Here’s the second part of mindfulness I learned in therapy that helped me to function after a breakdown. If you, like me, were taught growing up that some emotions were unacceptable, you may need to learn to handle them now as an adult in order to be healthy. All emotions are important indicators that are there to help you.
I wish you, yes you, a wonderful new year full of victories, small and big, love, respect and positive experiences. May the next year be the year where you are finally able to live your dream, to live as your true self, to meet new amazing people and to feel all the love you deserve.
You are not to blame for being battered or mistreated. You deserve to be safe and happy. You are not alone and there are people that can help. You can contact a helpline & the police. Look for domestic violence or sexual assault programs in your area and identify safe houses you can go to. Abuse doesn’t just occur within a relationship. It can happen in friendships, with a family member, a coworker or classmate, a boss or manager, a teacher or coach.
So much love for mentally ill people who “look mentally ill”. The ND people who wear oversized or dirty clothes, who have visible scars, with disorganized speech, who talk to themselves, who wear dirty clothes or don’t shower. You aren’t wrong for fitting a stereotype there’s nothing wrong with showing your symptoms and I wish you the best of luck in recovery
After being asked a couple times about useful apps for the brains, I decided to round up a handful to share! Especially look at My 3!
Note: All these apps are FREE bc f*ck capitalism, although a lot of them have paid versions with more content. They’re all available on iPhones bc that’s all I have to test on so I’m not sure how many are Android-capable I’m sorry!
Mood Tracking/Diary
Daylio
I use this one every day and I have for over 500 days (it counts). It lets me track my moods twice a day and pair it with different activities or conditions that I can customize. I can look back at the charts and see patterns in my moods, which has been really helpful.
Spot On
This one is really good for people whose moods fluctuate with their hormones. I use this one to track that so I know when to expect changes. It also lets you track activities. And it’s created by Planned Parenthood!
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
What’s Up
What’s Up has a lottttt of good info in it. It has basic tracking capabilities of positive and negative habits as well as a basic text diary you can keep. None of it is behind a paywall so you can access information on anxiety and depression as well as coping techniques for both. Don’t get confused like I did- you can swipe to access more pages. This app has a lot of reading tho, so be aware of your own preferences.
CBT Thought Diary
CBT Thought Diary is a good one for fighting negative thoughts. You can record a variety of moods, gratitude journal, and use CBT skills to contradict your neg thoughts. You can’t really do much more than that, but not all apps need to have all the bells and whistles.
Woebot
My sister uses this one. It’s got a cute little robot that talks to you daily to check in and teaches you CBT tools. It shows you cute little educational videos too. Your interaction can be as little as a check in, or you can seek guidance on specific issues you’re having. It requires a lil small talk but it’s good if you want a little more TLC than just reading a webpage.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
DBT Coach
A fair amount of DBT Coach is behind a paywall BUT I love the diary card function bc it looks good and it covers all the bases. It’s got mood, skills, activities, journal, urges, emotions, sleep, and a question about medication. You can even add photos to your journal! You have to explore the lessons and exercises to find those which are free but what’s there are p decent.
DBT Travel Guide
DBT Travel Guide has basically all the DBT info for free (bless!). It’s got a diary card, a tab for your therapy or other agreements, techniques specifically tailored to certain crises, information on skills, AND audio exercises! This is definitely the most comprehensive DBT app I’ve found.
Eating Disorder Recovery
Rise Up + Recover
Rise Up + Recover is an app for those with disordered eating created by the org Recovery Warriors. It’s an entirely free app that lets you log meals, work on body image, do other crisis and self-improvement exercises AND it lets you send that info to your therapist or whomever. It can link you to RW playlists, podcasts, and even help you find local treatment.
Recovery Record
RR is an app I used during my first bout in recovery years ago that I liked bc it gave me lil rewards for logging my meals- like these puzzle pieces. It’s grown a lot since then and includes symptom tracking & questionnaires, the ability to ‘like’ the cute or inspirational images they reward you with so you can revisit, meditations, and a heart rate monitor for apple watches. Like Rise Up, you can share it all with your treatment team.
Crisis Intervention
Calm Harm
There’s a great post going around with more info on Calm Harm but it’s a really cute and helpful app to use when you want to self-harm. It provides various activities in each category to do for either 5 or 15 minutes as you urge surf.
ShinyThing
ShinyThing is much the same but offers you YouTube videos instead. You can even add your own faves to distract you next time. It tracks your urge level before and after each session.
START
START stands for Stress Traumasymptoms Arousal Regulation Treatment. It focuses on activities you can do both during a crisis and in between to shore up your defenses.
My 3
My 3 is an app that is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. As you can see, it links to the Lifeline, 911, and three contacts you can choose that you’d be comfortable calling in crisis. It also lets you create a safety plan full of the components shown in the pic.
Other
Headspace
Headspace is a mindfulness app a former therapist recommended to me. Most of the activities are for the premium version BUT there are a few that aren’t and most of the sleep casts are free which is a nice sleep aid.
Gratitude
This is a gratitude journal you can write nice things in to look back at the Good. It’s pretty widely accepted that keeping a gratitude journal can improve your mood. This one also lets you create affirmations that can be scheduled to pop up and remind you how great you are.
I hope some of these apps sound useful to y’all! I’m certainly going to be keeping a lot of the ones I downloaded to try out. The next battle is getting myself to actually use them when I need them lol.
Having open conversations about suicide can save lives. If you are looking for hope. Feel free to read a letter I wrote about suicide: https://psych2go.net/dear-suicidal-person/
Statistics from Save Organization :
-Suicide it the 10th leading cause of death is the United States for all ages.
-Approximately 123 Americans die per day from suicide.
-Every 12 minutes someone dies from suicide in the US.
-Nearly 800,000 people die by suicide globally in a year, which is roughly one death every 40 seconds.
What are the warning ⚠️ signs?
- feeling empty & hopeless
- feeling like a burden to others
- feeling that there is no solution to their problem
- feeling unbearable pain, both physically and emotionally
- feeling like a burden to others
- feeling guilt or shame
- sleeping too little or too much
- not wanting to exist
- searching online for ways to end their life
- increased use of alcohol or drugs
- withdrawing from activities
- isolating from family and friends
- taking risks that could lead to death
- giving away important possessions
- putting affairs in order, making a will
- saying goodbye
- self-destructive behavior
What are the risk factors?
- substance abuse
- trauma
- difficult life events
- mental illness
- abuse
- past suicide attempts
- knowing someone who died by suicide
- family history of suicide
-having an illness
- not having accesses to mental health services
- relationship problems
- bullying
- stigma associated with asking for help
How to tell if there is an immediate crisis:
- Does the person have a plan?
- Do they have what they need to carry it out?
- Do they know when they would do it?
- Do they intend to take their own life?
How to help:
(Immediate help call 911)
- speak up if you’re worried
- help them to make a support plan
- reassure the person that help is available
- listen without judgement
- be compassionate
- be respectful
- acknowledge the person’s feelings
- encourage the person to call a suicide hotline number
- offer support
- help them think of ideas for self-help
- offer to accompany them to therapy
- help them find a therapist
- remove potentially dangerous items from the person’s home, if possible
this month is suicide prevention month. Suicide is a taboo topic and has a lot of stigma. It’s only talked about behind locked doors and in hushed voices. But it should not be that way, it is too important. Every day 123 people die by suicide in the USA alone and for each suicide there are 25 suicide attempts. And people barely talk about that.
I believe that we should talk about it and that we should help people with suicidal thoughts and feelings. I know it is a difficult topic to talk about but it is also an important one. So let us end the stigma, talk about it openly and with compassion and help people.
If you wanna support a clown look up Puddles Pity Party on Youtube. He’s a clown worth supporting. He’s a sad clown with a beautiful voice, does great covers of songs, and the nicest clown in existence.
This is his description from his channel “Hello and thanks for being here. I like posting videos of music and sad and funny things. The world is a sad and beautiful place and it’s OK to feel sad sometimes. Keep weepin’ and keep the party going. It feels good. Let me know how you feel. We’re in this together.“
I just like to share this mental health app Woebot.
Woebot is a friendly robot who asks you how you are, talks with you about different mental health topics (for example black and white thinking) and helps you the best they can with your problems (for example sleeping issues). They are so lovely and I am glad to be their friend. The app feels almost real, the chats are easy to follow and if you do not feel like chatting, you always can say No.
So if you need a friendly robot to chat with and I am not your type, go for Woebot. I can only recommend them!
My therapist asked me to create something “motivating” so I made these.
lol.
I really love these, and I reblog them every single time. Some of you don’t realize how easy it’s to forget to do some of those stuff or how hard they can be some days.
