#next post about them ill try to come up with weaknesses and setbacks they have so i can balance it out

[anxiously-sidequesting]

Okay I'm so sorry cuz, not to post two things literally minutes apart, but I just got some inspiration for a post that's been sitting in my drafts for like 5 months now so. I want you Girlies to enjoy some Diviner headcanons I came up with

Storm wizards can visibly bristle. You know how like when your hair stands on end for any varying reasons (static shock, fear, the cold), well Storm wizards can just do this whenever. Excitement, anger, shock, etc., it can make their hair puff up and out like a dandelion. It's cute shut up

Storm wizards are physically more resistant to hearing loss (tinnitus) than any other type of wizard, but ironically enough they're the most likely to suffer from it when they're older. Along with spells of crashing storms and roaring waves they have to endure whenever they use their magic, it's common for Storm wizards to go into constructive work as adults; which involves drills and shit. A large percentage of diviners have partial or total hearing loss when they're nearing their elder years

As mentioned above, Storm wizards typically invest their time in work that involves building something in some way. Architects, plumbers, construction workers, inventors, even woodworking are jobs that you'll find are mostly Storm dominated. Due to their skill, creativity, and interest in that field they're often sought out and they often apply when they're of age

Funny enough they're paired with their magical opposite, Myth wizards, when it comes to certain things because they're also good at creating things for some reason(?). Myth wizards typically create things like art, so you'll see Myth wizards being authors, movie and play directors, performers, song writers, etc. Whether they need props for their shows or some Diviner thinks they can just do it better than a Myth wizard they usually find themselves together in a professional setting. Sparks fly

Storm wizards typically have incredible vocal range and are able to do really cool things with their voices. Ventriloquism, since they're able to throw their voice around. Mimicking other people's voices and even animal sounds with an eerie accuracy and some are even very good singers. (I'm pulling this from the website where it says that storm wizards use their voices to charm storm creatures into helping them. and also the Sirens exist)

Storm wizards are also just kinda loud. They shout and yell a lot even when they don't have to. They're banned from libraries /j

If their magic is strong enough, Diviners can sense, smell, and even taste storms miles away from when they hit. Not all of them can do this but it's very fortunate to have a friend go "oh yeah we're gonna have a tornado in a couple of hours" even if they were warned on the weather for cats beforehand

(((i was gonna say that they would be good hypnotists because that sounds metal as fuck and it seems like they have that kind of power anyway. but im afraid im making them too OP as it is so this is just kinda up in the air)))

Diviners get zoomies. It's common for them to be very "flighty" in general but when they get that random burst of energy or when they just feel super happy or euphoric for some reason they are flipping off walls man. Running around and squirming and shit. Menaces

[builder051]

Mike & Co story arc: part 1

This is going to be a 5-parter?  Maybe?  Something like that.  Nowhere near as long as Hildur and Pierce’s storyline, but still decently extended.  The episodes will move among different characters’ POV, and Mike, Jason, Colby, Ash, and Hannah will all be included.  There will be a little bit of illness/emeto, but it’s going to be mainly plot.

WARNING FOR EATING DISORDER CONTENT.  It kind of features in this part, but it’s going to be vague and kind of glossed over throughout because it’s not the main focus of this arc, but it’s definitely a thing that affects all of these charas, whether directly or indirectly.

Also, a warning for an obscene amount of cursing.  This girl is by far my most foul-mouthed character.

_____

Everything’s fine.  Everything is completely and totally fine.  Her grades are good.  She’s not being forced to go home for spring break.  There’s plenty of new stuff to watch on Netflix.  So why Mike goes into the 7-11 and buys out a display of Hostess Cupcakes is beyond her.  Nothing’s weighing on her mind.  She hasn’t been in a fight.  The urge just hits like a ton of bricks and she’s suddenly powerless.

She hasn’t done this in months, and maybe that’s why she’s so out of practice in saying no to herself.  Mike holds the plastic shopping bag in the crook of her elbow and swallows the first cupcake in two bites.  She reaches in for another, and self-hatred flares up in her ribcage.  That feeling’s more familiar.

Mike finishes the sweets by the time she finishes the walk to the campus.  She crumples the shopping bag and lobs it into the trash outside the humanities building, then shoves inside.  It’s after five on a Friday, so the hallways are deserted.  That’s a good thing.

Mike pauses to take a long drink from the water fountain, then ducks into the bathroom to get down to business.  She feels weird and shaky and a little guilty to be doing this again after being clean for so long.  But post-purge guilt still beats holding onto the calories.

It’s like riding a bike; the technique comes back quickly, and Mike’s at the sink washing up within minutes.  Her eyes are read and teary, and they’ll probably stay that way for half an hour or so.  At least she’s on a college campus, so she can blame smoking pot.

She dries her hands with a paper towel, then uses it to wipe her mouth.  Now that the deed’s done, she’s exhausted.  The tremor she felt earlier has crept permanently into arms and legs, and she knows it won’t go away until she falls asleep or eats something for real.  And that’s definitely not going to happen any time soon.

Mike wants to go home.  There’s no reason to loiter around campus anymore; her classes are all done for break.  She can practically hear her bed calling from across town.  Some music, some TV.  Maybe a little ibuprofen/Unisom cocktail.  That sounds nice.

But Jason and Colby are probably home.  They are more often than not, and it’s way too early for them to have retired to the bedroom.  They’re probably sitting at the kitchen table right now, wondering where the fuck she is, because that’s all they seem to do.  If she wants them to stay out of her business, she can’t go home yet.

Mike considers sending out an exploratory text message, a simple hey what are you doing?  But if anything’s going to get her caught, it’s that.  She never initiates contact.

Mike shoves her phone deep into her pocket and starts a circuit around the campus.  If she goes out behind the Humanities building and walks the paved loop around most of the main thoroughfare, she’ll kill an hour and another couple hundred calories.  Mike wraps her arms around her midsection and slaps her feet hard against the sidewalk.

She wishes she could refocus, just snap her fingers and immediately place some other fixation in her brain, at least temporarily.  Bile and chocolate still coat her back teeth, and Mike isn’t sure if she’s disgusted or thrilled.  She wishes she had a cigarette.  But it’s cold and windy out, and it probably wouldn’t stay lit anyway.  Just like she can’t stay normal.  

“Why’d you do that?” Mike spits under her breath.  “Why’d you fucking do that?”

She can’t come up with a good answer.  She just felt like it.  She gave in.  She fucked up.

If she was talking to Colby, he’d say it was ok.  It’s ok to fuck up and have a setback.  She can just try to do better tomorrow.

Mike guesses she can.  But it doesn’t make her any less stupid today.

Jason would tell it like it is.  He’d give Mike a good disappointed head-shake and tell her to go fuck herself.  Or just eat food like a normal person and not throw it back up.

Then she’d ask him how he knew what normal people did.  The possibility of an argument would be too good to resist.

“You don’t know what normal people do either,” Mike huffs to herself.  “Not everybody thrives on conflict like you, bitch.”

She would’ve clocked herself in the face with that comment if the choice had been anywhere near logical.  The desire to hit something is rising fast.  There’s a dilapidated storage shed coming up a few feet off the path, and Mike steps onto the soggy grass and slams her fist into the dented door.  It produces a hollow sound, and the whole shack seems to shudder even though the punch is weak.

Something perks up in Mike’s brain as adrenaline starts to flow, and she hits the door again.  She assumes a sloppy boxing stance and jabs right and left and right again.  Her knuckles start to hurt, and somehow that makes her laugh.  She switches to battering the door with the heel of her hand.  It creaks as if it’s going to give way under Mike’s meager strength, and in her mind, it’s fucking hilarious.

If she manages to break down the door, is there going to be some kind of junker lawn mower inside?  Mike’s suddenly keen to find out.  The pseudo-boxing match is making her tired, so she readjusts and rams the door with her shoulder.  Pain lances down her arm and across her back.  She’s too bony to throw her weight around without hurting herself.  But it doesn’t keep her from trying again.

Mike backs up a foot or so and throws her hip and elbow into the shed.  She feels something give way, and she knows she’ll only need to smack the thing another couple more times to force the door open.  She takes a second to catch her breath and swallow bitter saliva before she puts her back into it again.

“Hey!  What are you doing?  That’s university property!”

Mike looks over her shoulder to see two campus police officers hurrying toward her.  “Fuck,” she mumbles.  She should run for it.  But she’s so close to forcing the shed open.  She doesn’t want to stop.  She can’t stop.

Mike butts the side of her body into the door one more time, and the latch breaks off the door with a crunch.  She falls sideways as the door swings open under her, but before she hits the ground, one of the officers has his hand wrapped around her arm.  “What do you think you’re doing?” he barks.

She got the door open, but it’s not like it proved anything.  Now she’s stuck here with two cops, and she might have been committing a crime.  She has a feeling explaining the truth is going to get her nowhere.  I had to do something to distract myself from the fact that I’d just broken a 4-month clean streak from my eating disorder probably isn’t going to hold water with the police.  Like she’d willingly speak those words anyway.

So she does the next worst thing she can think of.  Mike draws her free arm back and aims a punch at the officer’s jaw.

“Whoa, calm down,” the other cop says, moving his hands in a shushing motion.  “We just want to talk to you.”

“Well, I don’t want to talk to you,” Mike grunts.  She manages to get her feet under her.  The officer holding her arm doesn’t have much on her in height, but he’s heavy.  His belt and tucked-in shirt hold a substantial beer gut.  She bets he hits the Hostess cupcakes pretty hard too.  Mike can barely look at him without being disgusted.  She gathers her remaining strength and socks him in the stomach.

“Ma’am, I need you to put both hands up.”  The fat officer tries to manhandle her around to face the shed’s outer wall.

“Let me go,” Mike grunts.  “Don’t touch me.”  She continues to struggle.

“We just wanted to have a chat,” the other cop says, reaching for Mike’s flailing hand.  He has red hair like Ash, and the thought of her old friend makes her want to knock him to the ground.  She doesn’t have a reason to hate this officer.  She doesn’t have a reason to hate Ash, either.  But the violent feelings don’t stop coming.

“Don’t fucking touch me.”  Mike thrashes her body, and the fat cop’s arm comes around her waist.  He isn’t holding her tightly, but panic strobes in her brain, and she feels sick.  She wants to run.

“You want to get booked for resisting arrest?” The red-headed officer asks.

“I don’t want anything to do with anything,” Mike spits.  Her head is growing foggy.  The peeling paint on the outside of the shed blurs before her eyes.  One ear is about ten times heavier than the other, and she tilts badly to one side.

“Stand up straight.  Put your hands behind your head,” The fat cop says.  “This is the last time I’m gonna ask.”

Mike might’ve complied.  Or maybe she wouldn’t’ve.  She doesn’t get the chance to decide, though, because vertigo suddenly takes precedence, and she doubles over to retch against the wall.

“Hey, alright.”  The fat cop lets go of Mike’s stomach and grips her by the back of her shirt instead.  “This for real or are you just playing?”

Mike gags and manages to choke, “I’m fine.  Leave me alone.”  She takes one stumbling step away from the officers and almost falls.  She claws at the side of the shed to hold herself upright.

“Let’s go somewhere we can talk.  You can sit down, cool off a little,” the red-head offers.  He puts his hand on Mike’s shoulder in a way that’s half-comforting and half-threatening.  She jerks away and covers her mouth with her hand.  She throws up anyway, and it’s mostly chocolate mixed with some snot and bile.

“Fuck.”  She thought she’d gotten it all back up.

“Ma’am?”

“Shut the fuck up.  I’m not going with you!”  The force of shouting makes Mike lightheaded, and she stumbles again.

“Are you going to faint?”  The cops look at each other.

“Just leave me alone,” Mike mumbles.  The words are getting harder to form.  Her vision swirls, and it only makes the dizziness worse.

“We’re gonna get you some medical attention, ok?”  The fat cop puts his arm around her waist while the other one talks into a walkie-talkie.  Mike catches the wordambulance.

“Don’t take me…” she chokes out.  They can’t take her to the hospital.  They can’t.  She won’t stand for it.  She’ll run away.  She’ll let Jason drive her home.  “Call my brother.”

“We’ll call him when we get to the ER,” the red-headed officer reassures.  “They’ll help you out with whatever’s going on or whatever you took.  Then we’ll get in touch with your family…”

Mike wants to burst out laughing again.  They think she’s high.  She wishes she was high.  But she’s already out of her mind and her eyes are red, so there’s probably little difference.

“Fuck you.  I’m alright.”  Mike makes one more effort to get away.  She’ll escape the fat cop’s partial embrace and run.

But she can’t even get on her feet.  Mike lists sideways and everything goes dark.

[xb-squaredx]

B-Squared’s Top Games of 2018!

2018 had a lotta games in it, and while I didn’t get a chance to play ALL of what gaming had to offer this year, I was able to narrow down a list of five great games that I’d highly recommend this year. The list is rather loose, and while they all might have a flaw here or there, they’re all real “Game of the Year” contenders. Without any further ado, let’s go!

I’ve had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Monster Hunter games. While a fan of some aspects of them, other aspects would frustrate me. It was a franchise that needed quite an overhaul, and World is just that. A great modernization of the games, World not only makes a more involved, seamless world to explore and do battle in, it looks amazing in HD and is a great place for beginners to start. Being able to play this on a controller automatically makes things so much better, but in general all the weapons are really fun to mess with this time around. I love the slinger and all the ways to interact with the environment, though honestly some areas in the game are a little TOO big and complex for their own good.

The game falls a bit short for me when it comes to post-game content and its implementation of online play, though. But considering this is on a totally new engine and they’re essentially starting from scratch after years on handhelds, I can understand that it’ll take them quite a bit of time to get a handle on things, but World is a great foundation for the series going forward.

There have been a TON of Dragon Ball games over the decades, and honestly, a lot of the fighters aren’t all that good. They’re good spectacle and decent “DBZ Simulators” but lack any real competitive merit. This all changes with FighterZ, a gorgeous, streamlined ArcSys game that pays loving homage to the series, there’s so much to love here. While many past Dragon Ball games have looked pretty good and faithful, Arc System Work’s graphical magic that started with the latest Guilty Gear helps take things to the next level. The game is just really dang pretty and in many cases matches up directly with manga panels or as great recreations of iconic anime moments. Tons of visual fanservice there.

The gameplay is fast, aggressive and has just about everything you’d expect in a game starring Goku and friends, but also manages to be a huge crowd pleaser for more competitive fans. I love how each character is designed in such a way to emulate how they operate in the series itself. Yamcha is weak, but incredibly fast and good at setting things up for stronger characters on the team. Krillin is great support with Senzu Beans as an assist, or overall tricky moves that keep the opponent guessing, while Tien can do TONS of damage at the cost of his life, just to name a few. While I feel the roster has some…odd picks (like Base Goku and Vegeta) and if I played it more competitively I’d surely run into more issues, it’s a lot of fun and I actually went and double-dipped to get it on my PS4 and Switch. Can’t say I do that too often.

There are plenty of great indie titles out there this year, but for me, Celeste is a real standout. On one hand, it’s a brutally tough pixel-based platformer that honestly doesn’t seem like it should be that notable, but as you play, you discover a very intimate, cathartic game based around dealing with mental illness. Our hero Madeline attempts to climb a mountain while dealing with inner turmoil, and that’s represented to the player by throwing them into a super tough game that constantly knocks you down. Depression isn’t something you can just “get over;” you will have setbacks and times when all seems lost. Multiple times through Celeste I was ready to give up, but felt compelled to give it one more try, and with that I finally saw the horizon from atop Mt. Celeste, and I think that’ll stay with me for a long time.

It’s rare to play a game that teaches me something about myself, but with Celeste it forced me to confront how I view failure, both in games and in life. It wasn’t a pleasant thing to have to confront, but I did it anyway, and going forward I’m trying to view failure as something that isn’t always a bad thing, something that’s just part of the journey. Celeste tries to frame deaths in a level as a badge of honor. So what if you died over 100 times on this level? That just means you got up 101 times and beat it. You didn’t give up, and that counts for a lot. So yeah, this game definitely stands out to me for making be all introspective and junk.

Spider-Man is one of my favorite super heroes, and he’s had no shortage of great games, but for too long it feels like we’ve held the game based on the second Sam Raimi movie to such a high standard, and it was time for a new game to raise the bar. So if I’m even talking about Insomniac’s take on the wall-crawler, then it’s a pretty safe bet that they did it. I’ll be honest here; Spider-Man isn’t exactly groundbreaking for an open-world title. It has all the hallmarks of a standard open-world experience: enemy bases, towers to climb, collectibles scattered all over the map, and all manner of repetitive challenges and side content. But here’s the thing…all of that stuff is made about 1000% more fun when you’re controlling Spider-Man. Movement is fluid, effortless and fun all by itself. Combat and stealth has this interesting flow as you zip around the battlefield, using web gadgets and good ol’ fisticuffs in perfect tandem. It’s just a pure blast to play and I absolutely devoured this game when it came out.

This is all paired with probably one of the best Spider-Man stories out there. Yuri Lowenthal is a terrific Peter Parker and Spider-Man, and this is hands down my favorite interpretation of Doc Ock. I genuinely didn’t expect the story for this to be so good, written and acted with so much love for the source material. I was actually bawling at the ending, such a raw, bittersweet end to a wild ride of a game. All that helps elevate what could have been a bog-standard open-world game up several notches to not just a great Spider-Man game, but a great game in general and no-doubt the most fun I had with a single-player game this year. And yes, I’m still kinda salty that it didn’t win anything at The Game Awards.

And lastly, we come to something that’s kind of an easy shoe-in for Game of the Year for me. Honestly, there’s a power gap between Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and everything else on this list. Without a doubt, Smash Bros. is my favorite franchise in just about anything, and any time a new game is about to come out, it’s a real magical time. The speculation of just who is making the roster before release, the countless hours of playtime after it comes out, and now we’re in DLC speculation season so in some ways this hype train never stops.

Smash Ultimate seeks out to be the definitive Smash game and it largely lives up to that claim. An outrageously gigantic roster, tons of content to sift through, and containing so much love and reverence not just to Nintendo, not just to its third party guests, but to the franchise itself and how far it’s come. Nearly twenty years old, it’s crazy to think how this series has grown. What was once Masahiro Sakurai’s pet project has blossomed into this mega-franchise, and now we’re left with one question: where can you POSSIBLY go from here?

Sure, the online is kinda problematic in its matchmaking, and the World of Light adventure mode is a tad too bloated, but this is a game I’m going to probably sink hundreds of hours into with friends for years to come, and it’s been a joy to play so far. Released right at the tail-end of the year, it was a long wait, but Ultimate lived up to the hype for me, and really made 2018 end on a high note…which it kinda needed.

 So that’s that! Plenty of other great titles came out in 2018 for sure, but honestly I haven’t gotten to them all yet, if I get to them at all. Indie stuff like Guacamelee 2, The Messenger and Dead Cells are something I’ll be looking into soon, and I have God of War waiting for me as well. I hear good things about Starlink too, but this is pretty much where I draw the line for honorable mentions. Anything else that came out this year was either OK, or not something I’d consider Game of Anything. So that’ll do. Here’s hoping 2019 can top this year!

Until next time,

-B

[infolibrary]

I Had 6 Months of Therapy, and Now I’m Ready to Tell You How People Slowly Go Crazy

New Post has been published on http://www.infolibrary.net/i-had-6-months-of-therapy-and-now-im-ready-to-tell-you-how-people-slowly-go-crazy/

I Had 6 Months of Therapy, and Now I’m Ready to Tell You How People Slowly Go Crazy

Hello, my name is Katya, and today I will tell you about my experience of visiting a psychotherapist. Spoiler alert: I did not hear any mysterious voices in my head and I didn’t think there was some kind of a world conspiracy. It’s just that at a certain time in my life, I couldn’t figure out the point of living or find pleasure in my life anymore and I couldn’t navigate through these feelings on my own.

I will share my psychotherapy adventures with Bright Side readers and I hope that my story will help someone to find peace with themselves. Or at least this story can help you take your first steps toward a normal life.

How I ended up going to a psychotherapist

This is what I looked like before I was sad all the time.

In 2012, at the age of 28, I became a widow. Nothing could have predicted what happened. We were a regular family raising a boy and I was pregnant with my second child. But in just several days, my life changed completely: my young husband got ill and died in just one week. So, there I was, 9 months pregnant and alone with a 3-year-old child.

Nothing changed around me: the sun was still there, the birds were still singing, and people went to work. I didn’t think I would be depressed — just because I had to be strong.

Of course, I was in mourning, I was shocked: how could something like this even happen to me? But now, 7 years later, I realize that I was sort of in a spacesuit: all the feelings I was having were kind of blunt because I wouldn’t let myself relax. I closed my heart to pain, I learned not to cry, and, as I found out later, I shouldn’t have.

This was me when I was depressed. Where are my cheeks?

Depression caught up with me when I thought I had already overcome my loss. I lost 45 pounds in one year — I just didn’t want to eat. And once, I thought that I had cancer or some other terminal disease. I became obsessed: I started looking for the “suitable” symptoms online, I went to doctors, but they couldn’t find any diseases. I was absolutely sure that I had something terrible and that I would die any day, so I took my temperature like 5 times a day, I looked for rashes or other spots on my skin, I even constantly checked my lymph nodes.

Once I felt like my heart was beating so fast that it was going to break my ribs. I was sweating, my hands were shaking, and I wanted to run somewhere. I thought something terrible was about to happen and I did not realize that this was my first panic attack.

My body kept screaming, “I’m hurt,” and I was breaking apart, but I didn’t want to acknowledge it and I thought it all would go away. And it was only when my clothes became several sizes bigger and I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning that I realized I needed a shrink.

I started searching for a good doctor online. Actually, psychotherapists are very expensive, but at a local hospital there was a specialist I could visit for free. Anyway, I had nothing to lose, so I decided to go and this was the start of my path to healing.

I visited the specialist for several months. Together, we found out that I had a reactive depression. This is a kind of depression, but it’s different from others. Usually depression is based on something that a person had in childhood, and this disorder is the brain’s response to a traumatizing experience.

I hoped that the doctor would just prescribe some antidepressants and let me go, but this is not how therapy works. In order to get rid of depression, you need to work on it.

This is what I realized after 6 months of therapy:

1. Realize that you’ll need more than pills to help you.

There is no such thing as a magic pill. There just isn’t. There is no pill that can make you happy. My therapist compared antidepressants with crutches. When a person breaks a leg, they have a bandage and crutches in order to be able to move. But this is a temporary solution: sooner or later they will have to ditch the crutches and learn to walk again.

The same goes for pills: they can remove the symptoms (like anxiety and fear), they can help you get through the darkest days, but they won’t heal you. Without the right therapy, you can take pills for years. Seriously, I have met people who are like foodies, they know all the different types of antidepressants. In order to get rid of depression, you need to do a lot of work.

2. Sometimes it hurts.

During my first sessions, I realized that I didn’t want to live. I didn’t have any plans for more than a couple of days. Why? We all will die one way or another… I didn’t see the point of doing a renovation or go to a hairstylist. Even taking a shower didn’t seem like a necessary procedure.

I had to learn to want to live. I had to. My therapist and I made lists of plans, I drew what I planned to do in the future. And also, I had to learn to control my negative thoughts. This can be really hard and really painful.

3. Only trust someone who is a medical expert.

It is best to trust a medical specialist who has a special education — a doctor can help you find the reasons for your problems and recommend the right treatment. Depression is a multi-faceted beast: sometimes it’s the hormones, sometimes the brain lacks serotonin, and sometimes, it’s about traumatizing experiences. A doctor can get to the bottom of it and find the best approach.

And most importantly — when someone has panic attacks or depression, they need to have a full medical examination like with an ECG, a neurologist and an endocrinologist, and they need to have their lungs checked. It is amazing how some diseases can pretend to be depression. So, while you are wasting time on the therapy, your health may be getting even worse.

4. People around you won’t get it.

Most people around me thought that all of my suffering was caused by the fact that I had nothing to do. Only lazy people have depression. “Drink some mint tea, get some good sleep, buy some new shoes and your depression will go away,” everyone around me said.

I’m glad I didn’t listen to them. Nothing made me happy and I was afraid of getting out of bed in the morning, I had panic attacks — and all of this was caused by laziness? And then I realized something, in order to admit that you are weak, you have to be brave. And in order to start treatment, you need to be 100 times braver. Don’t listen to anyone. And don’t follow their advice.

5. Recovery can be extremely slow.

Some of the recommendations from your doctor can seem completely silly. A psychotherapist might recommend that you start a diary, make a plan 3 years in advance, or draw a picture. I thought, “How is this supposed to help? Give me some pills and I’ll just go home.”

The thing is, all of these things really work, you just don’t notice it. The next morning, or a week later, I didn’t feel better. I didn’t understand that I was doing better until months later. I think that even the specialist didn’t know if it was going to work or not.

6. Setbacks are a part of the treatment.

Sometimes, it gets worse. “How can this be? I do visit the doctor, I do follow the recommendations, and I still don’t feel like laughing…” It’s okay to have setbacks. It is totally normal. You can’t do something big in just several days. You have to be patient and persistent.

7. A specialist won’t think you are insane.

People are often scared of visiting psychotherapists because they think it makes them “crazy” or something like that. Well, it doesn’t. It only makes them strong enough to realize that they have a problem and are willing to solve it.

8. It may be unpleasant to find out who you really are as a person.

Psychotherapy is your chance to get to know yourself better, but you might not like what you find out. I realized that my depression was based on anger and aggression. I was angry with my husband who died and left me alone with my children. I was angry with women who had husbands and children who had fathers. I was definitely the most unhappy woman in the world and I thought nobody could understand me.

9. Depression can come back. And it most likely will.

Just like drug and alcohol addiction, depression can return. Psychotherapists are not wizards, they can’t make you a totally different person, but they can give you the tools and the skills to overcome these situations.

There is no way you can become a superhuman who is never sad and doesn’t have any psychological problems. But you can learn to live in peace with yourself, deal with your problems, and explain certain things to yourself if you have to.

10. A sense of humor helps sometimes.

You should not “worship” your depression. Yes, it is a disease and it has to be treated. Don’t let it conquer your life. When you have a cold, you don’t pay much attention to it. When you have a problem, you need to solve it — that’s it. Don’t get desperate.

My sense of humor helped me tremendously. Sometimes I thought I was losing my mind. But I kept thinking, “Okay, I’m going to a mental hospital, at least I won’t have to do any cleaning, laundry, or other things.” Sometimes sarcasm is really healthy.

The conclusion

I visited a psychotherapist 6 years ago and I regret nothing. His recommendations helped me get out of a very difficult place and now I know how to avoid desperation. My experience was very positive, so when someone I know has signs of depression, anxiety, and other problems, I recommend that they see a specialist.

It is amazing how many people try to ignore these problems just because they think they might seem “crazy” to others. And some people are scared of psychotherapists and think that they’re going to put them into a hospital and inject them with tranquilizers or something like that.

Don’t be afraid of asking for help!

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100 Tips on How to Lose Weight Fast

If you need to lose weight fast, you’ve come to the right place. You’ll find 100 proven free tips below to help you lose weight quickly and to keep you inspired along the way.

Cutting calories has an upside. A study recently that showed that cutting just 15 percent of your caloric intake can substantially increase your lifespan! Implement these diet and exercise tips gradually. If you try to jump in full force, you can become overwhelmed. Take it a few tips at a time. It might be slower, but your chance for success and losing weight will increase if you incorporate these tips at a comfortable rate. If you are looking for a full diet and exercise plan, learn how to lose weight the smart way with our book.

100 Tips on How to Lose Weight Fast

1. Set Realistic Goals – Write down short-term and long-term goals, and keep them where you can see them. If you see your goals every day, you are more likely to reach them. Keep your goals realistically achievable. It feels great to cross off a goal when you reach it!

2. Visualize – Imagine yourself reaching your next short-term goal and your long-term goal and crossing each goal off your list as you reach it. Imagine your life when you reach your BIG goal. Imagine how you will look and how it will feel. See yourself in a new outfit at your healthy weight.

3. Pick Your “Diet” – Whether you adopt one of today’s popular diets or you create your own, have something to use as a game plan—a roadmap to keep you on track. By selecting one of “today’s” diets, you can get support on the Internet from other dieters. Just stay away from fad diets, because they don’t work for the long term, and they can damage your health.

4. Steer Clear of Diet Pills – Remember Fen-phen? Some diet pills can cause serious illness. Most are not natural and are not needed at all, so why take the risk?

5. Replace – Make a list of all the current foods you like to eat. Cross off the ones that you know are not going to help you reach your goal, and find new healthy recipes for weight loss to replace them. Print out at least 10 recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for future use.

6. Clear Out – Gut your fridge and pantry! Remove all unhealthy foods you might be tempted to eat that you listed above. Then, head to the store, and make sure to keep your fridge and pantry stocked full of healthy food at all times.

7. To Tell or Not to Tell – Some dieters tell others about their journey. Others keep it to themselves. Tell only those who will support you in your efforts. There is no point in sharing your objectives with negative people.

8. Incorporate Tips Slowly – Don’t try to incorporate all of these tips at once. That’s a sure-fire way to disappointment. Start slowly incorporating the easy tips first, then move on to the ones you find more difficult. While your short-term goal is to lose weight fast, it’s the long-term goal of health of fitness that matter most—this is a marathon, not a sprint.

9. Persistence Pays – Few people reach any goal without persistence. View each setback as a learning opportunity, and you’re on your way to eliminating unhealthy behavior.

10. Shop on a Full Stomach – Shopping on a full stomach will help to ensure that you don’t buy unhealthy comfort foods.

11. Make a List – Make a shopping list and stick to it. If you find another fruit or vegetable on sale, you can substitute, but as a general rule, stick to the list and get out of the grocery store as quickly as possible. Studies show that the more you dawdle, the more junk food you place in your cart and the more money you spend in the grocery.

12. Swear off Processed Foods – Replace processed foods with foods that you cook from scratch. Yes, fresh, healthy foods cost money, but they cost no more than expensive, fat- and sugar-laden processed Frankenfoods. Have you read the ingredients on those boxes lately?

13. Shop the Perimeter – Healthy foods live on the perimeter of the grocery store—produce, meat and dairy. The aisles are your danger zone, except for a few condiments and spices and herbs, you’ll want to steer clear of the aisles. Also avoid the endcaps.

14. Pick up Healthy Snacks – Pick up nuts, fruit, cheese—whatever your diet allows—for treats to replace candy bars and sugar-filled snacks. Keep health snacks on hand at all times.

15. Buy Large Meat Packages – You can make chicken stir-fry one day, sesame chicken the next day and grill some chicken for the freezer. You can also add leftover chicken to salads—you get the idea. Use the same strategy with meat, and you’ll never have an excuse to eat fast foods.

16. Don’t Fall for Low-Fat – You’ll find all kinds of low-fat cookies, pastries and other treats. When you remove most of the fat, you’re removing flavor, and you have to replace the fat with something. In this case, they replace it with sugar!

17. Don’t Fall for Veggie Chips – They’re veggie, but the vegetable is more often than not potatoes and some kind of other vegetable derivative. In essence, they’re just potato chips by another name.

18. Don’t Fall for Substitutes – You must read the label on all products you buy, because often enough, when a product says its “free” of something considered unhealthy the replacements used to achieve the same taste can be just as unhealthy!

19. Sugar Substitutes – Avoid Aspartame, Splenda and all the other new-fangled sweeteners.

20. Approach Mealtime as an Adventure – Keep your healthy eating dynamic by trying new things and mixing up what you eat. This will help you develop a rich diet that you can stick to forever instead of a short time. The more healthy options you have, the less your chances will be of running for fast food or take out.

21. Eat More Fruits and Vegetables – Vegetables represent dense calories, that is, calories packed with nutrients and antioxidants. Five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables are recommended daily. If you eat your vegetables first, you’re bound to lose weight. Fruits supply extra fiber and water and can provide a quick and easy snack.

22. Incorporate Color and Texture – Buy mixing green, yellow, orange, red and purple vegetables, you’ll get a wide array of nutrients. Adding texture gives you something to chew on.

23. Add Raw Foods – Raw foods pack a bigger punch nutritionally. Nutrients are always loss in the cooking process. If you can start by adding 20 percent raw foods and work up from there, you’ll quickly replace empty calories with dense calories and fiber.

24. Undercook Vegetables – There’s nothing worse than limp broccoli or asparagus. YUK! Not only are overcooked vegetables unappetizing, but they can have less nutrition. The more nutrition you get from your food, the less likely you are to overeat.

25. Add Fiber – The typical American diet contains only about half the amount of recommended fiber. By adding vegetables, nuts, whole grains and beans to your diet, you’ll automatically increase the fiber content of your diet, helping you to feel full and aiding in cancer prevention.

26. Season Food – Fresh ground sea salt and pepper, garlic, herbs, chiles and lemon juice add tons of flavor with few calories, and all that flavor excites the taste buds and helps to satisfy your hunger.

27. Cut Down on Salt – A little salt goes a long way. Replace some salt with lemon juice and herb mixtures.

28. Replace Table Salt – Throw out that blue box of table salt and replace it with sea salt, which is full of trace minerals.

29. Eat Seasonally – People are moving toward supporting local farmers and eating local food. That means that they’re eating seasonally. When you eat seasonally, you’re guaranteed the freshest produce, the produce that contains the most nutrients, and nutritionally dense food keeps your appetite at bay better than sugary empty calories.

30. Capsaicin Burns Fat – Incorporate hot peppers that contain Capsaicin into your diet to raise your metabolism. Add raw peppers to salads, omelets, etc. 31. Spice up Your Metabolism – Some spices and condiments aid in thermogenesis, the production of heat, which helps to burns fat. Adding ginger, peppers, allspice, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, turmeric, etc., can keep the fat burning engine in top form. Try a side of wasabi, chutney or salsa—all on the spicy side—and use garlic and onions liberally in your cooking.

32. Don’t Forget the Protein – Try to work some protein into each meal. It’s satisfying, fills you up, and it will hold you until your next meal.

33. Plan a Cook-a-Thon – When you cook healthy meals, make enough for multiple servings and save or freeze individual portions. You can have leftovers or defrost one or more frozen portions when you don’t want to cook.

34. Use Healthy Fats – Fats keep the skin supple, and used in moderation, they can enhance mealtime. Stay away from trans-fats, and stick to olive oil, coconut oil (yes, that’s right) and even butter when cooking (a little goes a long way)—those are the only fats you should use when cooking, because heat does not transform them into trans-fats. Use olive oil, safflower or sunflower oil sparingly on salads. Never, ever use margarine. 35. Eat More Small Meals – Instead of eating three large meals a day, eat five or six small meals a day.

36. Drink Water – Drink at least eight glasses of non-carbonated, purified water—half your weight in ounces each day. Water keeps the metabolism engine running, and drinking enough water ensures that you burn more calories each day. There is no substitute for water. If you really hate the taste of water, add a little lemon or lime juice or brew a weak green tea.

37. Dehydration vs. Hunger – When the first hunger pang strikes, drink a tall glass of water before eating. Dehydration often mimics hunger, and once you’ve killed your thirst, you may find that you’re not hungry.

38. Eliminate Stress – Stress is one of the biggest causes of overeating.

39. Uncover Food Addictions – Any food that you must have and that you cannot stop eating is most likely an addiction. If you feel bad or sleepy after eating a certain food, it’s a good bet that you’re addicted to that food. Avoid it and find a suitable substitute. Soon, you’ll lack the desire for the addicting food.

40. Always Eat Breakfast – Not only will eating breakfast get you off to a good start and stave off the mid-morning slump, but studies show that it improves learning and memory.

41. No Time for Breakfast? – Make a superfoods smoothie with one of the green drink mixes. Add a scoop of protein powder, a scoop of superfoods greens powder and mix with ice, water and fruit for a delicious breakfast drink that will keep you satisfied for hours.

42. Add Raw Veggies to Fruit Smoothies – Adding spinach, celery, etc. to your morning smoothie, supercharges it, adds fiber, and the fruits overpower the taste of the vegetables.

43. Avoid Commercial “Smoothies” – Don’t confuse a superfoods smoothie with a commercial smoothie—commercial smoothies are mostly sugar suspended in ice cream or yogurt in drinkable form. Most contain little, if any, actual fruit. 44. Eat Before You Get Hungry – This tip requires practice, because sometimes we get busy, and by the time we realize we’re hungry, we starving. That’s why snacks are important when you’re on a diet. You never want to go more than a few hours without food. Eating before you get hungry helps you to eat sensible portions.

45. Eating at Work – Pack your lunch and plenty of snacks for work each night. Stock the refrigerator at work with healthy snacks and make sure that you don’t run out. 46. Replace Commercial Luncheon Meats – Luncheon meats contain lots of nasty fillers. Buy whole turkey breasts, chicken breasts and lean cuts of meat. Roast them and slice thinly for use as luncheon meats. Freeze in small portions and defrost as needed.

47. Fake Fried Foods – Almost anything that you can fry, you can “oven-fry.” You’ll find plenty of oven-fried recipes on the Internet.

48. Avoid Liquor – Did you know that alcohol is sugar? If you must raise a (a, as in one) glass, have some red wine and tell yourself that you’re getting lots of age-defying antioxidants. The resveratrol in red wine also can help you to keep from gaining abdominal fat.

49. Replace Commercial Fruit Juice – Commercial fruit juice contains a high concentration of sugar. If you can’t stand the thought of giving up fruit juice, eat whole fruit instead so that you receive the benefit of the fiber.

50. Replace Soda – One can of soda contains a ton of sugar! Most commercial diet sodas also contain Aspertame. Squeeze one orange, including the pulp, and top it off with club soda for a refreshing treat. That way, you’re getting whole fruit and minimal sugar.

51. Replace Sports Drinks after Exercise – Drink an “electrolyte” water such as SmartWater to receive the same benefits you would from a sugary sports drink—without the added sugar.

52. Water First – Drink a large glass of water 10 minutes before meals. You will feel satisfied with less food.

53. Sleight of Hand – Trick your mind. Use smaller plates when you eat and you will be reducing portion sizes and calories. Your stomach is about the size of your fist, so it takes a very small plate of food to fill your stomach. Restaurant and fast-food meals are sized for an army, and that amount of food is neither healthy nor normal.

54. Slow Down – Eat slower. Put your fork down in between bites. Enjoy conversation with family and friends.

55. Chew Well – Digestion starts in the mouth, and if you don’t fully digest your food, you miss out on some of the nutritional value.

56. Leave Behind the Multitasking – When it’s time to eat, sit at the table and eat. Don’t stand at the counter, watch TV, pay bills, talk on the phone or work while eating. You will eat less if you concentrate your energy on eating slowly and purposefully.

57. Not So Fast – After you eat, wait at least 10 minutes before thinking about second helpings. It takes time for your stomach to signal your brain that it is full enough, which translates into not hungry. Routinely waiting 10 minutes will help you differentiate between not hungry and full.

58. Closed for the Night – Close the kitchen early so that you aren’t tempted to snack in the evenings. Wash the dishes, clean the sink and stove top, and put everything away for the night. Often, evening snacking is habitual. If you must snack, try a few nuts or a half cup of homemade, sugar-free ice cream.

59. Treats and Cheats – When the urge strikes to cheat and nothing else will do, make your cheat-treat from scratch. Yes, you’ll have to go to the store to buy the ingredients, mess up the kitchen, clean up after yourself and it could take hours. Do you still want to cheat?

60. Healthy Cheats – According to Dr. Andrew Weil, plain dark chocolate, used sparingly is the only healthy sweet. Note: sparingly is the operative word. Save for a treat when you’ve been especially good for a week or when you’ve had a terrific workout.

61. Stock up on Gum – Keep sugar-free, Aspartame-free gum around. Sometimes the act of chewing is all you really need to keep hunger at bay.

62. Supplements – Even though you’re eating healthier, it’s next to impossible to get enough nutrients from today’s food supply. At a minimum, supplement with a good multi-vitamin and extra C.

63. Maintain a Healthy Gut – According to Dr. Mercola, a healthy gut environment can aid in weight loss.

64. Stay Low – Familiarize yourself with the Glycemic Index and substitute low GI foods such as multigrain bread, apples and sweet potatoes for white bread, melon and French fries. High GI foods wreak havoc with insulin levels, while low GI foods result in stable insulin levels, which helps with weight loss.

65. Don’t Fall for the Myth of Negative Calorie Foods – Negative calorie foods use more calories for digestion than they provide—or so they say. This myth has been fully debunked. Sorry, but you’ll have to take responsibility for every morsel that passes your lips.

66. Brush Your Teeth – Brush your teeth after a meal. The mint flavor simulates the after-dinner mint, signaling the end of eating.

67. Eat Out Infrequently – Stay away from restaurants whenever possible. When eating out, check out the heart-healthy choices or stick with grilled or broiled chicken or fish. Watch out for the salad entrées, because some can have up to 2,000 calories! Pass on appetizers, dessert and liquor. Plan a “restaurant meal” at home one night each week. That way, you control the ingredients and the portion.

68. Fill up at Home – If you are going to a restaurant you know has unhealthy, tempting foods, eat something healthy before you leave so you are already full when you go. You will keep temptation under control and eat less at the restaurant.

69. To Go, Please – Ask your server to pack up half your meal before bringing your order t the table.

70. Share the Wealth – Split a large meal at a restaurant with your dining companion.

71. Control Restaurant Selection – When eating out with family or friends, try to steer them toward a restaurant with healthy food.

72. Why Exercise? – By adding regular exercise to your health and fitness routine, your diet doesn’t have to do all the heavy lifting alone. You’ll feel better once you begin to exercise regularly, and you’ll sleep better as well. In short order, you’ll look forward to your exercise routine.

73. Total Fitness – You MUST have a solid workout program for maximum weight loss and fitness—a combination of cardio, weight-bearing and stretching exercises.

74. Early Bird Gets the Worm – Work out in the morning, if possible. It will energize you for hours to come and make you feel good for the rest of the day.

75. Shake it UP – Vary your exercise routine so that you don’t get bored and so that you are constantly challenging different muscles. This is especially important when you reach a plateau in weight and body mass loss.

76. Stretch – Always begin your workouts with stretching to warm up muscles and avoid injury. End with stretching to cool down. Bursting into a full-blown workout without warming up can be stressful on your heart.

77. Walking for Fitness – Add walking to your exercise program. Start walking one to two miles a day—or whatever you can. A simple two-mile walk can help you lose lots of weight over a few months when combined with a good diet. Thirty minutes of brisk walking burns off 300 calories. An hour of brisk walking can absolve a multitude of sins when you’ve been bad.

78. Power Walking – When you do your two-mile walk, start working in a 30-second power walk every two minutes to keep your heart rate up. This will help you build up your endurance, burn more calories. Studies show that by adding 30-second bursts, you increase the effectiveness and receive the maximum benefit from your walk.

79. Hot Fun in the Summer Time – Take advantage of the nice weather. Play tennis, swim, hike, garden, go horseback riding—sneak in all kinds of summertime outdoor activities in addition to your normal exercise routine. This is also the perfect time to park your car as far as possible from the entrance to a building.

80. Winter Blues – During the winter, replace outdoor activities with an exercise bike, treadmill or elliptical machine.

81. Double Up – Find a workout partner. You’ll keep each other motivated and help drag each other out of bed on those tough mornings!

82. Get Personal – If you can afford a personal trainer a few times a week (at least when you start your workout program), this will give your workout an extra edge and ensure that you are performing the exercises properly.

83. Frequency Counts – Frequency is even more important than duration when it comes to exercise. Even short exercise periods elevate metabolism for several hours. If you (legitimately) don’t have time for a full workout, settle for an abbreviated workout rather than skipping a day.

84. Step Away from the Couch – Make your TV time count by incorporating exercise with TV viewing. Try this aerobic coordination exercise the next time you’re tempted to veg out on the couch. Raise your right knee up to your left elbow, and then alternate with your left knee to your right elbow. Start with 20 reps and work up to 100 or more reps.

85. Dance, Dance, Dance – Dancing is not only fun, but it’s aerobic and a terrific caloric burner.

86. You Snooze, You Lose – Make sure you get at least seven to eight hours of sound sleep each night to help keep you energized. One of the major causes of weight gain, other than overeating, is inadequate sleep. Sometimes evening exercise can keep you awake at night. That’s one more good reason to exercise first thing in the morning.

87. Prepare Ahead of Time – If you work out at the gym, get your bag ready the night before, and place it by the door. In fact, repack your bag when you return home from the gym and have it ready to go on a moment’s notice.

88. Ask Yourself – Every time you contemplate taking an action that you know is bad for you, take a minute to ask yourself, “Is this action taking me toward my goal or away from goal?” Make it a habit, and choosing wisely becomes easier with practice.

89. Buy an Accurate Digital Scale – There’s a big difference between 130.0 and 130.8 pounds, especially when you begin to reach a plateau.

90. Weight Once a Week – Daily weight fluctuations are normal, but they can set you up for unnecessary disappointment. You’re more likely to see real progress by weighing once a week. 91. Take Progress Photos – Take a photo when you begin your diet and exercise program. Once a month, take a progress photo. Wear the same outfit (or lack thereof) so that you can compare against your baseline photo. Now, you have visible progress—your eyes don’t lie.

92. Measure This – Take your measurements when you start your fitness program and once each month thereafter. Tape measures don’t lie either. 93. Calculate BMI – Measure your Body Mass Index once a month. The BMI measures the amount of body fat based on your weight and height. It’s a better indicator of fitness than weight alone.

94. Post-it – Place inspirational post-it notes all over the house—on your bathroom mirror, on your refrigerator, on the edge of your computer monitor, etc.—to help keep you motivated.

95. Healthy Before You Know It – You begin reaping healthy benefits by the time you’ve lost just five to 10 percent of your weight. That’s motivation to stick with your program until you reach your goal.

96. Journal Your Progress – Record your daily intake and exercise in a journal. Studies show that those who keep a journal reach their fitness goals quicker. You’ll be able to look back over your path to fitness and relish your success. Better yet, why not start a blog and lend encouragement to your readers.

97. Celebrate Success – When you reach an interim goal, pull out all the stops and celebrate. Find a nonfood celebration—indulge in a facial or a mani/pedi. Go to a concert or museum. Take a weekend getaway. Throw a barbecue with friends.

98. If You Fall off the Wagon – Pick yourself up and get back on board. Today is a brand new day toward your ultimate goal. Look at your written goals, note how far you’ve come and visualize the final outcome. Get out of the house and go for a walk. Do whatever you have to do to stop beating yourself up and get back on track.

99. Fit for Life – Don’t think of your diet and exercise program as temporary. These changes are LIFESTYLE changes to incorporate into your daily routines and habits.

100. Stay Connected – Check in regularly with diet blogs like this one, online forums and chat rooms for dieters. Helping others stay inspired is a sure route to firing up your motivation.

Zig Ziglar used to say, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right in both cases.” Once you set your mind to something and believe that you can accomplish it, you can move mountains. Set your mind to getting healthy and go for it. Your quality of life depends on it.