Tagged With "anniversary reaction"
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When Hidden Grief Gets Triggered During COVID-19 Confinement
first published by The Meadows 4/15/20 Our sense of loss during the current COVID-19 crisis can trigger hidden emotions from when we experienced a sense of loss before. Whatever early losses you have had in your life — whether they be your own divorce, your parents, or both, or the abandonment of one parent, a childhood or parental illness or death, financial upheaval, constant moving around, or growing up with parental addiction or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) — they are likely to...
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When Mindfulness Is a Trauma Trigger: April #MeToo
While mindfulness can be a powerful tool for self-care, it can also act as a trauma trigger. Here I describe how I've come to terms with that.
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A Day At a Time
We are not strangers to unusual challenges in the addiction’s world. We have lived with chaos and unmanageability before and we have learned to use program principals to create calm in a storm. We have also learned to accept and even embrace challenges as part of our spiritual growth. And we have found that embracing those challenges has ultimately led to our being happier, stronger and more resilient people. This current moment in time however, is giving “practicing these principles in all...
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From Compassion Fatigue to Healing Centered Engagement: Turning Trauma Informed Values into Action
To pave the way for a truly strengths-based approach to full healing and recovery for both service users and burned out staff, we must educate them on (1) the central role of primal body responses to trauma (past and present), and (2) the early development of adaptive thoughts and behaviors in response to
traumatic experience.
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How Gratitude Helps Your Brain and Mental Health (thebestbrainpossible.com)
Research has proven many significant benefits in cultivating gratitude for mental and physical health. Studies show that the practice of gratitude can increase happiness levels by an average of 25 percent and overall health by, for example, increasing the quantity and quality of sleep. Beneficial outcomes can be achieved by such simple practices as praying, writing in a gratitude journal, placing a thankful phone call, making a mental gratitude list, or writing a thank-you letter to someone.
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How Helping Others Benefits Your Mental Health
Addiction, anxiety, and depression can be all-consuming and enslaving. When I was spending every night, isolated in my room, indulging in opiates and vodka - my entire world hyper-focused and revolved around my pain. It was certainly not the life I was choosing - or so I thought. My messy head was tortuous, chaotic, and I felt absolutely powerless against it. All of my thoughts were amplified extensions of: “You are never going to be enough and you are unworthy of love and happiness.” I did...
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How shallow breathing affects your whole body [headspace.com]
Laura's note: Many factors can contribute to a tendency to breathe shallowly, including childhood trauma. When your central nervous system has been stuck on constant alert for years--maybe even a lifetime--holding oneself in a way that restricts complete inhalations and exhalations comes with the territory. Many of us have a very hard time relaxing and letting go in a way that allows our breath to occur the way it is designed to for optimal health. And if on top of it you aren't aware of the...
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How To Prepare For A Trauma Anniversary, According To Mental Health Experts [bustle.com]
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be a challenging mental health issue to manage, especially considering it's unique to each and every individual. However, a common trigger for many people with PTSD is their “trauma anniversary,” or the date that a traumatic incident or event occurred. In fact, a trauma anniversary (and the weeks leading up to it) can be one of the most difficult times during the year for people who live with PTSD. Fortunately, mental health experts say there are ways...
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My Story about Healing Moving from “What is wrong with me” to “What is happening – how can I take better care of myself?”
When I was a little girl, I had a lot of ear infections. Did anyone else experience that? Every summer in the middle of the fun of swimming in the pool, I would get an ear infection and one year I got one on my birthday. Obviously, I still remember it. It was a sad time. I always felt like I was missing out on things. And it became a pattern. I would go to the doctor and get lamb’s wool and drops put in my ear. It hurt a lot. I can still remember trying to get comfortable lying on the couch...
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Self-Compassion Is Your Perfect Present Guidance, Even In The Most Troubled And Turbulent Of Times.
There is one sure form of guidance you can follow every moment of the day, even in today's most turbulent of times, to ensure that you follow the path in life that is truly right for you, truly good for you. The simple way of describing this form of guidance is: making self-loving or self-compassionate choices for yourself in the present moment . Be guided by your heart-sense regarding your every thought and action . When things don’t turn out the way you want them to, instead of blaming and...
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Settling In While Feeling Unsettled
How quickly the outside world has influenced our inner world and changed our thoughts, patterns, and triggers. Life is definitely coming in waves. We feel a sense of safety if we can be in a healthy home, fear and worry if we have to venture out for food, calm returns after we practice something that soothes and regulates us, and anxiety builds when we hear news and the impact the virus has on the whole world. We are beginning to expect and accept many unpredictable and unknown...
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Re: Trauma tried to kick down the door. Compassion is helping me heal.
Carey, this is a phenomenal piece. It's so raw and so true. We see how the woman pounding on your door and her actions trigger you, and how you find ways to work through the fight-or-flight response and the terror, and how you connect your reaction to that incident with your childhood experiences. And then you find compassion for yourself AND the woman who terrorized you. Not to mention your parents. And I don't know about you, but I'm reeling at the parallels between the woman at your door...
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Re: Self Soothing Strategies for Parents and Kids
Joyelle, these are great ideas. I love that they are the sorts of things that parents and children can do either together OR alone, especially once the parents have taught the children these strategies and modeled their use. It's so helpful to recognize that for trauma survivors, often when they are feeling stressed it's caused by or exacerbated by an ingrained reaction originating in early trauma, and the key to overcoming that is in the body. Thank you for sharing these ideas here (I was...
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Re: For Many People with Anxiety, Self-Care Just Doesn’t Work [healthline.com]
You know, Diane, I would regret posting this article, if it weren't for the opportunity for discussion it provides that you have recognized and acted upon. Thank you for that. At first glance, the author's view seems short-sighted and she seems bent on "self-care bashing", perhaps because of her frustration at seeing her anxiety worsen instead of improve as she attempts to "do" self-care. She does, though, come around at the end to this notion: If you feel strongly about developing a...
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Re: For Many People with Anxiety, Self-Care Just Doesn’t Work [healthline.com]
Hi Laura, I love your well-thought-out analysis. Thanks for sharing your insights. I had read the entire article before posting my comment and wonder, as you noted, if the beginning was click bait motivated. At the same time, all articles are worth posting when they raise worthwhile discussion and reflection. I reacted to this article because one of my biggest pet peeves is when authors seem to try to boost themselves/their approach by denigrating others. I see this with a backlash to...
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Re: How To Prepare For A Trauma Anniversary, According To Mental Health Experts [bustle.com]
Laura, Thank you for posting this article. For me, it is very timely and helps explain some of what I've been experiencing lately. Thank you for the insight. Karen
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Re: How To Prepare For A Trauma Anniversary, According To Mental Health Experts [bustle.com]
Karen, You're welcome. I'm sorry to hear you are experiencing an anniversary reaction, but glad if this article helps explain it for you. For decades I had an anniversary reaction to a bad car accident I was in as a child, and I always felt silly about it and told myself I was being melodramatic. It didn't help that someone close to me seemed to find my difficulty with the anniversary annoying. When I found out that my reaction was normal and even expected, it made it so much easier to bear.
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Re: How To Prepare For A Trauma Anniversary, According To Mental Health Experts [bustle.com]
This is an excellent article. I really like that the author speaks to both those who need to keep an established routine and those who need to change routines when the trauma anniversary approaches. Thank you, Laura.
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Mental Health Awareness: When Suffering Is Not an Illness
When I was an adolescent and young adult, I struggled with depression. As I reflect back on that time, so much of what I was experiencing was deeply tied to coming to terms with my sexuality. Growing up in the 1980’s in a relatively conservative town, I was closeted (even to myself) until I was a young adult. The pain and fear of being different, of not belonging, of being judged or rejected for who I was more than my adolescent brain could wrap its conscious head around.
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The Neurobiology of Trauma: Somatic Strategies for Resilience
The Neurobiology of Trauma: Somatic Approaches to Resilience By Jennifer Walsh As we have all come to experience over the past several months, trauma is simply a component of the human condition. While it affects both individuals and communities in a variety of ways, we have all experienced difficult, stressful, or even traumatic events over the course of our lifetime. Although social workers have traditionally worked with these vulnerable populations, there are numerous professionals...
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D J Jaffe and A Culture of Fear by Michael Skinner
Dear Pete, I read your blog post, “Influential Critic D. J. Jaffe Has Died: Remembered As “Bomb Thrower” Who Demanded Mental Illness Reforms” and thought of how he has done so much to hurt those of us labeled “mentally ill”. You considered him a friend, he was anything but for those of us struggling with the challenges of trauma, abuse and mental health concerns. These are some of my thoughts on D.J. Jaffe. He did not have the best interests of people struggling despite all of his rhetoric,...
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Professional Joy Stalker
I was thinking today that I might make t-shirts and coffee mugs that say, “professional joy stalker” and come with a list of blissful things to remind myself and others to appreciate. As my friend Lynn says,” What if joy is stalking us?” and all we need to do is be still long enough to notice and marinate in multiple daily pleasures. I love that idea but it didn't come naturally to me. What came naturally was fear. I was always on the search for danger, betrayal, and disappointment. I hunted...
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Horses Teach Us How to Connect on a Human Level
I have always loved horses. When I was a young girl I collected plastic Breyer model horses, read books about horses, and even watched television shows that had an equine theme. I think it is their exquisite beauty, their inherent wild nature, and the vulnerable and trusting relationship between horse and rider that is the attraction. I purchased my first horse when I was twelve, spending a year cutting lawns, weeding, and babysitting, eventually raising enough money along with my parents’...
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CONNECT ALL GUIDE
Also, let me highlight, while Connect All has lots of aspects, it includes, Five through the Filter: an individual self-care framework, which leads to realizing our global need.
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Five through the Filter: An individual self-care framework, which leads to realizing our global need.
Five through the Filter is: An individual (within functionality) self-care framework, which leads to realizing our global need. 'Five through the Filter' was assembled to achieve the Connect All initiative’s one goal and two motivations. One goal: To address all that can be addressed in existence for the most safety and hopeful possibilities. Two motivations: – I need the most safety and hopeful possibilities for myself and (if applicable) who I am attached to. – I both want to positively...
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Stress is Contagious: How to Stop the Spread & Regain Your Health
Stop the spread...of STRESS! Stress is not only triggered by external or internal factors. You can also pick up stress from social interactions – spouse, other household members, colleagues, etc. – usually referred to as emotional contagion. Learn how to stop the spread of stress and regain your health.
Member
Connie Ray
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Progress is Success!
We live in a world that is so fast paced. People are always looking for quick answers and multitasking to achieve more in a shorter time! The past couple of years has been extremely difficult. Many of us were forced to halt, not just pause but stop! That can be a very hard process for our minds, emotions, brain and our body. Having withdrawals from a fast paced life is not something we are taught to be prepared for. So here we are, everyone managing the best way we know how. We are resilient...
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An Alternative View of Resilience
The Stockade Paradox says that we must accept the brutal realities of our existence, yet maintaining enduring hope that we will prevail in the end. I have applied the Paradox to my study of ACE's which began in 2008. I was an early advocate for addressing ACEs in Alaska. In 2013 I wrote a resolution for a Representative in Alaska that called for considering ACEs in health and other policies in Alaska. It took years, but the Representative and other allies improved the resolution I submitted...
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Staying Sane During The Holidays
Staying Sane During The Holidays 11/14/2022 Staying Sane During The Holidays EmpowerSurvivors is a 501(C)(3). All Rights Reserved. © 2022 www.EmpowerSurvivors.net ****Trigger Warning ***** Holidays can be a hard time for survivors of childhood sexual trauma and abuse. For many, it may mean reminders of past childhood abuse or knowing that the person that perpetrated them will be gathered alongside family members. This may leave you feeling a sense of loss and thoughts of why, why would my...