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Mental Health Diagnosis? Hardly
Someone told me their mental health diagnosis. Except I didn’t hear it at such. And my response was “Oh, sweetie, I am so sorry”. Though I may not have said those actual words. I did say it energetically: that was my feeling. See, when someone tells me their mental health “diagnosis” I don’t see it as a mental health diagnosis at all. I have done so much work on my own “mental health diagnosis”, and I am now swimming so deep in the waters of Spirituality that “mental health diagnosis” gets translated for me into “this is the crisis that the Universe has decided to throw at me at this…
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What is “emotionally true” may not be “mentally true”
I had this realisation the other day… Fancy that! I believe I can explain this better by sharing with you an excerpt from a conversation Imo (my imaginary friend) and I had some time ago… Imo, please take the floor. Imo: I believe the conversation went like this… You were telling me about how it’s annoying when you can’t stop yourself from smiling at the sight of an attractive man, and I asked why it was so annoying… Mary: Because then they can tell I like them and everything goes downhill after that. Imo: Why… Mary: Because I don’t have a chance in Hell with any of them, that’s why!…
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“Light Gets In” – Living well with mental illness, by Esme Wang
This is my review of Esme’s book “Light Gets In”. It’s about living with mental illness… But really? It’s about life. A cosy room. Light streams in, dimmed by a storm outside… Reading Esme’s book feels like sitting next to her in that room, cup of tea held in both hands, comfortably in silence. Being present in that very real, very complex moment where things aren’t great, but they aren’t Hell either. That moment when you realise that this “in between” is what life is made of. So you sit quietly. And feel the waves of realisation wash over you. This is life, this very moment. Not the great, nor…
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Working with Complaining
Gather round, kids, today I want to talk about “complaining”. Oh yes, this is a big one. First: Complaining is a sign of unacknowledged pain You are essentially trying to justify to yourself that yeah, this thing you don’t like is actually kinda crappy. You don’t just say “This thing is crappy and I’m in pain”. THAT would be making your feeling of pain “legitimate”. “Yes, I am in pain, of course I’m in pain, and I’m allowed to be in pain, this thing is painful, yo!”. Instead we go on and on about how this thing is “wrong”. Like this: “The minimum wage should be twice what it is.…
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The Fastest Way out of a Depression “Crisis”
I’ve been unproductive for almost 2 weeks now. But I have not been “depressed”. I have felt “blue”… I have spent countless hours watching the entire series of “Hey Arnold!”… I have found it difficult to concentrate… I have been procrastinating on important stuff like there’s no tomorrow… I’ve been unable to force myself to do anything… But I’ve not been “depressed”. In fact, I’ve been relaxed. And, at times, even joyful. What is going on?!? As you know, I’ve a long history of depression. And when I say long, I mean really long. I may have been depressed since I was 5 years old. (Now THAT is a long,…
