuse the need to harm yourself and it’s hard to think of doing anything else other than ripping at your flesh. Are there alternatives to injuring? Can you do something else to fill your longings? My answer to you is yes. There are alternatives to self-harm.

   Putting an end to self-injury is like giving up drugs. You feel like you need it, you have to do it, you can’t survive without it and nothing else can take its place. When you try to give it up, somehow you keep getting drawn back to it. To curb those feelings, there are safe alternatives you can use instead of self-injuring. Below is some of the alternatives I used when I felt the need to harm myself.

  • Start a self-injury journal and write down how you are feeling and why you want to injure. Then write down how you would feel after you hurt yourself. Doing this helped me express what I was feeling inside and helped me see that I would only feel worse afterwards.

  • Draw on your arms with a washable marker, where you would like to injure. Put lines or draw a picture. I just drew lines in the spots I would usually cut. Afterwards I looked at my arms and thought how bad they would look if those were actual injuries. Then I’d wash them off and it was like washing the pain away.

  • Hold an ice cube in your hand until you feel the sting of the coldness. For me holding an ice cube until the coldness stung my skin resembled the sting of harming myself. This took the place of my need to feel physical pain instead of emotional. It was just enough to take me away for a few minutes.

  • Use a rubber band or hair band to snap yourself just enough to simulate an injury. I used the rubber band to also take the place of a cut. The snap against my skin was enough to relive my temptations.

  • Call a friend and tell him or her how you are feeling. Talking to my friend distracted me from what I wanted to do to myself. We would talk for hours until she was sure I would be okay.

  • Get out of the house by going out with friends, visiting family, or just going to the movies. Getting away from the place where I harmed myself kept me away from the tools I used and the place that I felt I could not resist my urges.

  • If all else doesn’t work, call your therapist or 1-800-DONTCUT. Talking to my therapist gave me a professional who could help me find other ways to express my pent up pain. My therapist also got me to talk about the feelings and thoughts that led to my injuring.

   Find an alternative to help you resist your addiction to self-injury. It’s not easy to do, but with hard work you can find ways to stop harming yourself. Eventually you won’t even need the alternatives because the need to injure will no longer haunt you. In time you will learn healthy ways to handle your inner pain and you will forget about using self-harm.

   I no longer need alternatives to self-injury. I now can handle emotional pain with healthier methods and without even considering cutting myself. Finding recovery from self-injury has freed my soul and allowed me to stand within the light.

   These are only a few alternatives. You can find some of these and many more at Teen Help at http://www.teenhelp.org/forums/f12-self-harm/t9418-alternatives-self-harm/.

WHAT’S NORMAL?

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   We often think we all can be defined by who is normal and who is not. When we struggle with mental illness, we try to compare ourselves to others who do not have an illness of the mind. We think they are normal and we are not. Sometimes we think we are just freaks who don’t fit in with everyone else. We are thought of differently by those who don’t understand, we are emotional, we cry easily, we react to things differently, we are sometimes up and down and our minds play games with us. We are different.

   When I was ill I asked God, “Why am I not normal? Why can’t I be like everyone else?” Even when I was in school and the kids picked on me, I thought I was not normal because I had a learning disability. I thought the things that made me different made me inferior to others. It was as if I were another species. Being diagnosed with a mental illness increased my negative feelings.

   I looked in the mirror and saw an ugly, messed up wreck. I was different from my family and friends. They knew how to be happy, they enjoyed their lives, they didn’t cry for no reason, they didn’t stay up all night with racing thoughts or burst out in emotional episodes. I felt like an outcast. I could never fit in with everyone else because I was not normal. I felt like God made a mistake when he made me.

   I was always told God does not mess up, but I was convinced he goofed with me. Why else would I have a mental illness? Why else did emotions and thoughts seem to run wild throughout me, ripping me apart? Why else did I feel things so deeply? I could talk about something and tears would start spilling out of my eyes. People would ask and still ask, “Why are you crying?” I can’t tell them it’s because I feel a flood of strong emotions and I can’t control the tears. Why do the tears come even when something is not sad? Is it because I’m not normal?

   My mom told me, “There is no such thing as normal. We are each different and unique in our own ways.”

  Then I realized I wasn’t different because I had an illness, but because God made me to be my own person. Nobody is the same. He made each of us to be an individual. He doesn’t want us all to be alike. That would be boring. My illness was not and is not me. It’s not what sets me apart from everyone else. What makes me the person I am is the kind, loving, caring, and humorous person I am inside.

   So when you start asking why you’re not normal, remember normal doesn’t exist. You are your own person. You don’t fit in a category or in a group. Be proud of who you are. Remember everyone has flaws, different ways, looks, reactions, and so on. Your illness does not make you different or a freak of nature. Your illness is a part of your life, but it’s not you. Dig deep down inside you and discover who you are and how God made you special.

   I know I’m not normal and I now know no one is. I am proud of who I am and I know it’s not my illness that makes me different, but the work of God. He made us each in different shapes, sizes, colors, and with different personalities. We are all unique individuals. We are wild, wacky and a little bit crazy. I thank God for me. Being proud of who I am helps me stand within the light.

IDENTIFY YOUR FEELINGS

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   With mental illness it’s important that you’re able to define the difference between feelings and thoughts. Many self-injurers hurt themselves as a way to handle overwhelming emotions, but when they try to express their feelings, they confuse feelings with thoughts. This makes it even harder to find ways to channel those emotions into something healthier then harming themselves.

   When I was struggling with self-injury, I thought I was telling my therapist my feelings when, in fact, I was describing my thoughts. Through my therapist and the book, The Scarred Soul, I found out there is a difference between feelings and thoughts. When I told my therapist, “I feel like my friend is ignoring me,” I was telling her what I thought, not my true emotions. My therapist also told me to use one word to express feelings, like I felt “hurt.” My feelings were made more powerful by my thought that my friend was ignoring me.

   My friend didn’t know how I felt, because I kept it deep within me. The more I held them inside, the stronger my emotions became and the more negative my thoughts became. This created more feelings. I became angry, sad, frustrated, lonely, and hurt. My thoughts seem to increase the intensity of my feelings. It was like the match that lit the fire. I “felt like” my friend was using me and I “felt” that She hated me and was only pretending to be my friend. These thoughts increased and raced through my mind. My emotions felt like swords jabbing into my soul, so I would injure.

   My therapist would ask me how I felt at each appointment. She gave me a list of feelings such as angry, sad, hopeless, guilty, happy, amused, frustrated, irritable, excited, and so on. Once I identified my emotions then I had to find things I could do to cope with my feelings, such as do a craft, exercise, journaling, call a friend, do relaxation techniques, I made a list of my emotions and then made another list of ways I could express them without injuring. Then I worked on how to change my thoughts into positive ones, like, “My friend was busy; she was not ignoring me.”

   Learning the difference between your thoughts and feelings can help you figure out what is leading you to harm yourself and what fuels those emotions. Thoughts can make emotions grow stronger and more intense. If you can pin point the emotions, you can find healthy ways to release them. Each day in a journal write down how you feel and what you will do to release your feelings without self-injuring. Then write down your thoughts and turn them into positive ones. Start taking those steps to stop hurting yourself now by identifying your feelings.

   By identifying my emotions, I can now express them without wounding myself. This has also helped me get a better handle on my depression. By telling what emotions I felt, I could find methods to help me find the light and I could express to my therapist what was happening within me. Then I could deal with, first, my emotions and then, my thoughts. By learning how to cope with thoughts and emotions I grew stronger and now I stand tall within the light.

   Once again I found some of this information in The Scarred Soul: Understanding and Ending Self-inflicted Violence By Tracy Alderman, Ph.D. In my past blog I gave you a link to get this book. I suggest you get it. It helped me out a lot and became like a Bible to me.

SELF-INJURY COPING TECHNIQUES

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   While we self-injure, we think there is no other way to deal with the emotional turmoil within us. We don’t know how to cope with our internal pain or lack of emotions, but there is hope. There are other ways to deal with the illness that plagues our minds and souls. It’s just a matter of finding one or more that works best for you.

   When I was working towards stopping cutting, my therapist taught me different ways to handle my overwhelming emotions. Some of these techniques can be found in The Scarred Soul: Understanding and Ending Self-Inflicted Violence by Tracy Alderman, Ph.D. The Scarred Soul can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Scarred-Soul-Understanding-Self-Inflicted-Violence/dp/1572240792/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1472346771&sr=1-1&keywords=tracy+alderman .

   Below are some healthy coping techniques that helped me and may help you.

  • Use a journal to express your feelings. I used to carry my journal everywhere I went. I would write my deepest, darkest thoughts and feelings in it. I filled the pages and emptied my soul of emotions and inner agony I was burying within me. My journal became my lifeline. I would write on my breaks, when I was out to eat, or home alone.

  • Call a friend, a family member or member of the clergy to talk about what is happening within you. When I felt really bad and wanted to cut myself, I would call a friend. My friend would talk to me for hours and do her best to get my mind off of my illness. She wouldn’t hang up until I started laughing.

  • Use a punching bag or pillow to vent your inter frustration and anger. My therapist suggested I do this. I bought a child’s punching bag and would punch it until all the pent up anger was out of me. When the punching bag popped, I used a pillow. Just punching something relieved me of feelings and emotions that were burning deep within me.

  • Use relaxation techniques to soothe your inner feeling and need to hurt yourself. I used deep breathing and relaxing music to help me relax. When I felt like injuring, I would put on soft music lay down and picture myself walking in the woods or on a beach. If that didn’t help, I would take a deep breath in, hold it for a minutes and slowly release it. I would do this several times till I felt better.

  • Get yourself a therapist who can give you professional guidance. I realized I couldn’t fight my illness on my own. I needed professional help. I found a therapist I felt comfortable with and told her my deepest secrets. When I was unable to verbally tell my therapist how I felt, then I wrote it down for her to read. Then I did the homework my therapist gave me. I found that therapy doesn’t work unless you’re willing to do the work.

  • Identify your feelings as something separate from your thoughts. I learned that feelings can be described with one word, not in a complete sentence. Some feeling words are frustrated, sad, angry, and alone. I learn that saying, “I feel like my life is over” is a thought not a feeling. Once I identified my feelings, I found ways to relieve them like using some of the above coping techniques.

   Try using some of these techniques to help you cope with your mental illness instead of injuring. If these don’t work for you, talk to your therapist about other ones that may help you. Remember, dealing with the pain and darkness within you takes hard work and determination. Ending the cycle of self-harming is not going to be easy, but if your determined enough, you can do it.

   With determination and hard work I stopped self-injury and now I stand tall within the light.

NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES TO SELF-INJURY

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   When you’re self-injuring, you have a lot of reasons why you do it. You try to make it, to yourself, sound like a good way to cope, when in fact it’s not. You’re too caught up in your own inner pain and emotional turmoil to see how bad for you injuring is. All you think about is that high and those few moments of relief.

   In my process of reaching for recovery from self-injuring, I came up with reasons why it was bad for me. I needed to see the negative side to injuring. Below is my list of Reasons to NOT Self-injure.

  • After injuring there are feelings of self-hate, anger, and guilt. Once the high is over, I was flooded with bad feelings. I had tried to relive my pain, but only caused more.

  • You become stuck in a circle of lying. I found myself continuously lying to friends and family about why I was wearing long sleeve shirts. When they happened to see my injuries, I lied about how I received them. I once told my mom I got caught in thorn bushes. By lying, I was losing trust in myself and I was betraying the trust of my family and friends.

  • You isolate yourself from friends and family. By running off to my private spot to injure, I was isolating myself. I was spending a lot of time alone when I could have been with the people who cared about me the most.

  • You Keep a secret. I carried a heavy load on my soul by keeping my inner pain a secret and by hiding what I was doing to myself. I became paranoid that others would find out about my self-injuring and that led to more lying. By keeping a secret, my anguish ate at my insides and only drove me down deeper into my dark hole.

  • Injuring is only short term relief. Ripping at my skin gave me relief, but only briefly. Once my high was over, I was back inside my internal hell, and now I had new bad feelings to add to my overload of emotions. Injuring could not permanently fix my mental agony; it only added to it.

  • Injuring is a form of self-abuse. Even though I used injuring as a coping technique, in all reality I was abusing myself. It’s just like when my friend and ex-boyfriend abused me. I was hurting myself and in time I realized I didn’t deserve it. I was doing the same things an abused person does, I was lying, keeping a secret and hiding my injuries. I owed myself a lot more respect and kindness then I was giving myself.

  • You have scars and injuries. I never cut deep enough to scar myself, but for those who do, scars are with you forever and a constant reminder of what you did to yourself. For me, my wounds were reminders of my bad coping techniques. I looked at my injuries and wondered what I was thinking. They reminded me of my inability to handle the pain inside me and the regret I felt after each time I injured.

   If these are not good enough reasons to make you want to stop self-injury, then come up with a list of your own. Don’t think about how you feel when you injure, but how you feel afterwards. Look at what you’re doing to yourself and ask yourself, “Is it worth it?” Are a few minutes of relief worth the feelings you have afterwards? Don’t you deserve better? Don’t you owe it to yourself to find better coping techniques? Take that step toward stopping self-injuring by getting help and exploring new ways to deal with your illness.

  I took the step I needed to stop self-injuring. I found healthy ways to cope with my illness and now I stand tall within the light.

YOU ARE NOT TO BLAME FOR SEXUAL ABUSE

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  Sexual abuse can happen to anyone: men, women, or children. It can happen with a close friend, a significant other, or a stranger. It leaves a scar that can’t be erased within the mind and soul of the victim. It can lead to depression, post traumatic stress disorder, and other problems. For someone who is struggling with mental illness, it can send him or her further into the depth of his or her dark hole. People with mental illness can be easy victims of abusers.

   When my cousin died my senior year of high school, I turned to a friend for comfort. While I slid further into my hole of darkness, I became more and more needy. I began to put my friend on a pedestal. I thought she was the best friend in the world. I felt as if I couldn’t live without her. I didn’t have too many friends growing up. I lost many friends due to them moving away or the friend turning his or her back on me, but this time my friend was sticking at my side. I needed her and I believed without her I would be a nobody again.

   I had been struggling with a sadness within me throughout my childhood, but when my cousin died the grief pushed me further into the deepest depth of my dark hole. My friend began to tell me we had a special friendship. We did things that other friends did not do, but it was okay. Inside I knew it was wrong, but I went along. I couldn’t lose another friend. I couldn’t face these awful feelings within me without her help. I wanted to believe what we were doing was right.

   The friendship continued into my college years. I struggled with my attachment to my friend and the feelings of guilt, disgust, self-hate, and anguish. Afterwards, I would sit in a shower and cry. I couldn’t stand the feeling of being in my own skin. Every day I went to see my friend, I’d throw up. When my friend finally walked away, I realized what she had done to me was abuse. I became angry at myself for allowing it to happen. I thought it was my fault. I should have said no. I should have been strong enough to walk away.

   Years later when my boyfriend began to do things to me I didn’t like, I again fell victim to abuse. I also held onto the relationship tightly despite what was happening until he kicked me out. I wasn’t sure if my illness blinded me to the sexual abuse or I just didn’t want to admit what was happening to me.

   The abuses left scars on my soul and mind. I had bad dreams of what they did to me. I blamed myself, I hated myself, and I lost trust in myself. How could I allow this stuff to happen to me? Why did I allow people to abuse me in such away? What kind of person was I? Why didn’t I stop them?

   My therapist told me I was not to blame;, I was a victim. My friend and ex-boyfriend took advantage of me when I was most vulnerable. My therapist had me write letters to the people who harmed me and in them I spilled out my feelings. I told them in my letters what I thought of them and how I felt about what they did to me. Then I burned the letters. I burned the letter to my friend at the spot she mostly took advantage of me. Then I began to discuss the abuse with my therapist. I had to forgive myself and accept I was not at fault.

   You never completely forget, but once you accept your own innocence, you slowly put it behind you and you begin to heal. You can go on with your life after sexual abuse. It takes time, but you can learn to trust again, forgive yourself, and build new relationships. Remember, you are not to blame for what others do to you.

   I still, once in a while, have bad dreams, but I don’t let them ruin my life. Because I have trusted again, let go of my self-blame, allowed myself to heal, and am now in a very loving marriage, I stand within the light.

INSIDE AN EMOTIONAL EPISODE

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   When people are suffering with borderline personality disorder, they go through sudden mood changes. These mood swings come on abruptly and are very intense and painful. The person loses control of his or her actions. Little things can set him or her off, like a misunderstanding, feelings of being put down, forgotten or changed plans, and feelings of being abandoned. The mood swings can turn into an episode of anger, sadness, and disruptive behaviors.

   I can remember having sudden mood changes that led to emotional episodes when I was a child. I didn’t know what they were at that time. I just knew I felt out of control. Little things set me off like my brother teasing or a friend not calling me like promised.

   I’d be in a good mood until my brother and I would disagree about whose turn it was to watch our favorite show. Then suddenly anger ignited within me.

   It started with small flames and erupted into a blaze. I was suddenly floating above my body watching it spit out words of hatred, throw things, and scream. My brother would fight back and we ended up in a punching and pushing match. My mom would break us up and send us to our rooms. In my room, I’d cry and yell until I collapsed to the floor with exhaustion. When the episode was over, I’d lie on the floor crying uncontrollably while self-hate and regret filled me. The knowledge of what I had done led me to tear myself apart with my thoughts.

   When an old boyfriend and I disagreed about how we were spending Mother’s Day, my emotions sparked. Feelings raced throughout my body, burning at my insides. They began to bubble over and spill forth in angry words. Each word my ex said made the flames burn hotter until I was out of control. I began screaming at him and grabbing dishes and smashing them on the floor. It was as if I were floating above my body while I spun out of control. I’d look down at myself and scream, “Stop this. This isn’t you. You’re not this awful person.” But I couldn’t stop myself. It was like something else was controlling me.

   Once I calmed down, tears would fall like a rain shower while internally I put myself down. I hated myself for my actions. My emotions felt like swords stabbing my insides. I had to stop the pain so I tore at my skin. I punished myself with my thoughts and relieved my pain by injuring. It was an endless circle of hurting myself inside and out. At times, I would become suicidal and make attempts to take my life. I thought I didn’t deserve to live after my actions.

   In therapy, I learned to notice when my emotions began to spark and to step back or walk away from the situation. I found ways to help me relax like deep breathing, punching a pillow, or listening to relaxing music. Next, I would take note of my behaviors during an episode and my emotions. Finally, I would find ways to distance myself from the behaviors and emotions like journaling about my feelings and thoughts. Things like getting out of the house, calling a friend, or doing a craft helped distract me and extinguish the flame.

   You, too, can take control of your mood swings and emotional episodes. You have to be willing to find a good therapist and work hard. Not every therapist knows how to treat borderline personality disorder, so ask questions before you decide to stay with a therapist. Make sure he or she has experience with the illness. Also look for groups that teach you coping techniques for borderline.

   Learn how to take control of the flames before they become an inferno. Fight the emotions with all your strength and reach for recovery.

   Learning how to take control of my emotions before they become out of control has led me to recovery and allows me to stand within the light.

   I found my facts about mood swings and emotional episodes from Borderline Personality Disorder from PsychSolve at https://www.newharbinger.com/psychsolve/borderline-personality-disorder. You can also find more information at this site. I also found the coping techniques in a book called A Systems Approach To Treatment: Borderline Personality Disorder Skill Training Manual by Norman E. Bartels, M.P.A and Theresa D. Crotty, L.C.S.W.

LIFE DOESN’T STOP

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   The world about us is crazy; it goes on and on. It never stops for anything. No matter what, people continue to work, do daily tasks, jog, shop, and move about the earth. People move on with their lives even when we feel like everything in our own seems to stay still. Life doesn’t discontinue just because we feel like it should. When we are feeling down and our minds are plagued with darkness, we often feel like our universe is standing still.

   I remember lying in my bed when I was very sick, covering my head with a pillow and wishing the morning would go away; Not another day. I can’t face a day of work, of sadness, and overwhelming emotions. My existence is an endless road of misery and I want it to come to a halt. I want everything to stop. Can’t I just stay in bed and pretend the world doesn’t exist?

   No matter how much I wanted everything around me to halt, it wouldn’t. I felt stuck in this dark hole while people walked around with smiles and souls full of joy. It was like they were looking down at me laughing, “Ha, ha, you’re down there and I’m up here.”

   I dragged my somber body out of bed while others rushed off to start their days. I forced a smile on my face while the light within me refused to shine. My customers talked about their lives, bought their groceries, and raced off to continue with their lives. I felt like I was stuck in this one spot, and no matter how hard I tried to move, I couldn’t. Life continued and I was stuck, incapable of climbing out of my hole, unable to reach the light, and barely able to make it through another day.

   Life didn’t stay still, even when I felt as if mine had. It kept going on around me like an endless song stuck in my head. The trees continued to dance in the wind, the sun continued to glow, the plants continued to grow, and people kept going on and on. I wanted to stay in my bed, I wanted to quit living, and I wanted to hide, but people, work, and daily chores wouldn’t let me.

   One day I decided I wanted to move forward. I had to dig deep within me to find the determination to pick myself up and force myself to just live. I knew I couldn’t stay deep within my hole. If the earth wouldn’t stay still, then why should I? I had to claw my way out of the hole. I had to fight to reach the light. I wanted to stand above my hole just like everyone else. I needed to look down into the hole and laugh, “Ha, ha, you don’t have me anymore. I am moving on.”

   To do this, I had to look at everything around me with a different point of view. I needed to change my thought process, find medication that worked for me, and go to therapy. It’s not just therapy and medication that helps you breathe in the fresh air; it’s also you. I had to want it, I needed to fight for it, and I had to be willing to do whatever it took to find the light.

   Life doesn’t stop and yours will also go on, whether you like it or not. You can choose to lie in bed all day, you can quit your job, sleep for endless hours, and quit eating and drinking, or you can stand up and face another day. You can find yourself help and push yourself to get up and go on. Fight for yourself.

   Why? Because your worth fighting for. Stand up to your illness, do what it takes to reach the light, and go on with your existence.

   I fought with all my strength to get better. I knew I would never be cured, but I wanted a normal existence. So I got medication, I went to therapy, and I did what I needed to do to get better. Because I found the willpower within me to continue on and to get better, I now stand bravely within the light.

WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT MENTAL ILLNESS?

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   Mental illness is a dark sickness of the mind. When you face it from day to day, it seems as if there is nothing good about it. What positive side can you see of an illness that plagues your soul and mind? When you are suffering with mental illness, it seems like an evil curse. However, there is always a positive side to every heartache and trouble that we face.

   While struggling with mental illness, I thought God was punishing me. I felt like my life was a disaster and my illness was a living hell. The hole of mental illness was my dungeon. How could I see anything good about it? Living with a blanket of darkness deep within my very being seemed more like a curse.

   I read Romans 8:29, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose,” and found a new way to view my sickness. In other words, God doesn’t let us face anything without a reason. There is a good side or reason for all our struggles. God has a purpose for everything.

   I had to find recovery to see there is something good about suffering with this illness. Mental illness gave me strength I didn’t know I had: Strength to face and fight a very horrible illness. Once I realized recovery was possible, I dug down into myself to find the ability to fight for recovery. This new found strength has helped me face many trials and tribulations. I figure if God can give me what I need to deal with my illness, I can handle whatever life throws my way.

   Suffering with mental illness has also molded the person I am. It has made me sensitive to others’ needs and problems. I am sympathetic to others who are struggling or are facing rough times. I like to listen to others and give them some encouragement. It has also made me proud of the person I am. I’m not afraid to admit who I am and what I have faced to get to where I am.

   Having this illness also gave me a purpose. Everything I learned through years of therapy and studying my illness has given me enough knowledge to write this blog. By writing this blog I can help others, teach others and maybe change some people’s views about mental illness. Facing this illness has given me the ability to speak out through my writing. I learned that the only way to take a step towards changing the stigma is by writing about it and telling my story. I’m not afraid to tell people I have mental illness. I believe God allowed me to deal with this illness so I can tell my story and what I have learned to the world.

   It’s hard to see, but God has a purpose behind life’s ups and downs. He never gives us anything we cannot face with his help and usually these things we go through lead us to something better. If I never had mental illness, I would not be writing this blog. If I wasn’t too sick to go on to a four year college I would have never made the friends I now have or met my husband. God has a plan for our lives and it may not be the same as we have planned, but God’s always knows what’s best for us.

   Look at your illness and see what good you can find lurking behind it. Find what purpose God has for your struggle. Maybe he wants you to write about it or talk about it. Maybe he wants you to use it to help others. Maybe he wants you to volunteer at a mental health association. Find the positive side to your illness. How does it change you? In what ways has it helped you? What inner ability has it uncovered for you? Then use the goodness of your illness to reach for recovery and stay in recovery.

   Now that I know God’s purpose behind my battle with mental illness and the good side to it, I stand proudly in his light.

LAUGHTER IS NO CURE

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   Laughter can be a form of therapy for depression, and it can help with anxiety, but it is no cure. You can’t cure mental illness by going to a comedy show, telling jokes, or watching funny movies. At times, it can be nearly impossible to even laugh when you are deeply depressed. Laughter can be therapeutic. It can be relaxing and it also sheds a small amount of light into the darkness, but it doesn’t take the sadness away. Mental illness is a chemical imbalance and can only be treated, but not cured.

   While struggling with depression after my break up with my ex-boyfriend, my therapist moved away, and before she left, she referred me to another therapist. My whole life seemed to be in shambles. I told my therapist how horrible I felt. I confided in her, that no matter what I did, I felt this overwhelming sadness. It seemed as if my life were hopeless. She looked at me and said, “Go home and watch a funny movie and you’ll feel better.”

   It was all I could do to keep myself from jumping out of my chair. I thought of everything I wanted to say, but the words would not part my lips? If it were that easy, why the heck am I seeing you? How can a funny movie make me feel better? I just told you I am depressed, and that’s all you have to say? Aren’t you supposed to help me? I went home that night even more upset.

   After a couple of sessions of spilling my heart out and my therapist telling me to do things that would make me laugh, I decided to find someone else who could help me. I met with a counselor through a program at work to help me find a new therapist. After telling the counselor about my therapist, he asked for her name. To my dismay, the man turned out to be her husband! But he did direct me to another counselor who could help me.

   A friend at work started laughing when I told her about the situation. I found it embarrassing, but she pointed out the lighter side to it. With convincing, I soon was able to laugh about the whole thing. Humor showed me a different side to an embarrassing situation. It took my friend time to get me to laugh, but it did feel good. It helped ease my depression slightly and showed me a different way to look at a situation I thought was awful.

   Many times while struggling with my illness, I would call my friend Cheryl in tears. I felt like I had fallen to the deepest part of my hole. I’d cry over the phone, telling her how I wanted to injure and end my life. She would tell jokes, make funny comments, and do whatever she could to make me laugh. My heart was sunken into the dark hole of my depression and at first I couldn’t find the strength to even smile, but Cheryl did not give up. She talked to me for hours until I finally laughed. Laughing helped me relax enough to sleep.

   See, laughter is not a cure for mental illness, but it can be therapeutic. It’s hard to find humor in anything when you’re depressed, but give it a try. It can help you see things differently and help you feel better even for a little bit. A Funny movie will not make your illness go away, but laughter helps.

   Now when I’m down and a person tells me to watch something funny, I tell them, “Thanks. I will. It’s part of my therapy, but not a cure.”

   With medication, therapy and laughter, I have found the light.