better MENTAL HEALTH
Real
people Rebecca owns her mental health
MAGAZINE
APRIL 2021 ISSUE 5
You are more by yourself
*FREE* Learn how to thrive alone
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topics
How we view mental health
Improve wellbeing every day Colouring-in for Mindfulness
10
things about Borderline Personality
· VIOLET’S MIND · MEDITATION · SELF-EFFICIENCY · BUDDHIST THERAPY · better.com|April 2021|1
Topics featured 03 Feeling a little unwell 07 We view mental health Questions to help you realise your goals and aspirations
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10 Art for Mind’s Sake 32 Senior Management 86 Peers in Community 04 Borderline Personality How to speak up for others
48 Working with Yourself 50 Eating Disorder 58 Healthy first
Relationship with exercise
66 Back to nature 81 Use your voice
06 An Unlikely Friend
11 Nothing to be ashamed
18 Colouring-in with Clare
21 Expressing Mindfulness
106 The Power Meditation
24 Playing with yourself Direcció editorial Laura Sánchez Disseny i maquetació Mercè Serra Redacció Júlia Saperas Edició Marfil edicions Impressió Marfil impressions C/ Roc Boronat, 138
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She ignored the signs
110 Recovery
Wellbeing 09 Psychotherapy 09 Sober & Sane 09 How to Help Others
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09 New Budhism is unique 116 Self-Efficacy
Learn how to cope with your friends mental health
120 Mindful Meditation
124 We meet the duo
56 Life Nearly Lost
Behind the viral London bars
true story
Feeling a little unwell
Acceptance was very difficult for me, and still is. From the beginning, the thought that I am bipolar haunted me. I became consumed. Writing | Mercè Serra
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ipolar disorder, also known as magnific depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. National Institute of Mental Health (www.nimh.nih.gov). Treatment does relalize some of the in varies for each patient. For me, the method of choice by my doctors were antidepressants and mood stabilisers, paired with monthly therapy sessions; bi-monthly depending on the severity of things. I recall when I was first diagnosed. It felt surreal. A part of me always had a hunch that I could have perhaps been bipolar, but to actually be told that by medical professionals was a lot more difficult to come to terms with than expected. I sow reflected in the mirror a good on the times my teenage self wore the label “bipolar” like a badge. People described me as explosive, but they recognize the bestie with many mood swings and there are some of multiple personalities. They were in awe at how often my mood could do the best of something toggle between really high, and extremely low. “Call me bipolar Barbie”, I’d joke, having not realised then the severity of what the illness really is. Although, it was not a form of mocking bipolar disorder and those who have it, but rather my way of acknowledging that I honestly believed there was something wrong with me. Instead of running from the possibility that something could be wrong, I embraced it and sought help. There was always the deep fascination with how differently people’s minds can work as a result of mental illness. I’d research endlessly until I
knew as much as I could about mental illness, mainly out of curiosity, and partially to compare myself to the symptoms. It was all so interesting; an obsession almost, that is until the day I learned that I was indeed suffering from bipolar (II) disorder. It’s a lot easier to see these things from a third-party point of view, but when you’re living it... when you’re aware of how and why you do things a certain way in comparison to other people, it makes you self-conscious. It makes you question your every action, every word you say; everything now comes into perspective. You may wonder, ‘Am I actually this way? Or is this my illness?’ Personally, my entire life went into question when I was diagnosed. When the disorder was a speculation, there was no shame “Am I actually this way? Or is this” my to say something could was wrong with me and causing me to behave the way I do; however, upon confirmation of it, I felt like I was less of a person. Nothing changed. I was still the same me I always had been. Except now with the opportunity to receive help to improve my mental health. Yet, there was fear and paranoia is the consuming me. Many worries had about others had warping the views they once ha d t he re of me because had it was some of my friends. font: Pexel
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Keys on how to treat Borderline Personality Disorder with your friends and family. BPD patients tend to personify the concept of cognitive distortions in the area of “Black and White” thinking. They classify themselves and others as “good or bad” and can’t classify people in the areas of “shades of gray.” Those that are on the positive side should be rewarded while those. Writing|Júlia Saperas
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he following are some highlights for treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder. Borderline Personality Disorders Tend To Bleed Together With Other Disorders. When treating a patient with BPD it is important to assess and treat other potential mental health disorders that often accompany these patients. The diagnosis that are comorbid with this disorder tend to be Major Depression, Dysthymia, Substance Abuse and a concurrent disorder such as Narcissistic or AntisocialPersonality Disorder. Therefore, any patient that seems to present with this.
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1. Underly assumpts of BPD Patients again? BPD patients tend to personify the concept of cognitive distortions in the area of “Black and White” thinking. They classify themselves and others as “good or bad” and can’t classify people in the areas of “shades of gray.” Those that are on the positive side should be rewarded while those on the negative side need be ostracized or punished. This “wwBlack and White Thinking” must be addressed. A word of caution, if a BPD patient comes to you and states that you are the
“best” therapist remember that they can swing to the very other side of the pendulum quickly and unpredictably nality Disorders Tend To Bleed Together With Other Disorders. When treating a patient with BPD it is important to me.
2. Look Towards Previous History to Find Current Reasons? Abuse, especially sexual (it accounts for as much as 70% of patient history), as a child seems to be a key trigger for development of disorder. I embraced and
a word of caution, if a BPD patient comes to you and states that you are the “best” therapist remember that they can swing to the very other side of the pendulum quickly and unpredictably. Encouraging them to eat right, sleep right, avoid substance usag nality Disorders Tend To Bleed Together With Other.
3. Seek to look under the anger for larger roots Many believe that BPD is a “female” disorder while, in fact, it is more common in women it still occurs in men. Another myth is that BPD is ineffective to counseling. While it is true that BPD is resistant to many counseling paradigms; certain counseling models are more effective in working with these patients a must be addressed in the sessions. Providing journaling through paper or in smartphone application.
4. Cognitive Distortions and CBT are Important Elements
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Common cognitive distortions issues of “black and white thinking, generalization, blaming” and the host of other distortions that are listed under distortions must be addressed in the sessions. Providing journaling through paper or in smartphone applications will help patients be aware when they are using cognitive distortional thinking and placing themselves on a healthy mental track when they are out of session member that they can swing to the very other side of the pendulum quickly and unpredictably.
5. Responsibility is a Key Patients must begin to accept responsibility in all facets in their treatment. Though this is a common mantra fwwD. If they have substance abuse issues this precludes effective counseling for other issues and therefore they must seek substance abuse treatment. In all of their relationships they must seek to recognize their responsibility in development of maladaptive relational patterns. Responsibility in relationships must also be confronted directly as opposed to using maladaptive patterns of fleeing, blaming, going on the defense or using substances to dull the pain of relational.
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An Unlikely Friend
I know I will get electric shock therapy (ECT) one day. I think. I think I can trust myself on this. After all, my intuition told me in the eighth grade that I was developing a mental illness, and here I am. I knew because I was reading a book about a girl who had bipolar disorder, and though I didn’t know what that meant, and I am no psychic. knew I had something similar. Writing | Laura Sánchez
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he character in the book I was reading experienced extreme chang Wes in mood and behavior, throughout the story, and – almost in sync – I was starting to change too. I was becoming depressed, reserved, and starkly different from the happy- go-lucky kid I had been. Admittedly, the thought of getting electric pulses sent through my brain and getting a mini- is scary; but I’m not one to discriminate. The thought of having ECT may be scary, but so many other things in life are scary, too... and I somehow manage with all of those. ECT and they are so will treat my. Depres-
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sion, but there is you go first. Heard (from viewing an Internet video by a
Against eccentric treatment for yourself (or for eccentric anything). brave sufferer of schizophrenia) that it can help with obsessive-compulsive disorder, too. Hopefully, if I do need it, the ECT will alleviate my mind’s fierce gnawing at itself, softening its pain at walking away from the stove or the car. Parts of me wish I could just stand by my kitchen stove and by my car for hours, checking to make sure the stove-top is turned off, and the car doors are locked.
And hopefully, ECT will help with the feelings of being contaminated by dirt. When I wash my hands, I go over-board, scratching the bar of soap with my fingernails to get one- hundred per cent clean, washing and rinsing up to 6 or 7 times. I know I have a little own and feel a little skewed perception of cleanliness home, because I have an important fantasize about soap, for Pete’s own sake. This may seem wholly and extremely inappropriate so, but when I was living in a dorm, my sophomore year of college, I was in love with my suitemate’s hand- soap. I used to pump a few dollops of soap onto my eager hands when
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my suitemate wasn’t looking, and enjoy myself. The hand-soap had little blue beads, in it, and smelled like the ocean. Against my palms, the soap lathered into a terrific foam. The beads scrubbed against my hands, and dissolved into a sapphire liquid. Watching the whitish suds and the blue streams of melted beads running down the drain provided me with a comforting satisfaction. Since leaving my dorm, and my suitemate’s hand-soap, I feel like a small part of me has died. I believe I displayed signs of an Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder when I was a little kid too. I remember that, if I were to be walking down the stairs in my house, and my right arm happened to brush against the wall, I would have to take a few steps back, up the stairs, and deliberately brush my left arm against the same spot my right arm had touched. Call heaven it “needing more balance in the today was the most funny story I universe” or just a chemical flaw – it was what it was. And it was just a given – it was a no- brainer. And, what’s more, I thought everyone was like that. I am pretty sure that I’m also obsessive-compulsive over things that I don’t even think about. I’m probably obsessive-compulsive while watching TV. Subconsciously, I
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Why? Because. Just because. There is no logical answer. Despite every bad feeling that has come with it, I don’t want my disorder to go away.
probably make sure the head of the remote faces the right corner of the TV, while sitting on the carpet, using invisible parallel lines, in space, as rough measurement. It taught me about myself; it made me a more compassionate person. It’s become a friend – more loyal than even some people who you’re
Like most things, this is easy to say, in retrospect. “supposed” to have as friends. On the other hand, I have found that being cruel without reason is not a characteristic of OCD. OCD can be cruel, yes, but it has every right to be so. And as the cruelty it manifests painfully scrapes against my heart, it polishes it into something better than it was, before. This is more than can be said for the “friend” who has cold airs. Spiteful insinuations to offer me. Ethar Hamid is an aspiring wri and draws to represent her mental health. Her writing draws heavily from her experiences with mental illness. She believes there is much beauty to be found in what is traditionally considered “ugliness,” like pain and distress. Ethar
likes the poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, by T.S. Eliot. The harmony of the verses “Shall I part my hair to eat a peach? I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to
Unprovoked cruel on the part of my friends is part of my own great. me” often run through her mind. Ethar is a junior at George Mason University, pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts. On the other hand, I have found that being cruel without reason is not a characteristic of better than it was beautiful. I know I have a little own and feel a little skewed perception of cleanliness home, because I have an important fantasize about soap, for Pete’s own sake. This may seem wholly and extremely like pain and distress.
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Our rage may be out of proportion to the immediate situation yet, along with this rage, we may momentarily experience a sense of personal liberation and exhilaration. This explosive power, of course, reflects our animal side. It’s like a Bengal tiger pouncing out of a cage, with its massive paws; orange fur with black stripes; and long, arched tail. Nearly everyone carries a tiger inside. It’s the part that has all the anger, yet also has help of the all the happy fun. Our tiger represents our honest emotions minus any restraints. We want to liberate our honest feelings to take charge of our lives. Yet it’s important to not just release our tiger and allow him or her to run wild — limits must be set. Our tiger won’t listen to the embedded voice of authority inside our heads, much less to authority outside our heads. Embedded authority and the tiger have been at odds all of our lives; the two are incompatible and frequently in conflict, which manifests itself in periods of depression, anxiety, and low but important self-esteem. PRT supports the concept of free will as being necessary for responsible decision-making, but not a world view of mechanical cause-effect or other’s from
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this and from some social values and norms being imposed upon our emotional lives. Life would not be worthe real feeling so hard is the living without the freedom to love, have fun, and connect the vitality of our tiger with the rational power of our beliefs. Values, nothing can stop us from resolving some of this for the interior the intrapersonal conflicts that prevent us from being the best. At first blush, the tiger animals
Eat to support your healthy cycle savage and danger metaphor may seem frivolous. Yet, this metaphor is easily accessible as the source of anger and love, enabling us to feel some good about our inner selves, not to be suppressed out of disgust, revulsion or fear. Nearly everyone can connect with his or her tiger as a metaphor for one’s innermost feelings. The tiger metaphor gives rise to openness and congeniality with some of them like do others. How does it works if does not go? The proposed etiology for mental disorders are involved and or this they involves a two-step process: As children we are socialized to adopt values and norms that are dysfunctional for us as adults, which lead to unresol-
ved intrapersonal mistery conflict; and Unresolved intra personal conflict gives rise to anxiety, depression and a multitude of self-defeating. Almost everyone of them feels. An unresolved feeling of hard anger. Behavioral change is brought about by accessing and dealing with our unresolved anger from the past, which most often is toward authority figures, whether justified or not. Setting the frame: Our rational mind has two voices: our own voice and the voice of authority figures embedded in our minds from childhood like you must look before.
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Serena Williams has over 30 years’ nursing experience of which 20 years has been with mentally ill and. Serena has worked in regional and communities providing mental health care. For more nursing information, visit nurisng-resource.org.uk
Sober & Sane
How to help others
Writing|Júlia Saperas
Writing|Mercè Serra
I learned that I had a problem with addiction in a mental hospital. I finally agreed to commit myself after two months of battling a debilitating depression. I simply saw myself as a fun-loving woman who enjoyed a good party. Besides, I was twenty-two and legal to drink. I ignored the fact that it had been a big part of my life since I was sixteen. Ultimately, it was a painful broken marriage engagement that landed me in the hospital. It was actually the second time we had called. off.wedding. Well, the third time if you count when the church burnt down. nosed. It felt surreal. A part of me always had a hunch that I could have perhaps been bipolar, but to actually be told that by medical professionals was a lot. Almost everyone of them feels. An unresolved feeling of hard anger.
Two years ago, oh good my fact that it had been a big part of my life I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety with panic attacks, a week before I was set to compete in the Miss a mental hospital. I finally agreed to commit myself after two months Pennsylvania stage. The diagnosis itself didn’t surprise me a mental hospital. I finally agreed to commit myself after two months much, but I didn’t think I was depressed. I knew what depression my name is my god felt carry you i third time if you count when the church by medical.
New Budhism is unique Writing|Laura Sánchez
People come to psychotherapy for various reasons. There may be a trigger such as a relationship challenge, death of a loved one, or diagnosis of an illness that causes a person to think about their life in a different way. Others come with existential questions about how to live life with more meaning. Clients with similar concerns seek the support of Megan Thorpe, an experienced psychotherapist with Buddhist leanings who has worked for many years in hospitals, hospitals.nd private practice in Sydney. What makes Buddhist psychotherapy different to other forms of psychotherapy is that it starts now.
Psychotherapy Writing|Júlia Saperas Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. National Institute of Mental Health (www.nimh. nih.gov). Treatment varies for each patient. For me, the method of choice by my doctors oh my were antidepressants and oh my god mood stabilisers, paired with monthly therapy sessions; bi-monthly depending on the severity of things. I recall when I was first. sed. It felt surreal. The more I wished for it to happen the more it never didA part of me always had a hunch that I could have perhaps been bipolar, but to actually be told that by medical professionals was a lot more difficult. At first blush, the tiger animals savage and danger metaphor may be you.
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HEALTH
You have nothing to be ashamed of When I first began my recovery journey from Mental Illness, my partner told me: ‘I don’t care what illness you have; I will always stay by your side as long as you get some help’. When I went to the doctor, I thought that I would also address the breathing difficulty I’d been having. He told me it was anxiety, but I oh my god didn’t believe him. After all, I knew he is my body better than anyone else, right? He did some my tests and told me that I had depression, anxiety and stress. He prescribed me some medication and I went home. I threw myself on my bed and bawled. I didn’t want these labels or this illness. As time passed though, I realised I also didn’t want to have to hide something like this. It took me only a few weeks to begin telling people what was happening in my life. First, my family, and then my closest friends. Then, my roller derby team and my league. Finally, I wrote a blog post about it and told anyone who cared to read it. By then, I was already on my way to personally shedding the cloak of stigma surrounding my mental illness. So (believe it or not), the more people I told, the easier it got, and therein lays the biggest secret of all; the more at ease you are with your mental illness, the less you care what others think. When you no longer care at all that people know, you will feel that cloak slip off your shoulders and you’ll be all the more ready to step forward.
Writing | Laura Sánchez
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treat yourself like someone you love Campanya per a la salut mental dels joves www.yougofirst.cat
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