Beginning Again

I created this blog back in 2009 and never fully used it. I have post-traumatic stress disorder also known as PTSD and major depressive disorder also known as MDD. Because of my mental health diagnosis, I have to go to counseling as required. I was recently told that I should start writing down my thoughts and feelings so I decided to put the blog to use. I know no one may ever read this and that is quite alright. What matters is that I am getting all my thoughts out and not keeping them inside. There is not going to be a set plan for writing. It very well may skip around a lot, a. It will be whatever I need to vent/process/discuss that day. If you continue to read thank you it is appreciated, and I hope that through reading you gain some insight into what someone with my mental health conditions goes through daily. 

THERE IS NO CURE FOR MENTAL ILLNESS! However, there are lots of effective treatments. People with mental illnesses can recover and live long and healthy lives. Some of the most common types of mental health illness are clinical depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, dementia, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Treatment varies with the type of mental disorder but almost always involves psychiatric counseling. Sometimes medications may be prescribed as well.  With clinical depression, the mainstay of treatment is usually medication, talk therapy, or a combination of the two. 

I have been asked before since there is no cure for mental illness then what is a reasonable goal, after many years of counseling and medication I can now confidently say that the goal of mental health recovery is to improve the quality of life and live a meaningful life, even if there is no cure for mental illness. Treatments can help minimize symptoms so that people can function in school, work, or social settings. Recovery focuses on building resilience and coping skills, rather than just treating symptoms. Recovery can help people develop self-esteem and a positive sense of self. Recovery can be about staying in control of one's life, rather than returning to a premorbid (preceding the occurrence of symptoms of a mental or physical disorder) state. Recovery can be a short-term or long-term process. It can involve a combination of medication, therapy (solo and group), and lifestyle changes that are tailored to each person's needs. Some therapeutic approaches include cognitive-behavioral therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and dialectical behavior therapy.

Mental health professionals base their diagnosis and treatment of mental illness on the symptoms that a person exhibits. The goal for these professionals in treating a patient is to relieve the symptoms that interfere with the person's life so that the person can function well. What most people don't realize is that mental health issues can have a massive impact on your physical health. Your brain might not affect every single aspect of your body and its reaction but it does send fight or flight signals where they aren't needed, this extra shot of unnecessary adrenaline can be problematic in our lives. That's normally the effect trauma has on us, putting our mind in constant alert mode and turning it into exhaustion. It is the suppressed emotions that prevent us from moving on with our lives because they keep subconsciously poking the bear.