Positive coping mechanisms are ways of coping with stressors without making our lives even more stressful or making ourselves feel worse, they in fact, can help us solve our issues and help us to feel better. When it comes to positive coping mechanisms, it's not just about relaxing, meditating or exercising (although they are all … Continue reading Coping Mechanisms – Part 2
ptsd
Coping Mechanisms – Part 1
We can use either positive or negative coping mechanisms to help us deal with issues, stresses or challenges we face daily and throughout our lives. These coping mechanisms can either help us get through those challenges (positive ways of coping) or they can leave us with the challenges left unresolved and us feeling worse (negative … Continue reading Coping Mechanisms – Part 1
Self-Destruction
I’ve mentioned in previous articles about how the old Emma used to be self-destructive and by this I mean I would purposely make bad choices that I knew would fuck up my life even more but of course that didn’t always stop me. Self-destruction goes hand in hand with many mental illnesses, such as post … Continue reading Self-Destruction
Childhood Traumas
We all know that our childhood plays a big role in our adult lives and what we experience as a child can be carried with us into adulthood, so for a child to experience some sort of trauma, it’s damaging in many ways. I matured a lot quicker than my friends, other people my age … Continue reading Childhood Traumas
CBD & PTSD
CBD is a chemical compound found in the cannabis plant and it is now widely used for medical reasons as it can help treat skin problems, chronic pains/illnesses, heart disease, cancer, anxiety, depression and PTSD but for the time being I'm going to focus on how CBD can and does help those who suffer from … Continue reading CBD & PTSD
Working With Mental Illnesses
I have an interesting history with employment, not so much where I have worked, but more how I was during the times I worked at those places. My first proper job was waitressing at my mums cafe, I loved it, I was earning my own money and keeping myself busy during my weekends at home … Continue reading Working With Mental Illnesses
Narrative Exposure Therapy
When my counsellor and me were working through my PTSD I had some homework that I needed to complete which was to write a script of the trauma from when it started through to when it ended and then mark my anxiety level (on a scale from 1-100) as I was reading it through. This … Continue reading Narrative Exposure Therapy
Self-Compassion
Self compassion was something I learnt whilst going through my cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). To have compassion for someone is to be sympathetic towards them, for however they are feeling or whatever they have been through. Now, those that know me will know that I hate, hate receiving sympathy. I always have done. I don’t … Continue reading Self-Compassion
Hindsight Bias
My counsellor first mentioned hindsight bias to me when we were going through my therapy and working on my traumas, specifically my dads death. It can also be known as the ‘knew it all along effect’ and it is where people predict the outcome of an event after the event has happened. When working through … Continue reading Hindsight Bias
What Is PTSD?
Post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD for short, is a mental illness that results in the improper processing and storage of traumatic events. PTSD develops because the trauma experience was so distressing that we want to avoid any reminder of it (ironic really), our brains don't process the experience into a memory, so the experience … Continue reading What Is PTSD?
