This morning, I was looking through my therapy notes and handouts for two reasons:
I need a reminder on some tools that will help me as I fight against my depression and PTSD demons. It’s amazing how quickly you forget things, and
I wanted to find something useful to share.
And I did. I’m going to talk about TIPP skills, which help reduce extreme emotions quickly (so that you can go about your day, survive the next moment, escape a dangerous situation, etc.)
It’s been a while since I wrote, and I’m too tired to apologize. Take comfort knowing I feel guilty. Always.
I wish I were a machine and could write all the things I want to write. I want to reach people and offer resources I’ve been given, and I felt a fire under my belly for a long time. But then I kept on getting emails from SubStack stating my stats. And on average, only 3 people actually open my newsletter. So, it deflated me, and I don’t feel like I’m doing much good here.
My old PHP therapist, Jon, always said, “If people just utilized deep breathing and exercise in their therapy, I would most likely be out of a job.”
That’s not a slight on his job or a dismissal of people’s problems. It speaks volumes though about how important, yet underutilized, deep breathing and exercise are as tools in your therapy toolbox.
For purposes of this post today though, let’s just focus on deep breathing.
WHY DEEP BREATHING
Playing devil’s advocate, why NOT deep breathing? You have...
This past week I had over ten nerve blocks put into my ribcage.
I have been counting down the days since my pain specialist and I scheduled it because my back pain, especially with my ribs, has been out of control. But the closer I got to the procedure the more worried and anxious I was. Last time I had this done, they only injected my left side and I thought I was going to pass out from the pain. Like many other people with EDS, lidocaine does not work on us, and since that’s the only...
Photo by Myriam Zilles on Unsplash Happy New Year, friends!
It’s with great relief that I closed the doors on 2025 and while I am apprehensive at what 2026 will bring, I also feel a sense of hope that maybe, just maybe, this year will be one of continued healing and less pain, physically, emotionally, and psychologically. I truly hope and wish the same for you as well.
NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS
I am not a proponent of New Year Resolutions because, let’s face it, none of us stick to them.
I know Thanksgiving has already passed. It’s extra hard for me to write sometimes. Despite the chaos of traveling and cooking and cleaning and trying to keep my body and brain in one piece, I’ve been reflecting and jotting down…stuff. And I think these thoughts can carry us through the Christmas season too.
Thanksgiving Chaos
Photo by Kateryna Hliznitsova on Unsplash
Thanksgiving in America is all about being thankful for the things that you have and sharing it...
It’s been 3 months since I’ve written anything. I don’t apologize for being silent because I needed that silence, that space. And to be honest, I couldn’t help it. But I do appreciate your patience through the quiet.
WHAT HAPPENED IN AFRICA IN THE MONTH OF AUGUST
Last time you heard, I was living my best life in Africa on a trip that was very special to me. I was so grateful to be there finally and the wildlife and...
Unfortunately, I had to leave my trip mid-way through, and I am back in the U.S. I have several more days that warrant posts and pictures, but at the moment, I am unable to focus on this. I appreciate your patience, and I promise to send more posts when I am able.
This was an absolutely gorgeous day full of beautiful people and things around Cape Town. Frans, one of the tour guides, sat down to breakfast with me and I was able to discuss my gluten-free food issues with him as well as the medications I brought. I told him I didn’t want to cause any trouble and I had all the necessary prescription bottles and corresponding letters from my doctors and he alleviated my worry right away. “No worries about...
I slept like the dead and woke with difficulty even though I’d been slept for 14 hours. Brenda, a tour guide from Tours By Locals, met me at the hotel and we hopped into her brand new MG HS SUV. We had met and discussed our itinerary and logistics for weeks, and it was nice to finally put a face to her name. She said it was very unusual for any of her clients to ask for an itinerary solely geared towards animals but she was open to the idea. She was a...
Well, in some ways I can tell that I am rusty at this whole international travel thing. In others, I can see that it’s just like getting in the groove of anything else you’ve practiced a lot in the past. I have certainly prepped longer and harder on this trip to Africa than I have on any other trip I’ve ever taken…mainly because it’s a brand new destination for me and because I have medical and mental health issues that I wasn’t battling back when...
Two posts ago, I talked about the trip to Africa that I am about to go on in less than a week, and my last post offered lessons I have learned about traveling with medical and mental health struggles, specifically during the planning of this trip. Now, here are some more lessons that I’ve learned and lived through during the years I was in eastern Europe and east Asia and my other travels to 31 countries. They should be applicable to anyone and everyone when...
In my last post, I discussed my travel plans to Africa, which are coming up in a week. Traveling with mental and medical illnesses DOES make traveling extra stressful, but not impossible. I think just recognizing that it will take a lot more time and energy than it would for a “normal” person and planning for it accordingly makes travel more accessible to us.
Here are lessons that I have learned during the planning of this trip to Africa (I am sure...
I swear I am not totally crazy (though we have established I am at least a little), and I swear that I’m not just being irresponsibly impulsive.
WHEN DID I START THINKING ABOUT THIS TRIP?
Well, when my ex and I sold our house in Maryland this past February, I set some of my money aside for a big trip. Though there are lots of places I still want to go (South America, the Stans, Scandinavia in...
I have recently been watching Brilliant Minds with my mom and grandmother. I love this show because it is all about solving medical mysteries, and the protagonist, Dr. Wolf, is a unique, brilliant doctor who does everything he can to understand and help his patients (what I would give to have a doctor like this in real life!). Dr. Wolf has a history of trauma and lives with a disease that prevents him from recognizing faces called prosopagnosia or Face Blindness. He also struggles with not...
After job hunting full-time since March (including 87+ applications, a dozen interviews in-person and on zoom, as well as multiple scams), I finally landed a job a couple of weeks ago with a trust and estates law firm in California. Despite the arduous one-month process of negotiations that involved sending/receiving over a hundred emails with the recruiter, compiling references from past jobs that apparently no longer give references, completing background...
Well, I feel like I’m losing my mind today (not a terribly unusual occurrence).
I’ve been complaining to my psychiatrist and my therapist that I get so overwhelmed some days that I become paralyzed. The paralyzed feeling then seems to overpower me even more, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to get anything done. That fact that it feels like a million things need to be done immobilizes me even further.
It’s akin to what I feel when I am in a crisis....
“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”--William Shakespeare
I know I tend to talk about hard things…things from my past, things I’m going through now, lessons I’ve learned and am learning. But today I just want to talk about the wonderful love and support I receive from the people in my life and how I am brimming over with gratitude.
I seem to go through them like a kid who has a new stash of Halloween candy, or like a washing machine or dryer that eats socks. At this point, I’ve easily seen dozens of therapists.
I promise I don’t just discard them willy-nilly. And I’m not just being a difficult client. Finding a new therapist is honestly like being on a dating app. You see someone you think you’ll like, and after one date, you realize “Hell...
