• Sharing – Talking Openly About Anxiety

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

    I recently had a conversation with someone dealing with anxiety and trying to learn more about it. She desperately needs to know that what she’s experiencing is something that many other people are going through and have gone through. So, I’ve told her about my anxiety. I’ve told her about the times my brain just won’t turn off, and my heart beats faster for no apparent reason at all. I’ve told her about the days when I struggle to remember things because my mind is racing so fast it doesn’t process things I just heard.

    My wife has been there for those conversations. She’s heard me talk about things I’ve not really told her because I don’t want her to worry. Does she worry now? Maybe. Does it really matter to me?

    Yes, it does. I don’t want her to worry, but I’ll trade that for letting someone we both care about know that they are not alone. This is why we need to talk about it. No one should feel alone and ashamed about any mental health issues they may be having. There are just too many others having the same ones for there to be room for judgment instead of support.

  • Sharing – Shower Meditation: Wash Away Your Stress and Anxiety

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

    So, maybe Steven’s suggestion to start with a shower meditation might work for some of you who struggle like me. I’m going to try it, assuming I remember to actually do it instead of rushing to get finished and on to the next thing!

    How do you incorporate mindfulness or meditation into your daily activities? Does it help you?

  • Sharing – Healthy Boundaries for Adult Children of Toxic Parents

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

    There is some good advice in the article about how to create, and maintain, healthy boundaries with a variety of toxic parent “types”, but I will always fall back on one fact of life as a survivor of childhood abuse, we came out of childhood with no idea of what a boundary is, let alone why we would create one. We were never given the opportunity to learn or practice this skill.

    It’s OK if it takes us a minute to figure it out before we get it right.

  • We Teach Children all the Wrong Things

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

    I came across this video of Emma Jean Taylor’s TedTalk about child abuse the other day and wanted to share it with you. First because, as the title of the video says, we teach kids to be wary of strangers all the time but we don’t teach them to also be wary of people they know, despite the fact that up to 90% of sexual abuse victims know the abuser.

    I fell into that category. I remember learning all about windowless vans and strangers with candy. No one ever told me that someone within my own family could also be a sexual abuser.

  • Sharing – Why Mourning for the Self Is a Necessary Part of Healing

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

    It’s the step where you can truly understand at the deepest level that what happened was not your fault. Many a survivor will say that without ever really feeling it, and you can tell because they will say that and immediately begin talking about how weak or needy they were as a child. As if that explains why they were abused, when in fact the only explanation necessary is that someone decided to abuse them.