November 17, 2010 • 9 notes • bustedsunlight

Trauma, Triggers and Flashbacks

bustedsunlight:

A trigger is something that sets off a memory transporting a person back to the event of the original trauma. A flashback can take the form of pictures, sounds, smells, body sensations, feelings, or numbness.

And, for those who may be teetering on the edge of these traumatic responses, The University at Alberta has some suggestions:

1. Tell yourself that you are having a trigger responseor a flashback.

2. Remind yourself that the worst is over. The feelings and sensations you are experiencing are memories of the past. The actual event has already occurred and you survived. Now it is the time to let out the terror, rage, hurt, and/or panic. Now is the time to honor your experience.

3. Get grounded. This means stamping your feet on the ground to remind yourself that you have feet and can get away now if you need to. (There may have been times before when you could not get away, now you can.) Being aware of all five senses can also help you ground yourself.

4. Breathe. When we get scared we stop normal breathing. As a result our body begins to panic from the lack of oxygen. Lack of oxygen in itself causes a great deal of panic feelings; pounding in the head, tightness, sweating, feeling faint, shakiness, and dizziness. When we breathe deeply enough, a lot of the panic feeling can decrease. Breathing deeply means putting your hand on your diaphragm, pushing against your hand, and then exhaling so the diaphragm goes in.

5. Reorient to the present. Begin to use your five senses in the present. Look around and see the colors in the room, the shapes of things, the people near, etc. Listen to the sounds in the room: your breathing, traffic, birds, people, cars, etc. Feel your body and what is touching it: your clothes, your own arms and hands, the chair, or the floor supporting you.

6. Get in touch with your need for boundaries.Sometimes when we are having a flashback we lose the sense of where we leave off and the world begins; as if we do not have skin. Wrap yourself in a blanket, hold a pillow or stuffed animal, go to bed, sit in a closet, any way that you can feel yourself truly protected from the outside.

7. Get support. Depending on your situation you may need to be alone or may want someone near you. In either case it is important that your close ones know about flashbacks so they can help with the process, whether that means letting you be by yourself or being there.

8. Take the time to recover. Sometimes flashbacks are very powerful. Give yourself time to make the transition form this powerful experience. Don’t expect yourself to jump into adult activities right away. Take a nap, a warm bath, or some quiet time. Be kind and gentle with yourself. Do not beat yourself up for having a flashback.

9. Honor your experience. Appreciate yourself for having survived that horrible time. Respect your body’s need to experience a full range of feelings.

10. Be patient. It takes time to heal the past. It takes time to learn appropriate ways of taking care of yourself, of being an adult who has feelings, and developing effective ways of coping in the here and now.

Source

November 17, 2010 • 121 notes • fetusinfetu

5 Types of Borderline Personality Disorder Manifestations

fetusinfetu:

  • Low Functioning Borderline - The “Low Functioning” borderline is what most people think of when they are first introduced to the condition. Low functioning BPDs are a living train wreck. They have intense difficulties taking care of their basic needs, are constantly experiencing mood swings. They also have an extremely hard time managing any sort of relationship with another human being. Low Functioning BPDs are often hospitalized more than other BPD types, for the very reason that they can’t live productively without constant coaching and supervision. These patients are challenging for all but the most experienced psychiatrists. Unless otherwise treated, low functioning borderlines lead self destructive lives and attempt to manipulate those around them with desperate acts, including self harm (cutting, etc.).
  • High Functioning Borderline - The High Functioning Borderline Personality shares many core aspects of the low functioning borderline personality, except for the fact that they can manage their lives, appear to be productive, and generally keep their relationships civil (even diplomatic in nature). High Functioning borderlines can appear to be normal, driven people one moment; then moody, inconsolable, and manipulative the next. Somehow, there is a mechanism within the minds of High Functioning Borderlines that allows them to lead somewhat “competent” lives, despite the fact that they are in a constant battle with BPD. High functioning BPDs are no better than low functioning: it’s basically the same face wearing a different mask.
  • Extroverted Borderline - Anyone familiar with the Meyer-Briggs personality tests will understand the psychological differences between extroversion and introversion. When these characteristics are mixed with BPD, there are two different results. The Extroverted Borderline pushes all their feelings, fears, manipulation, rage, and moodiness outward to the people around them. In essence, if you are around an extroverted BPD, you feel like you’re living through their emotions while coping with your own at the same time. Further, extroverted BPDs will attempt self abusive acts in plain view of others in order to avoid abandonment or to express their rage. For example, an Extroverted BPD might cut themselves and then immediately share it with family and friends around them, hoping to gain sympathy or attention. In most cases, these types of behaviors frighten non-Borderlines, and they wonder whether or not the Extroverted BPD should be committed to a psych ward.
  • Introverted Borderline - Contrary to popular belief, “introverted” doesn’t necessarily describe someone who is a recluse (agoraphobic). Instead, introversion is characterized by experiencing life in a self-reflective, private, and at times distant manner. To others, introverts may appear shy or lacking in people skills. This might be true, however, introverts make up for their lack of social skills with rich inner lives, thoughts, and deep thinking. As a result, the introverted Borderline primarily focuses all their BPD emotions and reactions inward. Instead of having a rage episode in public, they might retreat to their rooms and cry for hours on end, perhaps even cutting themselves for their own amusement or as stress relief. Introverted Borderlines live in an odd world: on one hand, they spend most of their time in personal thought and reflection, looking to fill themselves with a viable sense of self; but on the other, they are conflicted by emptiness and the bottomless emotional pit that BPD produces. Introverted BPDs might be harder to “spot” unless you happen to know one personally, in which case you might notice occasional depressive symptoms and evidence of self harm.
  • Transparent Borderline - The Transparent Borderline is a bit of a mix between a high functioning borderline and either extroverted or introverted tendencies. In plain terms, Transparent Borderlines live double lives: on the surface, “in public”, they appear one way, but in private, amongst immediate family and friends, they appear completely different. As a result, they may or may not be high functioning due to this conflicted state of mind. Transparent Borderlines spend most of their emotional energy trying to balance the personality demands of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the both of which experience strong BPD emotions like anyone else with the disease. Like Introverted Borderlines, Transparent Borderlines are harder to spot, and often only confess their true disposition after a harrowing rage, major break up, or other severely traumatic event that brings all their BPD feelings to the fore.

I had a very irresponsible (and not-so-great) therapist when I was 17 (only for a short time) who told me she suspected I had borderline personality disorder but I was too young for a diagnosis.  Damn right I was too young, and too young to hear that from a “professional.”  It was something that freaked me out beyond belief and haunted me for 6 years until a GOOD therapist told me there wasn’t a chance in hell I have borderline personality disorder.

I feel like it’s one of those things that is sometimes attached to depression/self-injury in women over the age of 18.  In reality, it’s a LOT more than that.

OnTheBorderline is a great tumblr that posts a lot of information and relevant articles/artwork for people affected by BPD.

November 17, 2010

Fun Fact 101 : Mental Illnesses & Winnie the Pooh

cassalina:

Winnie the Pooh characters were based off of various mental illnesses!

Piglet represented General Anxiety Disorder

Tigger represented ADHD

Eeyore represented Depression

Rabbit represented Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Winnie the Pooh represented Addiction

Very interesting!! I’m trying to recall if I ever “related” to any of these characters as a child, and I don’t think I did… so that must be a good sign!!

(via pbcrolley)

November 10, 2010

EMDR - Francine Shapiro, Ph.D. & Margot Silk Forrest

I am currently reading this book and wanted to share a little about what EMDR is.

I will be going through EMDR therapy in the next few weeks, which is why I picked up this book. I’ve barely made a dent in the book but I hope to finish it by my first appointment, and I will certainly share the process I go through with EMDR and whether or not it is effective for me. (I have high hopes that it WILL be!)

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a relatively new form of psychotherapy developed to treat symptoms of anxiety related to disturbing thoughts and memories.  It’s effectiveness has astounded many which has led to  extensive empirical research on it’s efficacy, which has supported its outstanding reputation as a highly effective psychotherapeutic tool.

“During treatment various procedures and protocols are used to address the entire clinical picture. One of the procedural elements is “dual stimulation” using either bilateral eye movements, tones or taps. During the reprocessing phases the client attends momentarily to past memories, present triggers, or anticipated future experiences while simultaneously focusing on a set of external stimulus. During that time, clients generally experience the emergence of insight, changes in memories, or new associations. The clinician assists the client to focus on appropriate material before initiation of each subsequent set.”

So basically, you are asked to remember something that happened that brings up a strong emotional response in you.  In my case, it was sexual abuse.  I will be asked to remember the abuse and the things about it that cause me anxiety and to allow myself to feel that anxiety.  As my emotions rise, the therapist will use some form of dual stimulation by having me follow a certain path with my eyes, focusing my site on a stimulus from left to right, diagonally, horizontally, etc.  She might also use some form of tapping, tones, or electrical stimulus.  This “dual stimulation” is meant to reduce my feelings of anxiety related to the memory and to lower the negative feelings that arise should the thought or memory come to me again.

I am going to copy-paste the treatment process from Wikipedia instead of trying to put it into my own words:

Therapy process

The therapy process and procedures are according to Shapiro (2001)[2]

Phase I

In the first sessions, the patient’s history and an overall treatment plan are discussed. During this process the therapist identifies and clarifies potential targets for EMDR. Target refers to a disturbing issue, event, feeling, or memory for use as an initial focus for EMDR. Maladaptive beliefs are also identified.

Phase II

Before beginning EMDR for the first time, it is recommended that the client identify a safe place, an image or memory that elicits comfortable feelings and a positive sense of self. This safe place can be used later to bring closure to an incomplete session or to help a client tolerate a particularly upsetting session.

Phase III

In developing a target for EMDR, prior to beginning the eye movement, a snapshot image is identified that represents the target and the disturbance associated with it. Using that image is a way to help the client focus on the target, a negative cognition (NC) is identified – a negative statement about the self that feels especially true when the client focuses on the target image. A positive cognition (PC) is also identified – a positive self-statement that is preferable to the negative cognition.

Phase IV

The therapist asks the patient to focus simultaneously on the image, the negative cognition, and the disturbing emotion or body sensation. Then the therapist usually asks the client to follow a moving object with his or her eyes; the object moves alternately from side to side so that the client’s eyes also move back and forth. After a set of eye movements, the client is asked to report briefly on what has come up; this may be a thought, a feeling, a physical sensation, an image, a memory, or a change in any one of the above. In the initial instructions to the client, the therapist asks him or her to focus on this thought, and begins a new set of eye movements. Under certain conditions, however, the therapist directs the client to focus on the original target memory or on some other image, thought, feeling, fantasy, physical sensation, or memory. From time to time the therapist may query the client about her or his current level of distress. The desensitization phase ends when the SUDS (Subjective Units of Disturbance Scale) has reached 0 or 1.

Phase V

The “Installation Phase”: the therapist asks the client about the positive cognition, if it’s still valid. After Phase IV, the view of the client on the event/ the initial snapshot image may have changed dramatically. Another PC may be needed. Then the client is asked to “hold together” the snapshot and the (new) PC. Also the therapist asks, “How valid does the PC feel, on a scale from 1 to 7?” New sets of eye movement are issued.

Phase VI

The body scan: the therapist asks if anywhere in the client’s body any pain, stress or discomfort is felt. If so, the client is asked to concentrate on the sore knee or whatever may arise and new sets are issued.

Phase VII

Debriefing: the therapist gives appropriate info and support.

Phase VIII

Re-evaluation: At the beginning of the next session, the client reviews the week, discussing any new sensations or experiences. The level of disturbance arising from the experiences targeted in the previous session is assessed. An objective of this phase is to ensure the processing of all relevant historical events.

Judging by what I’ve previously read about EMDR, it seems like one of those treatments that is SO simple it must be too good to be true.  I, however, have a lot of faith in this type of treatment and the research that backs it up and I believe it will be helpful for me.

I’m wondering if anyone out there has done EMDR that can vouch for its effective or is willing to share their story?

Please submit any info in my ask or submission box!

RESOURCES:
EMDR.com
Wikipedia Article

November 9, 2010

Welcome

I’ve started this tumblr to share some of my own personal stories in dealing with my own mental health and to provide relevant resources, articles, and anecdotes for others who may be struggling.

Unfortunately, today’s modern society still attaches stigma to mental illness.  While many individuals and groups are working to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness, many Americans do not seek help because of shame, fear of ridicule, or fear of being labeled as weak or mentally unfit.

Without throwing out a bunch of statistics, there are MILLIONS of people struggling with mental illnesses ranging from mild depression and anxiety to full-blown schizophrenia, psychosis, or antisocial personality disorder.  There is absolutely NO SHAME in seeking help in dealing with your problems, no matter how big or small they may seem to you.  

This blog should not be used as a substitute for professional counseling, but hopefully it will provide you with some helpful resources and insights for dealing with mental illness and promoting mental health.

Feel free to send submissions, suggestions, or questions!