mentalillness

  • Doing Nothing Does Something

    Some of you likely had a conniption reading that title. How does one do nothing and do something simultaneously? It is like dividing by zero. It is impossible. No, it’s not. It can be done. I might be crazy, but I can explain. Your boy had nothing short of an emotionally and physically exhausting week.

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  • Grace Over Guilt

    Grace Over Guilt

    By far, I am my own worst critic. I am notorious for self-deprecation. Given my long trauma history, black-and-white thinking, and unrealistic expectations of myself, it’s easy to go down that rabbit hole. Personally, I like to have little mantras to keep myself in check. Just short sayings that I can repeat to myself from

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  • The Benefits of Having a Pet Companion

    Now that I have lured you in with an absolutely adorable picture of a golden retriever, I would like to introduce you to Butler. Although he is not technically my dog (belongs to my landlord), I have been in his life every day since he was two months old. He just turned six years old,

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  • Guilt Ridden

    Guilt Ridden

    Fibromyalgia. I write about this topic far too much on this blog, or so it feels. However, today’s piece isn’t so much focused on the symptoms or recent flare up, as much as it is the effect of my mental health/self-care. If you are unaware of what fibromyalgia is, here you go, you lazy bum:

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  • Breaking The Pattern

    Breaking The Pattern

    After a busy work week, I took my exhausted, yet excited ass on the road. I was on my way to spending the weekend with my awesome girlfriend. She lives about an hour to an hour and a half away from me, so the drive can be a nice way to decompress sometimes. I turn

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  • I Can’t Even.

    I Can’t Even.

    Fridays are for fun! My idea of fun this last Friday was driving an hour to meet with my accountant and do my taxes at 8:30 in the morning. Friday? More like Fri-yay! Am I right? Since I decided to avoid the tolls, my GPS took me on the scenic route. It added maybe five

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  • Promotion of Growth

    Promotion of Growth

    People do not like change whether it is good or bad. We like to have control. We like knowing potential outcomes and feeling like we have some influence over it. However, reality demonstrates time and time again that we possess little control over anything. Recently, my agency promoted me. I went from being a middleman

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  • Thought-Feeling Balance Exercise

    This week’s therapy session took a deep turn. A few days prior, I fell into a funk of sorts. Feeling overwhelmed by illness, work, and family stuff compounded on top of one another. By the time therapy rolled around, I pretty much pulled myself out of it. This funk though sparked a different conversation though.

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  • The Caring Counselor Year in Review (2021)

    This has become an annual tradition for yours truly. And, yes, I have probably said this every time since I started doing this in 2018. New Year’s offers a time of reflection. It gives us a benchmark to look back on the progress or lack thereof that we made over the last 365 days. To

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  • A Test of Patience

    During the week leading up to Christmas, I seriously wish I had a dollar for every time someone said the following to me because I would have been able to pay off my student loans. “How are you able to stay so positive/happy/jolly with all of this going on?” You have to understand the amount

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