Category / Mental Health

by tracycpoetry

Teasers for Future Blog Entries

It’s time for me to get back into consistently blogging.

Nah…. Actually, I’ll be honest with myself and you. It’s time to start blogging consistently.

I’ve never really sustained a time, place, and pattern for writing and getting the thoughts and ideas rattling around in my brain out there more consistently.

Yes, these MEMEs could be considered a “teaser” for readers of blog posts yet to come.

More than anything though, these are reminders to myself that it’s long past time to leave words unspoken and things undone.

But of course, it won’t hurt my feelings at all if you tap that “subscribe” button in the lower left corner so you can read full blog posts on these MEMEs if/when I right them.

And… knowing people are watching, might just motivate me to get more of my thoughts, poetry, and such out there.

So, click subscribe and help a wanna-be writer out please? Who knows? The words you or someone else may need to hear might just be stuck in my head.

Survival is overrated. Choose, instead, to #thrive.
I’m unsure of the original source of this quote, but it bears repeating.
by tracycpoetry

The Hazards of Living with Hate

Although the haiku is my own, the words below are not.

They were written by a dear friend of mine and I believe they must be shared. (I am sharing them with her permission).

Life is simply too short to let fear, anger, and resentment rule. And, as recently demonstrated at a political rally, our angry words may become the fodder for delusional marching orders in the brains of severely mentally ill individuals causing death and destruction that cannot be reversed.

Please take the time to read the words below with an open heart so healing can start for all of us….

P L E A S E ! ! ! Can we stop the HORRIFIC name calling of Biden and Trump? It’s doing nothing but creating hate in our world and it’s destroying society. I’ve been guilty of this too.

Here are my two cents:

  1. No one EVER changes their mind because of what you just said.
  2. Both candidates have negative and positive attributes.
  3. This election will be over in 4 months, but the friend or family member that we fight with about this may be gone from our life forever because of our differing views.
  4. Our life experiences have a large impact on our choice of candidates.
  5. Politicians say terrible things about each other and then glad-hand each other. That is the definition of politics these days.
  6. Social media gives us the opportunity to act like politicians, but there is no forgiveness after saying things we shouldn’t.
  7. Politeness and kindness are almost gone from our society. Hopefully there is still time to change this!
  8. Try to forget the things that have been said about your candidate. Give your opinion in the voting booth.
  9. Don’t become politicians.
  10. Your children and grandchildren are absorbing too much hate in this world. Be a great example of maturity.
  11. Living with hate changes us.

P L E A S E stop attacking the other candidate. We’re better than that and it has to start somewhere. Why not let it be you? Your voice counts on November 5th.

by tracycpoetry

Hard Lessons from Chronic Trauma

Our neurobiology can be unforgiving.

For me, daily bullying during my entire K-12 education made being disdained, relentlessly teased, ignored, isolated, spit at, and harassed in multiple other ways my “normal”.

As a young adult,the long-term relationship I chose recreated that “normal”.

It’s been almost a full decade now since I started taking steps to get healthy and live out a “new normal” for myself.

But I am learning the hard way that changing the situation is not the only thing needed to truly heal from the trauma.

Through a lot of prayer, reflection, and therapy, I recently had a “hindsight is 20/20” moment and realized that some actions and words toward a few people in my life that I love so much were probably some unconscious self-sabotage caused by my stubborn neurochemistry trying to drive me back to old “normal” of being hated and alone.

Though the damage caused to those relationships may never be undone, I thank my Maker for each new day to live and learn and to do whatever it takes to heal and to never again cause such pain.

And I am putting this out there with a hope and a prayer that someone reading this may be spared from learning this lesson the hard way.

Maker God, my old ways haven’t worked my whole life. Please do a new thing in me today!

by tracycpoetry

Thoughts on Mental Health

It’s Mental Health Awareness Month.

People who deal with mental health issues (a good percentage of us – actually) are sometimes referred to AS their illness, rather than people WITH an illness. Some examples of this are “He’s a schizophrenic” or “She’s an addict”.

A diagnosis of mental illness should NEVER be seen as a person’s identity OR as an automatic life sentence to misery and struggle.

There is ALWAYS hope for recovery!

by tracycpoetry

Warning Sign Haiku #2

If you’re in a conversation that’s making you doubt your own knowledge, experience, and perhaps even your sanity – put a #stop to it!

If perceptions of reality don’t align and it’s just a circular battle that has you spinning – that’s #toxic so put a #stop to it!

In a healthy relationship, agreeing to disagree and coming to the most beneficial resolution for all will be the result of stepping back and gaining perspective. You both understand that relationship is more valuable than being right.

But if the other in the relationship just wants to keep pouring oil on the flame of their fight to be right or they punish you with long silence after heartfelt apology has been offered, you may have to make the difficult decision to walk away (or to not fight to get them back or obsess about the loss after they walk away).

Either way, #crazymaking is too toxic to allow in friendships, family, work, or any environment.

Stay sane, my friends. Even if the steps to sanity sometimes cause pain.

by tracycpoetry

Mental Health vs. Physical Health

Now, don’t get me wrong….

I believe each individual is responsible for taking care of ourselves, physically and mentally in the best way possible for our own good and the good of those around us.

A person with a severe peanut allergy is ultimately responsible for getting the treatment they need, carrying an epi pen, and managing their triggers. But sometimes that sneaky peanut exposure breaks through.

What if people treated physical illness like so many treat mental illness? Imagine this with me…. Someone at the grocery store accepts a bite of a delicious looking desert from “the sample lady”. They ask if there are any nuts in it and are told, erroneously, no. The shopper takes a bite of the treat and next thing you know she begins coughing, panicking, turning beet red, and collapses to the floor.

What if the people around instead of trying to help said, “Oh, she’s faking it. Allergies are all in your head.”, “Kids, let’s get away from here – that woman’s crazy. Her hand hit one of you as she fell – it’s not safe to be around her”, or “It’s her own fault for taking the sample. Let’s just let her face the consequences”.

I’m exhausted right now from dealing with some recent triggers of my own. So I will leave it right there.

But please join me in trying to spread some understanding….