“What can I do to help?” “Have you tried doing x/y/z?” My friends are coming from a place of love and concern and genuine care for how I am doing. But those question are huge triggers for me. How can I tell people who are only trying to help that what they’re doing is onlyContinue reading “With a little help from my friends…”
Author Archives: loribarett
A much needed vacation
With summer hitting a horrific heat wave, a new semester starting at the University where I work and knowing that we’ll be going into the office for work in just another week for the first time since March 2020, and the stress of a dangerous new variant of covid – I’ve been feeling a lotContinue reading “A much needed vacation”
“What meds are you on?”
“What meds are you on?” I am pretty sure that every person with a mental illness has had THIS CONVERSATION at least once when they sit down with another person with a mental illness. By the time that conversation comes about we’ve all learned that there is no one magic pill to cure mental illness.Continue reading ““What meds are you on?””
Keys to a strong support network
None of us are perfect. Even when we know what we ought to do, we don’t always follow the rules. It’s when we know the rules, but consistently ignore them, that things start to fall apart. This is most important when it comes to the people in our lives. When a person has a mentalContinue reading “Keys to a strong support network”
My difficulties in recognizing hypomanic red flags
The symptoms of mania are identifiable as being a serious change from the way a person normally thinks and acts. feeling overly upbeat, jumpy, or wired. having a decreased need for sleep talking very fast, often with racing thoughts feeling extremely restless or impulsive becoming easily distracted exaggerated sense of well-being and self-confidence (euphoria) engagingContinue reading “My difficulties in recognizing hypomanic red flags”
What is Mania?
REMINDER – I am not a mental health professional! My posts on this subject are based on my own experiences and information gained from years of therapy and personal research. The general description of bipolar disorder is that it is a mental health condition that causes extreme episodic mood swings that include emotional lows (depression)Continue reading “What is Mania?”
Therapy is hard
I’ve spent time at the looney bin. And I was grateful for it. Because sometimes it’s the right place to be. Painful, sure. But, what’s worse is when someone would look at you… like you shouldn’t be there. I always felt like I’d done something wrong rather than just… having a disease. Bones, season 9,Continue reading “Therapy is hard”
How do we discover our values?
I have suffered frequently over the years from extreme feelings of worthlessness. Like I’ve done nothing in my life good enough to be considered accomplished. Depression and anxiety just makes it harder for me to recognize otherwise. A reason for this is due to focusing on the wrong things. If we don’t place enough valueContinue reading “How do we discover our values?”
Celebrate the little things
In 2013 I tripped on the sidewalk and broke my leg. It was so bad that when the chief of orthopedic trauma at MGH saw my x-rays his response was, “Oh, that’s interesting!” I learned that hearing that from a doctor is something you never want to hear. Took multiple surgeries to repair, almost aContinue reading “Celebrate the little things”
Talking about depression
I’ve been working on something else to post this Friday, as scheduled. But I got to thinking about depression yesterday. The thoughts started pouring out of me, so I felt I’d share it now rather than waiting to post it on a schedule. This one may not be as carefully written (and the associated imageContinue reading “Talking about depression”
Lies we tell ourselves
Weak. A burden. Selfish. Irresponsible. A failure. Alone. Worthless. Crazy. My brain tells me I am these things nearly every day. This is just one of the manifestations of my anxiety and my depression. Whenever I express them out loud, my friends will try to help by responding, “your brain is stupid.” I am generallyContinue reading “Lies we tell ourselves”
They’re just letters
There are 26 letters in the alphabet. Those 26 letters have changed my life. Within them, I found myself. BPAD PTSD GAD ADD RSD Just looking at that, most people would just see an assortment of letters. They don’t spell anything. They’re just letters. So why are these letters, when put together in these particularContinue reading “They’re just letters”
Welcome to my world 