Welcome to this safe space, where I write about my experiences with aphantasia, and mental illness.
Late last summer, I went through weeks of acute panic and anxiety. I was very sick, and the mental and physical symptoms I endured were traumatic. I am in treatment to address those traumas, including the guilt and shame I felt from being sick and the residuals I feel to this day. Continue reading on HealthyPlace.com.
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“I am innocent of the illness that befell me. I am strong. I am brave. I am worthy of self-compassion”. These are a few of my positive affirmations, said aloud or in silence, to help (re-)train my brain. When I started therapy to treat trauma-induced anxiety and panic, these words were hollow and represented nothing more than wishful thinking. As my treatment progresses, adaptive thoughts, similar to my affirmations, are integrating themselves into what I believe about myself. Continue reading on HealthyPlace.com.
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A little while ago, I wrote about my experience with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. I had never heard of EMDR until my therapist, who specializes in trauma therapy, introduced it to me as a way to treat the panic and anxiety I experience associated with a trauma I recently suffered. Now, I’d like to share a video on how I feel immediately following an EMDR therapy session. Continue reading on HealthyPlace.com.
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I have aphantasia, a neurodiversity whereby I am unable to visualize. Most of you reading this now can easily imagine a sunset or a calm lake or fluffy white clouds against a crisp, blue sky. I simply cannot conjure images. Having a blind imagination, as it’s sometimes called, used to trigger my anxiety insomuch as my inability to visualize used to cause frustration, anger, confusion, shame, and a feeling of failure. Continue reading on HealthyPlace.com.
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Therapy can be grueling sometimes. Anybody who tells you differently is either lying or trying to soften the blow. Regardless, they’ve done you a disservice, in my opinion. In order to reap the benefits of therapy, a commitment to work hard in partnership with your therapist is required. I’ve engaged in trauma therapy to help with my anxiety. My experience with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) trauma therapy is hard work that’s paying off. Continue reading on HealthyPlace.com.
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I’ve suffered from anxiety since I was a child, although I didn’t get diagnosed until my late-30s. The often visceral symptoms of anxiety are hard enough for an adult to describe, let alone a child. The episodes I had as a child were scary, and while I tried to explain what was happening to my parents, they simply didn’t know enough back then to help me. And so, I began to suffer my anxiety in silence. Continue reading on HealthyPlace.com.
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I’ve been on antianxiety medication since 2001 when I was first diagnosed with anxiety and depression. Out of some odd compulsion or, perhaps, shame from having to take drugs to manage my mental illness, I went off my medications three times since I began. The first two times, it ended badly. The last time, it ended in disaster. Continue reading on HealthyPlace.com.
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I’ve had panic and anxiety since I was a child, undiagnosed, of course. I remember waking up out of a sound sleep in the middle of a panic attack, although I didn’t know that’s what it was at the time. My parents said I was having bad dreams, which I’m sure made sense to them. Even as a child, I knew that I wasn’t having bad dreams, although the symptoms felt like I was locked in some kind of nightmare. Continue reading on HealthyPlace.com.
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I recently experienced an unexpected anxiety trigger while watching a movie. This had never happened to me before. Granted, the movie was about the impending doom of planet Earth, but it was a “dramedy”: a movie combining elements of drama and comedy. Continue reading on HealthyPlace.com.
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I’ve been drinking an average of two cups of caffeinated coffee a day for decades. Not a lot by some standards. I relished my first “cup of Joe” in the morning, appreciating the way it got me going. That second cup in the afternoon was the delicious pick-me-up I needed. I always knew that caffeine was a stimulant, but I never quite understood how caffeine affected my anxiety, if at all. Continue reading on HealthyPlace.com.
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Cascading Insights 