#"Burnout symptoms"

[onefite]

10 Common Symptoms of a Mental Breakdown

10 Common Symptoms of a Mental Breakdown Introduction Feeling overwhelmed or having a tough time coping? You’re not alone. Many of us go through periods where it feels like the world is crashing down around us. This state often signals a mental breakdown, a term that describes a period of intense mental distress. During this time, managing day-to-day tasks can feel impossible. By understanding…

Vezi pe WordPress

[rewcana]

List of Traits that are Common Amongst Autistic People

i compiled a list of traits, symptoms, behaviors, etc (largely sourced from the book "Unmasking Autism" by Devon Price) that occur in autistic ppl at high rates. it's crazy how many of these i identify with. i think having them all in one place may be helpful to some people.

List:

-Substance abuse & addiction

-Eating disorders

-Rejection sensitivity

-Digestive issues

-Sleeping disorders

-Depression

-Anxiety

-Social anxiety

-Eczema

-Dyslexia

-Dissociation

-People pleasing

-Personality disorders

-Audio processing problems

-Joint issues

-Issues with coordination

-Stimming

-Executive dysfunction

-OCD

-ADHD

-Gender dysphoria

-Difficulty with emotional regulation

-Frequent crying or never crying

-Hyperfixations

-Sensory issues

-Sensory overload

-Extreme burnout

-Safe foods

-Safe / comfort items

-Self harming behaviors

-Difficulty regulating noise level

-Being non binary / gender nonconforming

-Difficulty understanding people's intentions / feelings when communicating

-Melt downs / break downs

-Shut downs (akin to dissociation)

-Nonverbal (completely/ partially)

-Diluted sense of identity

-Paranoia

-Catering and changing personality/ behavior to match a social setting (form of masking)

-Studying and analyzing social behavior to mimic it / understand how people are feeling

-Hypervigilance

-Insecure attachments

-Fear of vulnerability

-Prone to abusive relationships

-Special interests

-Rigid schedules

-Difficulty dealing with change in plans

-Sensory seeking / sensory avoidant behaviors

Following are quoted directly from "Unmasking Autism" by Devon Price

-Intense studying of a new favorite topic

-Needing to know exactly what to expect before entering an unfamiliar situation

-Not noticing sounds or social signals when focusing on an engrossing task

-Sticking to a very rigid schedule, and rejecting deviations to that schedule

-Taking a long time to think before responding to a complex question

-Spending hours or days alone sleeping and recharging after a socially demanding event or stressful project

-Needing “all the information” before coming to a decision

-Not knowing how they feel, or needing a few days to figure out how they feel about something

-Needing a rule or instruction to “make sense” before they can follow it

-Not putting energy toward expectations that seem unfair or arbitrary, such as wearing makeup or elaborate grooming

[grimvestige]

As a general heads up, I'm going to be taking a bit of a break from accepting new work for the rest of June & for July 2024!

I've been feeling the burnout symptoms approaching, but have a large pile of work, so I need to turn off the proverbial spigot for a bit! I wrote up a more detailed post here, but the tl;dr is:

Anything that's scheduled is going up as normal!

Any art I owe folks is still getting finished! This pause is so I can finish things without as much pressure.

I will still be accepting ONLY pride YCH commissions for the rest of this month, any other commission orders won't even be looked at for quotes until August! (i.e. you can order but understand I won't be starting until at least then)

[cosmosgroundhogday]

Why the DHMIS youtube series is centred around ASD (autism), entirely based around just the songs for now

All three of the main guys show so many ‘tism traits

- all hate change at different points

- every single song relates to a different ‘tism symptom/trait/stereotype

The Creativity Song

- children with ASD are a lot more likely to display a deep sense of creativity and imagination

- they often show lower performance in creativity as it’s all in the brain and unable to express it

- which is essentially the entire song

- the notebook (social rules) is explaining to the three guys how to be creative, limiting what they’re allowed to do, and everything they suggest themselves is told wrong

- yellow guy paints a clown ridiculously quickly and he’s told to “slow down” and destroys the painting (destroying autistic kid’s creativity because what they can express is usually entirely outside of the primary school education)

- the childish primary school activities that ensue that they keep doing “wrong”

- “green is not a creative colour” (this feels like a long shot but there’s the primary media theory that essentially because he doesn’t pick a primary colour like red guy chooses blue and green guy chooses red, he’s not following the primary education, and so this can link to growing up too fast which is a thing a lot of tism kids are forced to do, so yellow guy is ‘mature for his age’ choosing green, and obviously notebook is not happy)

- and then the whole chaos that ensues is mostly the horror aspect, if I can get some film analysis in during a rewatch i shall

The Time Song

- it’s more an adhd trait but it happens in asd too, simply just the disassociation from time

- also obsessive schedules, as to not lose the concept of time

- “an old man died but look a computer”, theorised as the clock keeping the guys from thinking about death to lure them into whatever horror he’s got in store, however what about the fact that autistic people while more empathetic than neurotypical will often not be effected by the concept of human death unless they know them, (idk how much sense that makes but say a cat died that you never knew, that’s sad, but a human dies that you never knew, no feelings, obviously people you know it’s a different story a lot of the time but hopefully you know what i mean)

- the entire scheduling, with fish and bath, forcing of schedules so you don’t lose track of time, cuz often people with asd won’t eat unless they think about the time as hunger isn’t something they will always feel

The Love Song

- my absolute favourite and jesus christ there’s a LOT

- so the yellow guy is aroace, poly, and autistic, and it all shows in this song

- he calls a butterfly a “little baby pigeon”, this is tism in itself

- the first part of a song is literally about how people are ‘different’ and in an ideal world it wouldn’t make a difference and they should live in harmony

- PLEASE

- I can quote every single line in this song and go “THIS IS AUTISM”

- autistic people obviously can feel love, but it’s another concept like gender that in most cases is so much more confusing

- “no it’s a feeling deep inside” “because I’m hungry” - !!!!!!!

- by the end of the song monogamous marriage begins being displayed like a cult

- why would you demonise monogamy in a show like this?

- apart from maybe the fact most autistic people are polyamorous

- because, social rules aren’t real

- and humans are biologically polyamory

- it’s just social conventions that make us monogamous

- but when you’re autistic

- you’re more likely to ignore that

- so

- you see where i’m going :)

- “he’s made for her and she’s made for him that’s the way it’s always been”

- and so ensues feeding Malcolm gravel

- monogamy is a cult

- autistic people >>>>>

The Computer Song

- the biggest metaphor for gifted kid burnout I’ve ever seen

- the way autistic people are treated robotically and praised for enhanced mental abilities as everything about them just b r e a k s

- gifted kids are very clever-y guys

- they can count to a ‘fifty in the blink of an eye

- and paint a picture

- and they can tell you the time

- also the fact that autistic kids are more drawn to technology and being ✨online✨ as an escape from the real world

- red guy being incredibly against change is another thing that’s going on

- the ‘digital home’ could essentially be an autistic brain

- not feeling 🥰real🥰

- wow, look a pie chart

- digital style

- do a digital dancing

- so basically most gifted kids thrived in maths, not always but it’s the main stereotyped one

- the same three being repeated

- eventually “wow look nothing”, the burnout has become

- your skills are gone

- what you gonna do now?

- keep opening the door for it to come back?

- nothing

- it all speeds up and eventually unplugged

- just

- burnout :)

The Healthy Song

- metaphor for ARFID, an ED that’s associated with autism

- as I said I’m not rewatching the actual episodes yet so I’m going entirely off what I remember (which isn’t a lot cuz I hated this episode with a passion) and the song on a spotify playlist

- the explanation of hunger at the start, which is something confusing in autistic people

- pretty sure the can and the other lad will only let the guys eat plain food in little amounts and claims that’s ‘healthy’

- also the explanation of the body as a house, it’s just all very confusing which is a metaphor in itself

- even though ARFID is an ED around the texture of foods and not amounts it still kind of makes sense??

- this one’s a bit of a stretch

- but bread, cream, and plain white sauce keeps the body ticking over??

- that’s limited flavour and texture

- fancy show-offy foods like cooked meats, fruit salads, soil food and yolk is bad

- too much flavour and texture

- but then eventually even plain white sauce is bad

- having a comfort food so much you can’t touch it anymore

- but it’s hard to find a replacement

The Dreams Song

- this one bored me when I used to watch the series

- and I can’t tell a lot from the song apart from it reflects on the entire series

- so

- idk

- but they all have autism and it’s different trait from the spectrum every episode

[liebermintz]

a peculiar comorbidity, part two

i'm experiencing a diabetes-associated autistic meltdown. and it's not pretty. it's made me develop a really bad relationship with food, a massive fear of it. it makes me doomscroll on Beyond Type 1, on Twitter, on Reddit, just to find some glimmer of hope. It makes me panic-message my endocrinologist if I stay elevated at 220 for like two hours - I was between 200-270 mg/dL when I developed ketoacidosis symptoms, I can feel my heart pound in my chest at 250 mg/dL, I develop ketones within an hour of staying out of range. and yet her biggest concern is the fact that I kinda have to bend over backwards to wrap my life around this autoimmune disorder, to get really tight control and stay out of highs (but ultimately be more susceptible to lows - which are not good at all, since I am mostly hypoglycemic unaware) in fear that I will have to be charged to the hospital later that night. my body works really fucking weird - like, Nick Jonas had to have a blood sugar of 700 mg/dL just to get admitted for DKA in the middle of recording It's About Time. most T1D diagnosis stories share the same thing. the closest diagnosis story I can compare mine to is maybe a few LADA stories - but LADA cases always start out mimicking type 2 diabetes, which I could've been well in danger of developing because of an astoundingly bad fast-food-heavy diet (three times a day when I was working at the bookstore, IIRC - binge-eating during the bookstore closure). it takes YEARS for a LADA case to really show its true colors. mine took two months. I'm gonna try to get my C-peptides tested again - and if they're still 0.9 (just slightly under range) after three months of a raging autoantibody reaction, then I know there's more to me than "body attacks body." i'm hoping they are. that means I could benefit from Tzield - if they ever approve it for people like me. every few weeks or so I have diabetes burnout so horrible that it intermingles with the meltdown and, combined with whether or not the sun's outside, puts me in a really bad mental spot. and you wanna know how bad it gets? you really want to know? well, let me put it like this, to quote Kid Cudi's weird grunge album: "I hate the gun, but I love the sun." From "Confused!" - from Kid Cudi, whose big shtick is that he's REALLY honest about his struggles with suicidal ideation. that specific line is about how he really does not want to kill himself, but he DESPERATELY wants peace of mind. usually, when it comes to suicide, nobody talks about it or, if you do, people just lock you up and throw away the key. i have worsening suicidal ideation because of this comorbidity. Nick Jonas thinks the worst he has to deal with is that he can't eat pizza super-libertine anymore or that he might get shaky enough to chug an apple juice in the middle of singing "Waffle House" during a show? imagine being afraid of all your safe foods because if you take too little insulin, you're in the hospital for DKA later that day because elevated sugars hit you way harder than everybody else, and your entire medical team (but specifically your educator and endo) will tell you "don't eat that anymore, don't eat that anymore" because they don't get the fucking memo despite you not making eye contact with them at all, despite having the monotone voice, despite occasionally stimming since I can't keep my guard up at all times - they think that as long you don't look like the Rain Man, counting cards in a suit from Armani and underwear from K-Mart, you're not autistic.

do I HAVE to whip out my diagnosis and observation papers from 1994 to 2005 just for them to get the idea of why I'm desperate for the long game to be a relatively short game? I get that this shit's gonna last a while, but when I say I can't live the rest of my life with this, I really can't. the average life expectancy of an autistic person is, what, 51? well, you just cut my life expectancy down to, maybe, 45 since I am way more prone to distress and burnout. all the type 1 resources, both by type 1s and medical organizations, have been tailored for neurotypical type 1s or type 1s with way lighter neurodivergences, for neurodivergent kids who've always had diabetes so the cormorbidity isn't bad (so they can still freely determine their safe foods). this is why I want to get on Tzield now - I want to prove that the PROTECT Study is worth its weight in gold. I want more clinicals near me to widen their eligibility for me - to not have the cutoff age be 30. I want Novo Nordisk and Sanofi and Eli Lilly to end the price-gouging of insulin either through extreme government intervention or by making insulin totally free. forever.

[fearofahumanplanet]

Hi I'm the anon from https://at.tumblr.com/askaborderline/hey-looking-for-supportadvice-i-am-terrified/tlz1qbnadpq0

Could you elaborate more on what you said about it sounding like NPD?

Oh, hey!

Okay, well first off, said before but I'm going to reiterate here: I CANNOT and will not diagnose you, I am not a doctor, please just use this as a sort of guideline and general observations and please look into it yourself if you think this is something you may suffer from. (Just be careful - most medical sources are incredibly ableist and hateful towards NPD, it is possibly the most stigmatized mental disorder I can think of).

(Second off, I'm going to use the actual NPD diagnostic criteria as much as I can, but it's incredibly ableist and only focuses on outward behaviors and none of the internal feelings, so a lot of this will have to be anecdotal from experiences from me and many other people I've met w/ NPD)

"I am terrified that I'm going to slip up and not be perfect when I'm around others" This was the first thing that really got me, this is not actually an inherent BPD symptom by any means, this is actually the crux of NPD - the diagnostic criteria doesn't mention it, just goes on and on about "arrogance" or whatever, but I really desperately think it needs official re-definition, bc every person w/ NPD I've met (including myself) is struck with a constant, debilitating, endless need to be perfect and never be seen failing to anyone around them - it's really hard to live with, but yeah, that's what first made me think. I also get a lot of general paranoia and anxiety about it even when I'm not around others.

"when I accidentally seem like I'm not perfect I enter this horrible cycle of self-hate and I keep splitting on people after like "oh they're doing good things/is really good straight" to "they're not worth my effort" especially when I'm the one who slips up even though I need to be the one to be perfect" and this to me sounds like what a lot of us call a "narc crash" - in which you essentially are forced to confront the reality that you aren't perfect and/or you're running low on "supply" (admiration), and as such you tend to go through a lot of cognitive dissonance that leads to breakdowns and (often) anger at others or a need to withdraw or engage in reckless behaviors.

"I just have a general apathy towards being friends with anyone," This is another common thing I experience in social relationships and a lot of people w/ NPD do, to quote the diagnostic criteria "lacking empathy". We also tend to see relationships as rather transactional, often have "chosen people" that tend to get close more because of them being good sources of supply rather than because there's an emotional connection. (This is not a condemnation. People w/ low empathy can actively choose to still be kind and maintain relationships. It just hardly comes innately, in my experience. It definitely feels like work to me, it's just work I choose to put in).

"It's like I keep getting a high especially when complimented or validated (and this has caused me to attach and I have a new fp now and it's happened a LOT)" To quote the diagnostic criteria again, "requires excess admiration". (That supply I talked about). This is exactly how I experience receiving supply, it feels like a drug to me and can essentially keep me living. Without it, I quite literally do want to die - it's pretty wretched. BPD & NPD are also pretty common co-morbidities, so that early admiration often causes one to develop a FP and... yeah. There's also this thing that NPD circles usually call "relationship burnout", and this is definitely something I also experience, in which you essentially find it very hard to maintain relationships, because after the initial beginning stage of knowing someone new, I pretty much usually get bored of them and the apathy comes back anew.

"then a crash when I get insulted or I fuck up etc. (This causes splitting as well) and it's such extreme emotions that it's hard to manage" I point up to the narc crash again, bc this is exactly how it happens to me a lot of the time and when you have a BPD comorbid involved the emotions are even more intense.

So like I said, do not take this as diagnosis, I'm not a doctor, but I really do think it might be good for you to look into it and get a clearer idea of what's going on in your head, bc reading your ask really just felt like reading about an NPD experience, I thought I somehow ended up on the wrong blog.

I hope that clears some things up and I wish the best for you :)

[broadcastingdutchman]

Published by colleagues of mine:

The Female Emergency Medical Services Experience: A Mixed Methods Study (2024).

Molly McCann-Pineo, Meghan Keating, Tara McEvoy, Mikayla Schwartz, Rebecca M. Schwartz, Jonathan Washko, Elizabeth Wuestman & Jonathan Berkowitz

If this is interesting to you, I encourage you to read the entirely study, but here are some quotes:

“Women are still pushing to make a presence in the EMS world like we still have a hard time struggling to prove that we’re just as qualified or just as equal as the men that work.”

“I'll walk in with a male [EMT] partner…the people think that he’s in charge and also, I'm a critical care medic. So, I have like the patch on and everything and the doctor will just immediately start talking to my male partner.”

“It’s kind of sad to look back and remember, you know, that I used to feel like I had all this room for growth and now feel like maybe I'm limited and maybe I need to choose a different career path where I don’t need to lay on my stomach to intubate while I'm pregnant or I don’t need to carry somebody into their chair. Umm, you know or where I can actually ask for help and not be judged because I'm a female….I don’t think I really had a doubt whether or not I was continuing with EMS for the rest of my life. And now I do.”

Approximately 70.0% met the criteria for probable anxiety, 53.9% probable depression and 40.9% elevated symptoms of burnout. Almost 73.0% reported workplace harassment, with most experiences being perpetrated by patients and coworkers. Over 61.0% reported reconsideration of their career in EMS. Overall, survey data indicated interactions with peers and leadership, and social support were positive.

[blimmo]

Burnout is a stressful condition that affects millions of people around the world. In part 1 of a special live recording, Brian examines the symptoms of this modern-day epidemic and explains why you can only help others if you take care of yourself...

[phezii]

Working together with the multidisciplinary team

“A multidisciplinary team is a group of health care workers who are members of different disciplines (professions e.g., Psychiatrists, Social Workers, etc.), each providing specific services to the patient. The team members independently treat various issues a patient may have, focusing on the issues in which they specialize” (“Multi-Disciplinary Team”). Healthcare is a multidisciplinary profession in which doctors, nurses, and other health professionals from various specialties must collaborate, communicate frequently, and share resources. A successful multidisciplinary health team strives to conduct the most thorough assessment of a patient's situation and to follow it up with a comprehensive treatment plan. Teams may also collaborate to develop and promote health initiatives for diverse communities and provide education to clients to instill disease-prevention behaviors.

Working as a team to provide treatment for clients must be one of the most useful methods as the client receives intervention from all healthcare practitioners to minimize symptoms. Researchers discovered that when healthcare professionals collaborate, the number of medical errors decreases and the level of patient safety increases; additionally, teamwork has been found to reduce work-culture issues that lead to professional burnout. One reason is that health teams that include social workers, occupational therapists, and other specialty areas help break down the hierarchy and centralized power of health organizations, giving healthcare workers more leverage and producing higher work and job satisfaction. Long-term patient-centered care is another factor (Hughes). Personally, I could say I was a health advocate since whenever I was dealing with a client, I would communicate with nurses to get more information on how the client has been and from there talk to the Doctors about the client’s diagnosis to see if my intervention is heading in the right way which will make the client functional. After doing some assessments with the client, I would prioritize my findings and if the client required a speech therapist, I would refer him to get help. After the client has been seen by the speech pathologist I would go and find out from the therapist what she has found the client to be having and further discuss how I can help with my intervention. Also, there are instances where I was working alongside a physiotherapist to treat the client. That alone makes me see the reason of the importance of knowing everyone as we work together wanting to achieve the same goal, which is getting the client to be well taken and be healthy. Good teamwork requires respecting one another’s job, problem-solving skills, and flexibility in the workspace. Going to the saying that goes like, “teamwork is a cornerstone of good outcomes” this simply applies to the multidisciplinary team working together to better the lives of people who are sick or need some intervention from healthcare workers. Being able to see when there is a need for your client to see another MDT to provide care that alone makes you useful in the health sector as you are promoting one’s health.

Working together as a multidisciplinary team helps each member learn more about someone’s occupation and what their scope of practice is focusing on, thus allowing you to make referrals for clients needing help. Thus, helping to ensure the optimum functioning of the team and effective patient outcomes. Henry Ford's quote, "If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself," because it's true: collaboration has the incredible power to boost productivity, job satisfaction, and even individual performance.

For this week I got a client who has traumatic brain injury, is an old make who is 68 years old. The client presented with low energy and loss of consciousness for a few seconds. “Traumatic brain injury usually results from a violent blow or jolt to the head or body. An object that goes through brain tissue, such as a bullet or shattered piece of skull, also can cause traumatic brain injury” (Mayo Clinic). When planning intervention for the client, I did not focus much on doing formal assessments as I wanted to implement my treatment. The client presents with increased tone on both LL and UL thus, affecting the client's ROM. The client had little muscle strength thus when planning for an activity I had to come up with something that is not going to require much strength. However, I did bed mobility with the client and the client had difficulties in moving himself to the different positions thus I provided moderate physical assistance to get the client in side lying, scooting up, and sitting at the edge of the bed. For the first session, I think bed mobility helped me observe some client factors that are affected. The supervisor prompted me to do my treatment session as soon as possible rather than focusing on doing assessments only however, using occupation as a means approach would also be helpful. I had to think fast and plan a treatment session at that moment. That’s how the world works, one must learn to prioritize the client first when providing treatment and be a fast thinker. The intervention I will provide for next week, it would be trying to improve the client’s client factors engaging him in his daily occupations, something relevant to him.

The primary goal of brain injury rehabilitation occupational therapy is to assist individuals in regaining functional independent living skills. TBI can impair a number of physical, cognitive, and psychological functions, including memory, emotional regulation, movement, and sensory processing. An occupational therapist will evaluate your functional abilities and develop a personalized rehabilitation plan to help you regain or compensate for these abilities, (“Occupational Therapy and Brain Injury: Boosting Independence”). When looking at the client’s mobility, you see that the client is going to need to see a physiotherapist to help with mobilization, thus the team is always important when putting the client’s needs first. I guess that’s where the collaborative multidisciplinary team comes into play.



REFERENCES

“Multi-Disciplinary Team.” HSE.ie, www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/4/mental-health-services/dsc/communityservices/multidisciplinaryteam.html#:~:text=A%20multidisciplinary%20team%20is%20a.

Hughes, Charlotte. “Multidisciplinary Teamwork Ensures Better Healthcare Outcomes.” Td.org, 12 July 2018, www.td.org/insights/multidisciplinary-teamwork-ensures-better-healthcare-outcomes.

Conley, Megan. “45 Quotes That Celebrate Teamwork, Hard Work, and Collaboration.” Hubspot.com, 2018, blog.hubspot.com/marketing/teamwork-quotes.

Mayo Clinic . “Traumatic Brain Injury - Symptoms and Causes.” Mayo Clinic, 2019, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/traumatic-brain-injury/symptoms-causes/syc-20378557.

“Occupational Therapy and Brain Injury: Boosting Independence.” Flint Rehab, 17 June 2021, www.flintrehab.com/occupational-therapy-and-brain-injury/#:~:text=The%20primary%20goal%20of%20occupational.

[antaradimensi]

End of year note.

2022 ini diawali dengan adaptasi jobdesk baru yang sangat menyita pikiran. Bisa karena terbiasa tapi untuk menjadi terbiasa awalnya pasti usaha luarbiasaaa. Harus cerdik menghadapi diri sendiri salahsatunya dengan cari-cari hal baru yang bisa bikin pikiran “Spark Joy”.

Catatan tahun lalu, sengaja tahun ini mau mengurangi impulsivitas akan kebendaan yang gak butuh-butuh amat, sortir ulang prioritas keuangan karena merasa sudah cukup masa-masa “mau coba semuanya.” Melihat suatu nilai dari sudut pandang yang baru.

All is well, sampai pertengahan tahun bisa mewujudkan keinginan jalan-jalan sendirian di luar provinsi. Tapi impulsivitas selalu menemukan jalan untuk menyertaiku di hal-hal yang aku suka, kali ini pada kerjaan. Tiba-tiba kerjaan jadi segunung karena perubahan kebijakan yang tadinya sudah menyita pikiran sekarang bertambah menyita waktu, Duh! I lost my interest in many things I used to. Takut banget seperti 3-4 tahun lalu hidup tanpa punya sesuatu yang ingin dilakukan dan dicapai, kondisi ketika membuat harapan saja tidak memunculkan emosi apa-apa.

I try to love anything that I do, even it not makes sense. Berhenti jadi filosofis dan kerjain aja, akhirnya BURNOUT dan semakin sering. Sampai gak punya tenaga untuk mikirin hal diluar kerjaan, atau kalau bisa dipikirin juga superrrr lama. Berlindung pada rasa nyaman ketika pekerjaan selesai satu persatu, padahal sementara. Seperti pusing lalu merokok, seperti ingin kudapan tengah malam lalu mengunyah. Hal lain yang tak kalah penting harusnya punya tempat untuk diproses menjadi abai.

I became productive but I stopped living as a human being. I’m just a machine of productivity that cannot understand itself.

Kombinasi antara panik, takut, cemas akan terulang tahun-tahun itu akhirnya jadi buru-buru mengatasi emosi negatif. Impulsif tapi kali ini bukan makanan atau keuangan tapi ke pekerjaan! ya semuanya mau dikerjain karena mikirnya “kalau selesai udahan nih tenang, ga ada masalah” tapi pekerjaan yang dilakukan terus menerus akan datang terus menerus.

I hate myself. I thought this was all about bipolar and anxiety then I watched some ADHD content because most of its symptoms match me. Too scared to hear another diagnosis, then I try to fix myself with those “ADHD therapy” and mostly worked. Thank God, it gives me space. Yet I’m still juggling between all of this mess. I try to become more efficient to beat the workload without losing much energy to process other priorities. Namun seperti usaha-usaha lainnya, setiap hari mendulang untung dan berhasil itu mustahil.

“Healing isn’t linear” quote that becomes my daily mantra. Even today I feel worse than 2 weeks ago breakdown, I’m not the same person I was 2 weeks ago. The feeling may be worse but the version of myself today is better than I was 2 weeks ago.

High blood pressure alert, first time showed on my smart band. I’m that scared then I made walking my new routine, eating less and mindfully. I can’t change people and I can’t rely on my friends' help then I change my routine to feel better.

Like Taylor Swift say:

“You're on your own, kid. You always have been.”

This year is not give me the feeling like “the best year evurrr” or those “infinite happiness” yet it is more like Yin and Yang, sweet and sour, sparkle and shadow, cheers and tears. Not feeling satisfied because overwhelmed with happiness like last year however satisfied with all the fights I’ve been battling this year.

Happy holiday season!

[linogram]

is it even worth telling my teachers im autistic? like what are they gonna do w that info? especially now at the end of the semester :| plus theres always the fear of them being ableist

[onefite]

10 Common Symptoms of a Mental Breakdown

10 Common Symptoms of a Mental Breakdown Introduction Feeling overwhelmed or having a tough time coping? You’re not alone. Many of us go through periods where it feels like the world is crashing down around us. This state often signals a mental breakdown, a term that describes a period of intense mental distress. During this time, managing day-to-day tasks can feel impossible. By understanding…

[dailydnp]

British YouTuber, presenter, and author Daniel Howell offers a practical yet poignant look into mental health – his own struggles held up as a mirror for anyone else going through the same – in his book You Will Get Through This Night.

Written in conjunction with psychologist Dr Heather Bolton, the book is an amalgamation of Howell’s own experiences and Dr Bolton’s expert perspective combined to create a reading that feels like a personal attack in the best of ways, forcing you confront, embrace and then overcome your perception of your own mental health.

Best described as, “a practical guide to taking control of your mental health for today, tomorrow, and the days after,”  You Will Get Through This Night takes readers through Howell’s mental health journey, wrapped in his trademark sense of humour and nuggets of wisdom that urge them forwards in their path to a healthier mindset.  

Speaking to 1883, Howell describes what pushed him to write the book, learning to question his normal, how upbringing and culture impacts one’s perception of mental health, the role that a sense of humour plays in getting the conversation around mental health started and more.

Was there a particular moment that solidified your decision to write this book?

I think it was just realizing the power that every single person has to tell their story and break down the wall. Because with mental health, it’s the thing that every single person has a universal experience of. And yet, we all like to go, ‘I’m fine,’ when we’re completely having a meltdown on the inside and it was me opening up, not because I thought it was a nice idea just because I thought I had to open up about what I was going through with my depression, my sexuality. I went through 27 years of terrible mental health, without even realizing that you’re not supposed to be that way. It’s the idea that we all think we are broken, born in a certain way and doomed to feel that way forever, and that’s fundamentally wrong. I thought I’d like to write this book because other people may see themselves in it, notice that they relate to something, and therefore maybe there’s something about themselves that they need to work on. I literally I just wrote the book that I wish I could have read, because for me it was a struggle to even find the resources and the advice I needed.

You’ve mentioned in the book, that you never questioned your symptoms and that you were taken aback when the doctor said you were suffering from depression. But where there moments before that you started questioning this perception of what was normal to you?

I think it became my normal to feel bad all the time, which sounds dramatic but it was me. I thought it was all to do with my choices, age, environment and my job. But mental health is deeper than that, it’s something deeper and it’s something that you can actually have a positive effect on, which is what I wish I knew earlier, and it only happened when I got to a point where I was struggling, so much that I couldn’t even function day-to-day. In my mind, there was either nothing or there’s crazy. I thought you just have to get over your problems or you are totally crazy, which is so ignorant but that’s just not the truth. So, I went to a doctor and he said I think you might have depression and that is a real thing. And there’s lots that you can do about it. It’s about just understanding everything to do with how your thoughts and feelings work, the relationship between your biology and how you interact with the world physically. It was such a slow and painful journey to learn all of that that I thought, I’m just going to put it all in here and the idea is that for someone who picks up this book, they can go right in. I’ll put it up on the shelf and then when I need to read it, I’m going to pick it up and open it  again. So, I just wanted to be super practical.

I really liked this quote in the book “breakdown can be breakthroughs”. So, when was the last time you can think of that a breakdown led to a breakthrough for you?

Every other week, like you know, all of us. It’s just human instinct to try and stick through it and ignore the problems especially with work. It’s a great excuse to lie, “ I know I feel bad but I’m really busy.” And it goes like that until things get way too intense. For me, there were moments where I felt I simply cannot keep going in my career or day-to-day life or try to pretend like I’m funny, until I deal with the fact that I’m gay. And though there was this terrible feeling like “have I hit rock bottom?” But the thing with any obstacle is that it stops you from going in the wrong direction and when you are forced to turn around usually it means you’re confronting the truth for the first time. Usually if someone has a breakdown, if you hit that wall in your life, that point where you absolutely can’t keep going until you turn around and something scary is going to be waiting, it means you’re going in the right direction. When you have these moments of confrontation, instead of procrastinating or running away, if you face it then it’s hopefully better days ahead.

Speaking of procrastination, you talk about burnout and the five-minute rule in one section. How do you strike a balance between not procrastinating and getting things done, but also not overworking yourself?

The human concept of work is very strange and it’s just one of those great examples of something that we’ve all brainwashed ourselves to see a certain way, to put value on certain things that are ultimately probably not great and inevitably lead to another dramatic moment of self-destruction and procrastination, which are both associated with so much guilt and shame.But in reality it’s not because I’m lazy that I don’t want to start this thing, it’s probably I’m terrified of starting this thing because I know that it’s important, I don’t want to fail at it. So, think of the five minute rule as ripping the plaster off, because it’s always the fear of starting. That was me, writing this book and feel like I’m not in the mood to do that, but then moment I start then I’d just write for consecutive hours. Again, it’s just snapping out of the mindset that you’re probably on, which goes I’m doing this because it’s important, and I have to do it. You probably don’t have to do it, you’re probably just running from something else. So, whether you are procrastinating, you think you’re lazy, or  you’re telling yourself that you have to put up all of your issues to deal with whatever you’re busy with, you need to flip it around and look at it, not just from in healthier way but in more honest way. I’m not going to cripple myself with guilt and shame about procrastination but I’m not going to over work myself.

You’ve also written about how one of the worst things you can say to someone going through depression is to get over it. What’s the hardest of trying to get people to understand that it isn’t something you can get over?

I think you cannot underestimate how profoundly ignorant most of the world still is about mental health and that’s not people’s fault. It’s just that science, education and culture has just not been doing the right thing even if science recently has come a long way. We’ve got hundreds of years of stigma that come from. Breaking down the barriers, by being honest, with someone one-to-one is a great way to do that. And it just telling them “I’m not going to pretend that everything’s fine. I just want to tell you that, I feel that way.” And for a lot of people who say they don’t understand depression, anxiety etc, if just say I feel bad and I want to do something about it, people usually empathize with it. I also think lot of people want not take it seriously when other people say that because they feel like where was their help when they needed it? I think that the human nature is usually to feel almost jealous that someone else is asking for help or sympathy and they want to get better but you have to talk back to that voice and say maybe this is an opportunity for me to finally, be honest about how I might have been feeling the whole time. Because at some point you have to break the cycle.

Though you’ve said how you can’t underestimate how ignorant people can be, there’s a section of the book where you talk about how you uploaded your video, “Basically, I’m gay,” and braced for negativity. But that you were surprised by all the positive responses. So, what’s the most recent instance you can think of where you were pleasantly surprised by humanity?

Something that anyone that has to admit something, they’re going through and has in common, whether that’s something that’s come out as gay or someone just admitting that they’re just really stressed or feeling very anxious, is feeling like they have to constantly explain themselves. This is just an example of how you can be afraid of what people will say but when you’re really just honest about something that you’re going through, people usually relate to it on a day-to-day level. Whenever I talk to someone about mental health or sexuality, who may think its weird at first but as I describe my thoughts and feelings, they may relate to it even if they aren’t going through exact same thing as you. For me, a year after coming out and I still have that conversation on a daily basis. As a teenager, I had that deathly fear, that I couldn’t tell anyone because it would be terrible, but now I realize that actually most people are just scared. They aren’t inherently hateful; they’re just putting up that wall because they think that being vulnerable leaves them for attack. But actually, if we’re all vulnerable we’d be a lot happier.

Speaking of vulnerability, you touch upon your upbringing in the book and how it sort of taught you to keep a stiff upper lip. When did you start learn to be vulnerable and what was the biggest challenge with that?

Being a young British man, going to an all-boys school or the comedians that I looked up to on TV – everyone was so cynical. It was about trying to be as like edgy as possible and like act tough, and not show this vulnerability in case it’s seen as weakness. I think that I carried this perception all the way into my mid-20s, it seeped into every part of my personality. A lot of the stuff that I made, when I was younger, had this cynical edge to it and it was only when I started to get more followers from around the world that I began people started questioning that cynicism. At first, I’d go “this is British humour,” but a few years later, I just started to reflect about the way I was about myself and realized it was a bit more than a joke have, I actually started to let this self-hatred and the lack of empathy towards how I feel sort of eat me up. I think because only because of the people who have followed me over the years, giving me a reflection of who I am through how they’ve perceived me that I’ve been able to break free of my default programming.

About your sense of humour and how you kind of make sense of how you’re feeling through jokes, have you ever felt misunderstood -particularly given the cultural differences of your audiences  you just mentioned – like you’re trying to make light of something that a lot of people suffer from?

Yeah, there’s  a weird line and there’s lots of conversations these days about what you’re allowed to joke about. What the difference between talking about something, being comfortable with it and almost glamorizing it. But I think if the biggest problem with mental health globally is people don’t even want to admit that they’re wrong. And that they don’t even know that they were wrong. A bunch of people joking about how depressed they feel could be a  good thing because they have at least taken the first step. So, I think it’s good that people can joke about things in a way that breaks the ice as long as they all know, in the same way that my book might make them feel very personally attacked that just behind that joke that you put up to protect yourself, there is something that you should work on. Even if it’s painful, that it will make you happier.

You mention celebrating small wins in the book. What win are you celebrating today?

I have just moved house and I have a toilet that doesn’t flush yet. But I managed to stick a coat hanger, inside the toilet and to make it flush. I just got my own toilet to flush, and for me, that’s such a miracle. It was a perfect example of how we take so many things for granted in life, whether it’s something huge to do with your health, the state of the world, your privilege. But I now have a flushing toilet and everything else felt easy. I can handle it because I got some perspective.

You also touch on the importance of inner circles in the book. , When was the last time, you personally reached out to bring someone into your inner circle and do you remember how you did it?

I am so awkward and awful at making friends and it’s something that usually, I’ll have one of those breakdowns where I go, “I have no friends.” The next day, I’ll wake up and DM people, out of every three people I DM two-point-nine will just ignore me and I will be very embarrassed. But then one of them will  say “ yes, in two and a half weeks, we will go get a pizza.” And you only have to succeed a couple times ever to make friends that you hopefully will see more than once. I know from experience, it can be embarrassing, painful and not fun to try and reach out to new people but you just start adding one person, every two years until you have a friend group.

While working on this book, I know you consulted with a psychologist for it, aside from your lived experiences. What did you learn about mental health while looking at it from an outside, expert perspective?

I think one of the biggest revelations for me while writing this book is realizing how much of it isn’t a logical thought in our head. So much of mental health is controlled by our body, and the physical things that we experience. It’s about just how we breathe, how much light, and fresh air. And the problem is in our modern world, our brains are looking at everything as a threat. As soon as you realize actually, humans are not as complicated and mysterious as we think, we’re just little animals trying not to get murdered. It was freeing to know because that meant we aren’t born with this magically broken consciousness, that’s just doomed. It definitely made me look at mental health for what it is rather than the mysterious fog of pain that I thought it was for the last 10 years that I had absolutely no control over.

You’ve said that you’re obviously not done with your mental health journey, but where are you on that journey at this moment in time?

I’m doing a lot better than I was simply because I can understand what I feel, and why, and that it’s normal now. And I honestly feel like that’s 90% of it. Most people don’t ever question their lives. If they spend too much time, feeling overwhelming you stressed or if they worry too much and they’re just not enjoying life day-to-day. But just knowing that there’s something you can do about, it gives me enough hope. From writing the book, I know everything I can do to get better.

Finally, what’s one question no one has asked you so far that you wish you were asked?

I think it’s just how do I convince the other people in my life to take mental health seriously?  I realized from writing this book and now, talking about it that the biggest problem I have is that most people simply do not think the conversation about mental health, or mental health,  applies to them because they’re fine. So many people think mental health is only something for people that have crippling depression or serious anxiety disorder, but it’s just how all of us, think and feel all the time. If you have bad self-esteem, if you worry about everything, if you have a way of looking at the world that’s really negative and you expect the worst, then  you might not need to immediately have an intervention with a psychotherapist, but you need to understand your mental health. Even if you read this book and say you are totally fine, then you still need to know this stuff so you can understand why you are fine. There will be a point in life where you need to make yourself feel better and mental health isn’t about waiting until you snap, and then picking up the pieces and going on medication. It should be about knowing how to keep yourself healthy and happy so that you don’t have a breakdown. Everyone has mental health, and that’s the thing that I wish I could just shove into everyone’s faces.

[hungrytundras]

Hello it’s lore time and today I’m going to talk about dragons as Hybrid Creatures. In my lore there are two kinds of living things. There are mundane creatures, which include the beastclans, most familiars, the plants and animals, and so on. These guys are flesh and blood. They can sometimes tap or manipulate magic or even have magical concentrations in their bodies, but its not inherent to them. 

Then there are magical creatures, spirits, ghosts, the Deities, the sprites and other festival familiars, etc. that are completely made of magic, have set definitive elements, and internal magical reserves. 

And then there are dragons who are uniquely both. The exact ratio of one to the other varies by individual but usually hovers around 50/50. It gives them all kinds of advantages and a few drawbacks as well: 

For example, dragons can die, but they usually do not age or age very slowly. They are susceptible to both physical and magical diseases but have strong defenses against both. The magical half often kicks the physical immune system into high gear and a dragon can blast through the average infection with a terrifying speed. This, of course, does not help much with Wyrmwound Plague or its various kin which were designed to thrive in dragons (and thankfully only jump to other populations in extremely rare cases) 

Dragons also demand very little food and can go extremely long times without eating at all (It does effect them, but won’t kill them)  Again, in this case, the magical system kicks in to keep the physical one going. They can’t breed or fight when “starving” because the magic required for breath storage, casting, nest incubation, etc is being devoted to supplying energy to the body. 

Going the other way, the physical half allows dragons to be much stronger casters. For a fully magical being, casting a spell means giving away a part of one’s own existence. Even though its often temporary, its still a huge commitment and will leave the entity weakened until a recovery is made. (Deities are exempt from this problem since they usually have so much juice in them that they can afford to be wasteful, but for a smaller entity like a ghost, its a tough decision.) For dragons, the threat of possibly fizzling out is replaced by the threat of actually experiencing hunger for a while (and a few withdrawal symptoms but I’ll talk about that later) They can get a lot more extravagant for their size. 

On the side of drawbacks, the magical system is constantly regulating things like chemical balance to ensure things remain at a ‘normal’ (’normal’ in quotes because sometimes you have depression. It’s all about what the system is used to not necessarily what’s healthy) This makes medication particularly difficult. Usually dragons prefer magical healing and they do so for a reason. Traditional medicine often gets rejected by the body, and when its necessary, it must be administered in absolutely heinous concentrations in order to be effective. 

This also applies to drugs and alcohol. It takes a down right terrifying amount of booze to produce even the slightest buzz and generally the stronger the caster, the less effect it will have. (not to mention many having the advantage of body mass as well) Draconic wines and spirits are notoriously strong to the point of being undrinkable to anyone else. Addictions are harder for dragons to develop but also more difficult to break if the body grows too used to having what it has.

And finally, withdrawal and dependency. The physical and magical halves are each perfectly capable of existing separately. A dragon’s body has all of the parts and pieces it needs to function all on its own, and the, for lack of a better word, spirit is perfectly capable of independent function as well, but they are part of the same being and grow to lean on each other such that the hindrance of one will often damage the other. Dragons have physical limits to their magic. There is only so much they can hold at once before their bodies start to overload and shut down (As we saw with the gaolers in Fire and Flame.) In the same way, complete depletion of magical reserve can cause the body to give out. 

Burnout and Overload are the most common killers of dragons.

[becauseanders]

I get where you’re coming from and I respect that but I think you misunderstand what “gifted kid” actually means, the majority of gifted kids aren’t actually more intelligent or talented than kids in their age group, they’re overwhelming neurodivergent and disabled and are pushed too hard too quick and the burnout part is the inevitable realization that we we actually never that gifted to begin with, and and we only got good grades at the expense of everything else (in my case I had an eating disorder and attempted suicide bc everyone around me said that I had no identity other than the gifted kid bc I was a shitty crazy person so good thing I’m smart even though I never was naturally I pushed myself to the point of breakdown) I just think you should talk to an adult “gifted kid” or at least listen bc tbh our issues are incredibly similar and the gifted kid moniker doesn’t really give the problem justice it just makes us look arrogant

I guess I mean that the school system made us both feel worthless, you bc they thought you grades weren’t good enough and me bc they made me feel like I was nothing WITHOUT my grades and it would behoove us to remember that we both exited the system royally fucked up and there’s no need to belittle someone else’s experiences as a bullshit humblebrag

you claim to get where i’m coming from while simultaneously ignoring most of what i actually said and then tell me to “at least listen”

so let me quote me back again for a second here

i just hate seeing what’s really just adult neurodivergence and mental illness consistently rebranded as something one has to have earned the right to burn out into when on the other side, i apparently deserve the shit future i got because i was always a worthless dumbass, and the biggest problem is that the “gifted kid burnout” thing is so widespread that it gets to a point that if you have issues in adulthood it’s almost automatically assumed you were a gifted kid and makes a person who wasn’t feel like they’re not allowed to have these same symptoms and day to day experiences, like we don’t have an excuse because all we’ve ever been is nothing, and how common this narrative is has also always rubbed me as lowkey ableist

i just hate seeing what’s really just adult neurodivergence and mental illness consistently rebranded as something one has to have earned the right to burn out into

and how common this narrative is has also always rubbed me as lowkey ableist

and i stand by that

but beyond that i’m not engaging this anymore because this is severely triggering to me and my point is being entirely missed (except by the many people who did show me support here and made me feel less alone, who i appreciate) and i despise talking about this and am absolutely fucking humiliated to have given my perspective on this in such detail as i did so publicly and i am literally shaking right now and it’s only to continue to be talked down to so

we are clearly both taking this too personally and are too upset by it and that’s not healthy for either of us

if this is that upsetting, just unfollow me

and i’m not saying that to be hostile, i am truly sorry that was your experience and i also did acknowledge i can’t imagine how that must feel, but i’m saying that because this is clearly a hot button issue and it needs to be dropped and if you need to block me so i don’t risk interacting with you and upsetting you further then do that because this is getting both of us nowhere except more hurt and upset

any further asks on this subject will be deleted on sight and i may legit have to close anon for a bit because i’m not fucking okay right now and i guess i dug myself into this hole but i’m ending that now

i never meant for a minor comment i left in a tag to reach this point and i don’t want to do it anymore, so i’m not going to

[boredliondisorder]

There is a social problem on tumblr with people repeating things like “your friends aren’t your therapists.” It’s a true statement, but I find it’s become a method of dismissal rather than a desire to truly help. That is, people who say it don’t know what it truly means or how to follow up. It’s not your responsibility to “be a therapist” but there are things you might consider. Under the Read More I’ll discuss barriers to getting therapy as well as ways you can encourage your friend to get therapy without repeating a cliche they’ve likely already heard many times.

Most of the people you’re encouraging to seek therapy due to your own burnout either have BPD or NPD, and these disorders require a specialized therapist. It’s not a matter of elitism; therapists who haven’t studied personality disorders simply don’t know how to help. Going to a general therapist for a personality disorder is like going to a heart doctor for cancer. A heart doctor is going to know enough to attempt to help you but not nearly enough to make you better.  And therapists who specialize in personality disorders are more expensive. One of the best treatments for BPD, for example, is a newer treatment called Dialectical Behavior Therapy (or DBT.) To quote this study, “The mean cost saving for treating BPD with evidence-based psychotherapy across studies was USD $2,987.82 per patient per year.” Please keep in mind that ‘mean’ means average, which means some were less expensive or more expensive. The least expensive plan was $1,551. To further quote, “Individuals with BPD consistently demonstrate high patterns of service utilization and therefore high costs.” In one case, a patient with BPD paid a total of $29,392 in one year. And is an outlier and should not have been counted. I was lucky enough to have insurance with a co-pay of $20 per session, but utilizing therapy every week for the course of a year is still $1,040 out of pocket.  If a patient has good insurance, it means they have a full-time job, which typically is 8:30-5 Monday through Friday. That also happens to be the time span that small practices that specialize in BPD or NPD run.  Which means taking time off.  Thankfully I’d earned comp time by working overtime, which I am able to take in blocks of half an hour. However, I am getting close to using that up; at the moment, I have six hours remaining in my comp bank, then I have to go to vacation time, which I have to take in blocks of half days. And I don’t have unlimited vacation time to take.  And, to be honest, I like to use the vacation time I have for vacations. (If you want to get better, don’t have nice things???) Lastly, but no less important, is patient trauma.  Many people with BPD and many other disorders suffer from post-traumatic stress caused by a previous interaction with mental health care. PTSD is not limited to military experiences or severe accidents, but can also come from any event that causes stress past the limit of what a person can handle. Untreated, PTSD symptoms can last years. In my case, I had forced hospitalization, which I’ve spoken about in previous posts. I won’t get into it again here. But it’s enough to say that your struggling friends may have trauma from previous therapy or care.  So now that I’ve discussed the barriers, let’s discuss what you can do to help your friend get into therapy.  Like you, sometimes your friend might have no idea where to start. That’s a source of frustration for both of you because they might literally be saying “I don’t know what to do,” which might encompass several of the problems listed above. “I’d like to help you, but I just don’t have the resources. If I help you find a therapist, would that help?” is better than “Your friends aren’t your therapists” or “You need to seek therapy.” You can also ask “What kind of barriers do you have when it comes to seeking therapy and how can I help you get past them?” It’s okay to tell them that you’re not equipped to help them with their deeper issues, but that you CAN help them find someone who can. As they bring up their barriers, you can respond in kind. Remember, you should try to help them want to seek therapy themselves. Making them go to therapy is only putting a bandage on a deeper problem. If they go to therapy to please you and buy more time with you, they aren’t going to get better. Therefore, an ultimatum such as “if you don’t go to therapy, we will stop talking” can continue to hurt both sides in the long run. Even if they get better for a while, their behavior could worsen again without true recovery. It’s okay to leave for your own health reasons if things have gotten too bad, but don’t use therapy as a bargaining chip in a threat. If you need to leave the situation, then tell them, then cut things off. Don’t make the friendship itself contingent on what you want. Ultimatums don’t work in relationships with problematic behavior. If you have the capacity to continue and you wish to maintain the friendship, the methods below will help:

Is their problem insurance/payments? Ask them what kind of insurance they have. There’s no longer an individual mandate in the US, so they might not have any insurance at all. If they have insurance, ask them what their co-pay is for mental health services and figure out what they might be able to afford per month. Without insurance in the US, this might be a huge barrier. There are low income options, but generally you won’t find specialists, and it might be group therapy which can be problematic for people with anxiety. Often, BPD can lead to joblessness due to turbulent interpersonal interactions, so your friend might not have a job. If this barrier is insurmountable, you might consider crowdfunding, but this goes above and beyond normal help and is not your responsibility.

Discussing traumatic barriers might be more difficult, because it’s hard to ask about. Hopefully they bring it up when you ask them about barriers, but if not, you can ask “has anything happened that might prevent you from wanting therapy?” Those who have been forced into hospitalization or insufficient therapy may be suffering from untreated PTSD. You can try to reassure them that talking to a therapist about suicidal ideation does not mean they will call to have you hospitalized. In fact, that’s not something that can happen unless you tell them you have a plan for suicide and will execute it. There are options, as well, such as day-therapy, which is outpatient. Some peoples’ recovery relies on being comfortable at home. 

A lot of people have no idea where to look to find a therapist. For the United States, Psychology Today will allow people to search not only by location, but by disorder, as well. For example, you can search for therapists in Nashville, TN and then narrow the search for therapists that specialize in your condition. Clicking on the therapist will tell you more about them. It might especially help someone who is overwhelmed if you help them narrow down one or two therapists they might be able to call.

And remember, if things are REALLY BAD you can always refer them to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline or there’s even an option for them to chat with a crisis counselor live. Sometimes the chat takes a while to connect because there are a lot of people trying to get through, but it was my counselor who made me aware of the Psychology Today list of therapists.

Counselors will only call the police in dire emergencies when they are unable to talk you down from suicide or if they believe you are a danger to other people. And they are well-trained and know what to say to help.

Anyway, hopefully this helps people understand why the “friends aren’t therapists” cliche by itself is so unhelpful. It’s because dismissing a friend using that phrase and leaving them nowhere to turn causes even more pain. It’s not your responsibility to be a therapist, but you can make a huge difference by helping someone get to the help they need.

Still, remember to take care of yourself. Someone who ultimately refuses therapy is not going to get better of their own volition. Either put the pause on the friendship and give yourself space, or leave it entirely.