Superhero

Superhero wrote 173 posts

Bipolar; a back-handed blessing

Neil Walton shares his experience when the stress of divorce, job redundancy, and the death of his father landed him in hospital and later with a diagnosis of Bipolar. The following years would result in job loss after job loss, mental break-downs, being sectioned four times, admitted to three different hospitals, and being arrested twice. But medication and therapy didn’t come close to the healing that resulted when an Occupational Therapist believed in him and supported what he thought might be possible for him.

Having Trichotillomania

University student, blogger, and mental health advocate Skye McAdams shares:

“Having Trichotillomania, at first, is like living on an isolated island in the middle of nowhere – that even the idea of trying to describe such a metaphorical island is a tad pointless because no one will find or see it. Yet I guess that’s what it’s like trying to describe to people that you have Trich; it seems utterly pointless because people stare at you as if you are either a nutter, weird or someone making a fuss out of nothing. I mean, how do you tell people that you sit in front of a bathroom mirror, for up to an hour, strategically deciding which eyelash to pull out next to satisfy the anxious voice in your head because you’ve made a mess of trying to pull out that one particular lash for a long time now?!”

She also writes about how the symptoms are easily dismissed as a “bad habit” and how she’s been “pull free” for 2 years.

Navigating the waters of anxiety

Bethany Rosselit was living in constant fear; she was terrified of losing her job, not paying the bills, losing her husband, fear for her daughter’s future and that she wasn’t a good enough parent. Longing for a life that felt safe a secure, she would escape into food, novels and movies to avoid facing her fears. Bethany discovers that her false beliefs and need for approval are what needed to change.