Taking control of an illness is possible for many, to various degrees, but anyone who has had a serious illness knows control isn’t always that easy. It takes work and often support from various people in your life. Sometimes control doesn’t necessarily mean curing the problem, but just lessening the symptoms and the illness progression. Continue reading
I realize this is a photo challenge, but I could not resist responding to the word “security”, without a story attached.
When I was a young holka (Czech for “girl”) through perhaps 32 years old, I had very few fears. It didn’t phase me at six years old to walk two miles to school by myself. At 17, I didn’t mind walking four miles home. When I reached 21, I flew to Taiwan by myself and found a source of living. I went there again by myself at 23, then traveled throughout Asia. I wasn’t intimidated as a young woman. My parents weren’t scared, as many parents would be nowadays. That fact gave me confidence, as did my general fearlessness.
The first time I really started to experience major fear was when the worst of my mental illness struck. Continue reading
This is about misjudging symptoms of many sorts.
I think it is common with some illnesses to often think everything you feel is a symptom of the illness. I can see that with people who have heart disease, perhaps thinking that innocent heart burn is a symptom of their heart disease. In the case of bipolar disorder, many people with bipolar disorder having a burst of energy or even an especially good day wonder “Am I getting manic?” Perhaps sometimes it is an early warning sign, but other times it’s just within the normal range of experience. Continue reading
Are you an illness (label)?
A topic that sometimes comes up in my circles is the use of the “be” verb with medical or mental illnesses. Have you ever noticed that for some illnesses people say “I am [insert illness]” or “He is [insert illness]”? Some specific examples of this labeling include “I am bipolar”, “I am schizophrenic”, “I am an addict”, “I am diabetic”, and “I am epileptic”. I find that strange, especially because you would never say “I am a headache”, or “I am cancer”.
Stigma and Continue reading
For all of you lucky enough not to be in the know, both depersonalization and derealization are states falling under the category of dissociation, which the Mayo Clinic defines as “a disconnection and lack of continuity between thoughts, memories, surroundings, actions and/or identity.” Continue reading
I know there are many people out there that are dead-set against using non-sugar sweeteners. And some research on select non-sugar sweeteners support (or at least used to support) such opposition. Sweetness and no calories? Too good to be true? Well, I have decided that in some cases (or at least for some times) that select non-sugar sweeteners are the better choice for me, not just because of taste or texture, but for baking. Continue reading
Hello readers. If you’ve made it here, then know that I am very very excited! This is my first blog post on a site like WordPress. My purpose in blogging here is to hone my writing skills, explore several topics that mean a lot to me, and serve as an emotional release for all of the goings on in my mind. Continue reading
Bird Flight 