Finding Your Marbles
A Mental Health Survival Guide

On Thursday, April 5, 2007, I will be participating in Blog Against Sexual Violence Day as part of the national 2007 Sexual Assault Awareness Month campaign to raise awareness about sexual assault. This year, the national slogan for the campaign is “Prevent Sexual Violence…in our communities.”

Participating blogs, including Finding Your Marbles, will be posting articles related to the campaign theme.

If you are a blogger and you would like to participate in the Blog Against Sexual Violence event on Thursday April 5, please either contact me directly or visit the campaign homepage at Abyss2Hope.

If you are a rape survivor, or if you just want to learn more about sexual assault, then I invite you to drop by Finding Your Marbles on April 5th to read my article. I will also be posting links to the other articles in the campaign.

Continue reading “Blog Against Sexual Violence Day - April 5” »

I love meditation.

I started meditating about a year ago, and it has made a huge difference in my peace of mind and my health. I am calmer, more relaxed, and I feel a lot better about myself.

Meditation can also be a great way to manage mental illness. Not only is it relaxing, but meditating also helps you center your thoughts and feelings, which enables to you focus on your healing instead of on your symptoms.

I have tried a bunch of different types of meditation, but the one that works the best for me, and the one that I think has had the biggest positive effect on my mental health, is the ancient“Lectio Divina,” meditation style used by Benedictine monks. It takes a little bit of practice, but it’s easy to learn so you’ll be able to get going very quickly.

Continue reading “How To Meditate Like a Monk” »

Medication can be very expensive, especially medication for mental illness. Lots of expensive research goes into those drugs, and the drug companies charge very high prices to recover their costs.

Since costs can run upwards of $75/month for some medications, this can be a major problem if you are out of money or if you’ve got to take a lot of different medications together. Even worse is when you run out of money in the middle of a medication cycle and you might start missing doses. With some medication, such as SSRIs, missing doses can be very serious so there are some major health implications if you can’t afford meds.

There are a couple of things that you can do to get your medication if you can’t afford to pay for it. Some of them take a bit of work and patience, so it is a good idea to plan ahead and make sure that you always have a good supply. The last thing you want is to be on your last pill when an unexpected bill comes in.

Continue reading “What to do When You Can’t Afford Medication” »

I am a childhood sexual abuse survivor. I am not saying that to gain your sympathy, nor am I trying to start a movement. I am saying it so that if you are a rape survivor and you are reading this article, you will understand that I know what you are going through. I have been there.

In this article, I will give you a list of 10 things that you can do if you have been raped. Some of them will help you in your recovery, some will help you gain justice, and some are just things that I have learned during my own recovery.

However, before I start, there is one thing that I need to say.

It wasn’t your fault.

Write that down and stick it on your wall. Shout it out loud while you are driving in your car. Say it to yourself every morning.

Because it’s true. No matter what you did, or how you acted, or what you wore, or where you were, being raped was not your fault. Never let anyone convince you that it was your fault. You are innocent.

Continue reading “10 Things To Do if You Have Been Raped” »

This article is dedicated to my friend J. We were talking about self-injury the other day and I said something very stupid about people who self-injure. It was unfair and I apologize.

Self-injury is one of those “misunderstood” aspects of mental health. There are all kinds of myths and misconceptions about people who self-injure, from “they are just seeking attention” to “they are just too cowardly to commit suicide.” The sad truth is that self-injury is neither a cry for attention, nor is it “practice” for suicide. It is an unfortunate side effect of many mental illnesses, most notably depression.

When you feel the urge to self-injure, there are a few things that you can do to help make the feelings go away and keep from hurting yourself. In this article I will talk about a couple of them.

Continue reading “What to do When You Want to Self-Injure” »

Isabella Mori, who is a therapist in Vancouver, has written a great article on the importance of letting go of resentment.

Clinging to bad emotions and angry feelings about people and situations can be very self-destructive, and it also drains you of the valuable energy that you need to stay healthy. In other words, letting go of your resentments is good for your mental health.

Isabella gives some great tips on how to confront and deal resentment, from meditation (my favorite) to “imagination.” (which might soon become my new favorite)

If you find that you just can’t let go of your negative feelings, or that you can’t shake your anger towards another person, then you should give Isabella’s article a read.

Continue reading “Link: Letting Go of Resentments” »

For me, one of the worst aspects of depression was how much it affected my ability to make decisions. I’m a “take charge” kind of guy, and I felt absolutely helpless when I was so paralyzed by my depression that I couldn’t even make simple decisions. And tough decisions? Forget it!

Last summer I was reading “What Color is Your Parachute” by Richard Bolles, and I found a great decision making tool. With a bit of tinkering, I have come up with my own version of the tool, and now I use it all the time to help me make tough decisions. I wish I had it 5 years ago when I was still depressed.

Continue reading “How To Make Tough Decisions When You Are Depressed” »

I am one of those lucky people who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as “SAD.” It starts every December; my energy levels drop, my moods change, and I start to have trouble sleeping. Fortunately, I have a couple of ways that I deal with SAD so that it has a minimal impact on my life.

According to the Mood Disorders Society of Canada, nobody really knows what causes SAD. It is thought that the condition is brought on by the body’s response to shorter days and colder temperatures in winter. In general, sufferers report lower energy levels, depressed mood, and, strangely, a huge craving for carbohydrates. (it is this craving that differentiates SAD from depression)

There are lots of treatments available for SAD, such as light boxes, medication and therapy, and they are all worth a try. However, most of the treatments focus on the symptoms and not the underlying condition. To effectively manage SAD, you need make some changes to your lifestyle and habits such as managing your sleeping patterns and habits.

Continue reading “How to Live with Seasonal Affective Disorder” »

I used to be terrible at crisis management. When anything bad happened that was outside my control, I would always come apart at the seams. I would start to panic, and I would end up making a huge mess of things and getting myself more depressed and anxious.

At an old job I had, one of my projects was to write up a crisis management plan. When I was finished this project, I began to wonder if I could apply the same skills and techniques that I used at work to my personal life to see if I could do a better job at crisis management. After some experiments and fine tuning, I developed a five-part personal crisis management system. By applying this system, I was eventually able to manage my anxiety during a crisis. I wasn’t as unprepared when things went wrong, and I was able to quickly calm myself down and get the crisis under control.

Continue reading “How To Manage a Crisis” »