Finding Your Marbles
A Mental Health Survival Guide

Trent over at The Simple Dollar wrote this great article about how to cook family meals when you are exhausted or stressed out. It’s a great (and short) article with lots of good advice. Also make sure you check the comments for more good cooking solutions.

Continue reading “Link: How to Cook for a Family When You are Stressed Out” »

Bipolar Disorder is a very frustrating and terrifying illness. People with bipolar can feel terrifyingly out of control, and even with medication, bipolar people rarely feel “normal.”

Because bipolar disorder can make such a mess of your emotions and your mind, it is very difficult for people with bipolar to express their fears and frustrations, and even more difficult for their friends and family to understand them. Bipolar disorder is one of the most misunderstood mental illnesses, and bipolar sufferers can end up tragically marginalized by society.

Boris Donlin’s photo essay “Catching a Darkness” tells the story of his sister’s struggle with bipolar disorder, which ended tragically in suicide. It is a touching and sometimes terrifying look into one woman’s struggle with this illness, from the perspective of her baby brother.

Continue reading “Link: The Other Side of the Mirror - Catching a Darkness” »

In Part 4 of the Therapy Series: Leaving Your Therapist, I discussed how therapy relationships end, and how to end a relationship positively. In this final section I will share some of my thoughts on therapy and I will talk a bit about “alternative” therapies that I have encountered.

As I mentioned in the Introduction, therapy saved my life. If I hadn’t gone to therapy, my depression would have spiralled out of control and I don’t know where I would have ended up. Therapy is the single best tool for treating mental illness and I can’t recommend it enough. It is one of the necessary steps to full recovery.

Continue reading “Therapy Series Part 5: Thoughts on Therapy” »

In Part 3 of this series: “What To Do After Each Session,” I talked about what you should do after each therapy session. In this section, I will discuss how therapy relationships end, how to tell when your therapy relationship is coming to a positive end, what to do when your therapy relationship breaks down, and how to manage your “after therapy” relationship with your therapist.

Therapy relationships are not permanent, and eventually, your therapy will come to an end. You will either end the relationship yourself, or your therapist will end it, or you will come to a mutual agreement that you no longer need to continue in therapy. Leaving therapy can be a frightening and emotional experience. However, in a healthy therapy relationship, leaving therapy can be a form of rebirth. If you had a positive experience with your therapy, it will form a strong foundation on which you can build a healthy and happy life.

Continue reading “Therapy Series Part 4: Leaving Your Therapist” »

In Part 2 of this series: “Your First Therapy Appointment,” I talked about how to prepare for your first therapy session, and what to expect from therapy and your therapist. In this article, I will discuss what you can do after each therapy session to make your therapy more effective, and to help you survive the most difficult parts.

One day I was talking to a friend of mine who was going through some particularly difficult therapy sessions for anxiety. We were talking about how we both felt after our sessions were over. My friend described the “after-therapy” feeling to a T. He said, “It’s the feeling that you get after you have been to the gym or after you just spent all day working hard. You are exhausted, sore, and at the end of your strength, but there is a little voice inside you saying “Hooray, I did it!”"

Continue reading “Therapy Series Part 3: What to do After Each Therapy Session” »

In Article 1 of this series, Choosing a Therapist, we talked about how to find and choose a therapist. In this segment, I will talk about making your first therapy appointment, how to prepare, and what to expect when you get there. Finally, I will talk about the evolution and growth of the relationship between you and your therapist.

Continue reading “Therapy Series Part 2: Your First Therapy Appointment” »

Choosing a therapist is a lot like dating. You want to find someone who is supportive, someone who understands you, someone who is compassionate and who cares about your interests, and, above all, someone who you can trust. Also, just like dating, choosing a bad therapist can be a total nightmare, and one bad experience can be so discouraging that you are tempted to just give up. Finally, to make things worse, there are hundreds of therapists and there’s no easy way to pick the right one.

So what’s a person to do?

The answer is simple. Do some research, ask lots of questions, and be patient.

Continue reading “Therapy Series Part 1: Choosing a Therapist” »

Therapy. It’s a loaded word. To someone who suffers from mental illness, no one word sums up all the fears and hopes of sufferers like the word “therapy.” In one word is contained all our fears of exposure and ridicule (”if I go to therapy then everyone will know that I’m crazy!”) alongside our deepest-held and most cherished hopes for recovery and a normal life.

If you suffer from a mental illness, at some point in your life you will end up in some sort of therapy, whether it is a few “stress-buster” sessions with a relaxation coach, or full-blown institutionalization at a mental hospital. For most of us, going to therapy for the first time was, or will be, the most difficult and terrifying thing that we have ever attempted. Beginning therapy is the first step to recovery, and if you suffer from mental illness, it will be when you finally decide to face your illness. This week, I will be writing a series of articles that will attempt to help you begin, and get through, therapy. Therapy saved my life, and I hope I can help it save yours.

Continue reading “Therapy Series: Introduction” »

This article over at Getting Green shows you how to tell you if are getting bad financial advice. It does this by giving you a list of questions that you should ask yourself when someone is telling you how to manage your money.

It’s a great article, and the only thing I would add is that it is always good to get a second opinion on financial advice. Also, if you are currently in therapy, it never hurts to check with your therapist before you make any major financial decisions.

Continue reading “Link: How to Identify Bad Financial Advice” »

Friday is my favorite day of the week. I always make Friday my “do nothing much day.” Even if I have a ton of work to do, I try to plan my time and workload so that I don’t have much to do on Fridays, or, if I can’t avoid working, I try to find some way to take a 1 - 2 hour break during the day (usually at lunch) so I can go and relax.

I started doing this years ago when I realised that I was not taking any time for myself. My weeks were always busy, and on the weekends I was so tied up in social stuff and housework that I was never taking time for myself. So I decided to take Fridays as “my” day to just relax and treat myself. It was one of the smartest things I’ve done.

Continue reading “TGIF! - How to Reward Yourself” »