the-well-intentioned-ditto

[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

"but there is something that happens when you are told you are too much. you begin to ask everyone, "how small would you like me?""

[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

US Helplines:

Depression Hotline: 1-630-482-9696

Suicide Hotline: 1-800-784-8433

LifeLine: 1-800-273-8255

Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386

Sexuality Support: 1-800-246-7743

Eating Disorders Hotline: 1-847-831-3438

Rape and Sexual Assault: 1-800-656-4673

Grief Support: 1-650-321-5272

Runaway: 1-800-843-5200, 1-800-843-5678, 1-800-621-4000

Exhale: After Abortion Hotline/Pro-Voice: 1-866-4394253

Child Abuse: 1-800-422-4453

UK Helplines:

Samaritans (for any problem): 08457909090 e-mail jo@samaritans.org

Childline (for anyone under 18 with any problem): 08001111

Mind infoline (mental health information): 0300 123 3393 e-mail: info@mind.org.uk

Mind legal advice (for people who need mental-health related legal advice): 0300 466 6463 legal@mind.org.uk

b-eat eating disorder support: 0845 634 14 14 (only open Mon-Fri 10.30am-8.30pm and Saturday 1pm-4.30pm) e-mail: help@b-eat.co.uk

b-eat youthline (for under 25’s with eating disorders): 08456347650 (open Mon-Fri 4.30pm - 8.30pm, Saturday 1pm-4.30pm)

Cruse Bereavement Care: 08444779400 e-mail: helpline@cruse.org.uk

Frank (information and advice on drugs): 0800776600

Drinkline: 0800 9178282

Rape Crisis England & Wales: 0808 802 9999 1(open 2 - 2.30pm 7 - 9.30pm) e-mail info@rapecrisis.org.uk

Rape Crisis Scotland: 08088 01 03 02 every day, 6pm to midnight

India Self Harm Hotline: 00 08001006614

India Suicide Helpline: 022-27546669

Kids Help Phone (Canada): 1-800-668-6868

FREE 24/7 suicide hotlines:

Argentina: 54-0223-493-0430

Australia: 13-11-14

Austria: 01-713-3374

Barbados: 429-9999

Belgium: 106

Botswana: 391-1270

Brazil: 21-233-9191

China: 852-2382-0000

(Hong Kong: 2389-2222)

Costa Rica: 606-253-5439

Croatia: 01-4833-888

Cyprus: 357-77-77-72-67

Czech Republic: 222-580-697, 476-701-908

Denmark: 70-201-201

Egypt: 762-1602

Estonia: 6-558-088

Finland: 040-5032199

France: 01-45-39-4000

Germany: 0800-181-0721

Greece: 1018

Guatemala: 502-234-1239

Holland: 0900-0767

Honduras: 504-237-3623

Hungary: 06-80-820-111

Iceland: 44-0-8457-90-90-90

Israel: 09-8892333

Italy: 06-705-4444

Japan: 3-5286-9090

Latvia: 6722-2922, 2772-2292

Malaysia: 03-756-8144

(Singapore: 1-800-221-4444)

Mexico: 525-510-2550

Netherlands: 0900-0767

New Zealand: 4-473-9739

New Guinea: 675-326-0011

Nicaragua: 505-268-6171

Norway: 47-815-33-300

Philippines: 02-896-9191

Poland: 52-70-000

Portugal: 239-72-10-10

Russia: 8-20-222-82-10

Spain: 91-459-00-50

South Africa: 0861-322-322

South Korea: 2-715-8600

Sweden: 031-711-2400

Switzerland: 143

Taiwan: 0800-788-995

Thailand: 02-249-9977

Trinidad and Tobago: 868-645-2800

Ukraine: 0487-327715

(Source)

[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

Honestly at this point and many points in my life I’ve wished to not a social creature by design. All humans are but I can’t help but find it painful feeling despite literally needing interactions in some way I can’t be mentally well enough to have and keep any type of it. Maybe I haven’t done enough on my end to get better, maybe I’m throwing myself a pity party or trying to get sympathy, maybe I’ve been influenced by others to deem myself a problem or burden. It’s probably all the above, so many people have told me so many things about myself from loved ones to professionals. It’s just pure confusion most the time. Unfortunately I don’t have any happy or positive notes to end on nor will I put a shallow wish addressed to others attached to this even if it’s meant honestly and with only good intentions. In the end this is truly just something thrown onto the internet with the hope of calming myself or coming to terms with things that might not change or will very slowly.

[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

This is really great, I’m not in any or thinking about getting into careers involving children nor do I have any myself but this is so important to remember things like this when dealing with anyone much younger. Not to repeat things a lot of people know or what’s written already but children have a strong tendency to develop habits from the people around them. Teaching them a healthy way to communicate emotionally with others will benefit them so much in the life. On a personal but related note something I personally try to remember when being around my younger relatives is to try to be older person I wish I could have gone to for extra guidance or advice if needed when I was a kid, I highly encourage anyone else in the same or similar situations to think of that too. It could mean a lot to any child as they get older to have someone to talk to openly especially if they don’t have a great support system.

As a speech therapist/educator, I’m always trying to find simple techniques/explanations to help little kids process and understand their emotions and then teach them healthy ways to express themselves when they’re angry, frustrated, etc. I notice that telling them I deal with the same difficulties, like wanting to yell when I’m angry, goes a long way. Then they know what they feel isn’t weird BUT there are ways to handle their emotions that don’t hurt themselves or others.

[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

Therapy Journal Prompts

Some of you may remember I’ve been wanting to start a therapy journal to help with my depression, but I was annoyed with all the gratitude prompts out there. So with a lot of research I’ve compiled a list of prompts that I find interesting, and I thought I would share them here in case anyone is curious. These are in order by day, and have several check ins which I find useful, especially to track progress and growth. I found a lot of prompts online and modified them to fit my needs, so they might not all work for you. Feel free to use them if you like them!

Why are you writing this journal?

How have you changed from the person you were 5 years ago?

What has happened this year that has changed your perspective or your outlook on your life.  

Free write: What is on your mind at this moment?

Create a thought map with the word identity at the center. branch out and add aspects of life, ideas, and experiences.

Create a thought map of goals how does it match or differ from identity map. What changes do you need to make to align them.

Make a list of everything that inspires you- from books to websites to paintings to stores, ect.

What are your fears for the path that the world is headed, is there a way you can help?

For ten minutes start writing in a stream of consciousness. Don’t edit or censor your thoughts.

When you think of your whole life- mind, body, career, relationships, ect. what do I need more of? Less of?

What is something interesting you’ve learned about recently.

How has your taste in art or music grown and developed over the years?

What did you believe about love as a teenager, what do you believe about love now? how does it differ.

Talk about your earliest memories.

Check in: How has this journal helped you express yourself, have you had any growth or any setbacks.

What book setting would you like to visit. How would you fit into that world?

If you could move anywhere, where would it be, and why?

Who are your most grateful for in your life? How have they helped you, and what can you do to show them you appreciate them?

What is your relationship with negativity, do you see it as a necessary component of life or try to avoid it at all costs. What are steps you can take to have a healthy balance of negativity and positivity in your life.  

Describe a time you mistreated someone. How do you feel about your behavior, and what would you say to the person now?

What is the greatest life lesson you’ve learned over the past year.

Describe your personal style and aesthetic. How has it developed and changed over the years

Talk about your family, what issues do you have with them, what can you learn from them, and how have they shaped you?

How do other people’s perceptions of you match who you are? do you feel understood? misunderstood? Is there anything you feel most people wouldn’t guess about you?

Is there some memory that you dwell on? Write about it, and let it go.

Envision your ideal schedule? write it out in detail. How can you use this vision to alter the way you spend your days now.

What made you happy as a child? Spend time describing your childhood interests and hobbies- how have those interests evolved? Is there a way you can become more in touch with them?

If you could pass five valuable life lessons to a friend, younger sibling or child what would they be?

Check in: How has this journal helped you express yourself, have you had any growth or any setbacks.

Describe five things you want to see or do before it’s too late.

List five songs that make you feel safe and calm.

What activities energize you, or make you feel stronger, better or more inspired?

What is the best job you’ve ever had? What made it so great?

What are you worried about in your life, how are these fears stopping you?

As a kid, how did you picture yourself as an adult. Are there any similarities, or differences?

What distractions are you allowing into your days? How can you start to minimize them.

Make a list of 50 things that make you happy. List small things, and big things be sure to consider all five senses.

If you could talk to your teenage self, the one thing you would say is…

What is an interpretation of one of your recent dreams?

What does death teach you about life?

When has an art piece moved you emotionally? What did it make you think about or feel?

Check in: How has this journal helped you express yourself, have you had any growth or any setbacks.

Is there a piece of advice that you always seem to give but never seem to follow?

What was the most painful thing you ever went through? What did you learn from it?

Describe in detail your childhood room.

Free write: What is on your mind currently.

Talk about a social issue, how would you argue your beliefs to someone in your life who is on the wrong side of history?

Talk about a friend from each major stage of your life, why you valued them as a friend and who they are to you now.

Think of a problem in your recent past that felt huge, how have you dealt with it? Is it as scary or insurmountable now?

What’s something that you’re doing for your mental health that you’re proud of?

[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

Worst feelings in the world

Failing a test you studied really hard for

Getting replaced in a friendship

Getting ignored 

Having something that you’re looking forward to, get cancelled

Having to fight back tears in front of people

Finding out that the person you like, likes someone else

Goodbyes

Showing your parents something you’re proud of only to get a disinterested reply

[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

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[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

when you have a history of addiction...

[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

I decided to create a masterpost that would help you with what you are struggling with. Hopefully any of the links below will help you! Reminder; You’re going to be okay. What you are going through will pass, just remember to breathe. 

————————————————————————————-

Distractions;

Here are some distractions to help keep your mind occupied so you aren’t too focused on your thoughts. 

-Draw something

-This website translates the time into colours.

-Create your own galaxy.

-Play flowing.

-Make a 3D line travel where ever you like. 

-Listen to music.

-Calm.

-Ocean mood, do nothing for two minutes.

Sleep issues; 

- 8 hour sleep music.

-Rainy mood. 

-Meditation.

-Coping with nightmares.

-How to cope with nightmares, 11 steps.

-Calm

-Foods that can affect your sleeping, both positive and negatively. 

 Uncomfortable with silence; 

-Rainy mood.

-10 hours of rain and thunder.

-3 hours of rain and thunder.

-Human heartbeat.

-Rainforest.

-Sound of rain on a tin roof.

-Autumn wind.

-Rain on a tent

-Traffic in the rain.

-Soft traffic. 

-Fan.

-Train.

-Simply noise.

-My noise.

-Rainy cafe.

Anxiety; 

-How to stop worrying. 

-Tips to manage anxiety and stress.

-The 10 best ever anxiety management techniques. 

-Self-help strategies for anxiety. 

-Helping a friend with anxiety. 

-All about worrying.

-8 myths about anxiety. 

Sad, angry and depressed/depression; 

-“I’m always sad”

-Feeling sad.

-Going through trauma.

-“I’m always angry”.

-Anger management. 

-All about anger.

-National helplines and websites.

-Self-help strategies for depression.

-Dealing with depression at work.

-Dealing with depression at school.

Isolation and loneliness; 

-Pets and mental health.

-All about loneliness. 

-“I feel so alone”

-10 more ideas to help with loneliness. 

-How to deal with loneliness.

 Self-harm;

-Alternatives to self-harm and distraction techniques.

-146 things to do besides self-harm.

-More alternatives to self-harm.

-Self-harm alternatives.

-How to take care of self-harm wounds/injuries.

-Getting rid of scars.  

Addiction; 

-How to help a friend with a drug addiction.

-What is addiction?

-All about alcohol and addiction.

-The facts about drug addiction.

 Eating disorders; 

-Helping a friend with an eating disorder.

-Eating disorder treatments. 

-Support services for eating disorders. 

-Self-help tips with eating disorders.

-Eating disorder recovery. 

-Recovering from an eating disorder. 

-100+ reasons to recover. 

-Understanding and managing eating disorders. 

 Dealing with self-hatred;  

-3 ways to ease self-loathing. 

-How to turn self-hatred into self-compassion.

-Self-hatred resources.

-10 step plan to deal with self-hate. 

 Suicidal; 

-International suicide hotlines (1)  (2)

-Preventing suicide. 

-Reasons to stay alive.

-Dealing with suicidal thoughts and feelings.

-Coping with suicidal ideation.  

 Schizophrenia;

-All about schizophrenia.  

-Helping a person with schizophrenia.  

-Understanding and dealing with schizophrenia.  

-Delusions and hallucinations.  

OCD;

-Managing your OCD at home. 

-Overcoming OCD.

-How to cope with OCD. 

-Strategies for dealing with the anxious moments. 

Borderline personality disorder; 

-Helping someone with BPD. 

-All about personality disorders.

-Treatment for BPD.

Abuse; 

-Healthy relationships VS abusive relationships. 

-Emotional abuse

-Overcoming sexual abuse. 

-Hotlines services. 

-5 ways to escape an abusive relationship. 

-Domestic violence support. 

-Signs of an abusive relationship. 

-What do to if you’re in an abusive relationship. 

-Surviving abuse. 

-What you can do if you’re sexual harassed. 

-Sexual assault support.

-What to do if you’ve been sexually assaulted or abused. 

 Bullying;

-How to stand up against bullying.

-How to protect yourself when it comes to cyber bullying.

-How to help stop people bullying you. 

 Loss and grief; 

-How to cope with a suicide of a loved one.

-Grieving for a stranger. 

-Common reactions to death. 

-Working through grief.

(Other loss and grief)

-Moving away from friends and family. 

-Coping with a breakup.

 Getting help; 

-Seeking help early. 

-All about psychological treatments. 

-Types of help.

-All about age and confidentiality. 

Things you need to remember; 

- Don’t stress about being fixed because you’re not broken.

-Remember to remind yourself of your accomplishments. Tell yourself that you’re proud of yourself, even if you’re not. 

- This is temporary. You won’t always feel like this. 

-You are not alone. 

-You are enough. 

-You are important. 

-You are worth it. 

-You are strong. 

-You are not a failure, 

-Good people exist. 

-Reaching out shows strength. 

-Breathe. 

-Don’t listen to the thoughts that are not helping you. 

-Give yourself credit. 

-Don’t be ashamed of your emotions, for the good or bad ones. 

-Treat yourself the same way as you would treat a good friend. 

-Focus on the things you can change. 

-Let go of toxic people. 

-You don’t need to hide, you’re allowed to feel the way you do. 

-Try not to beat yourself up. 

-Something is always happening, you don’t want to miss out on what’s going to happen next. 

-You are not a bother.

-Your existence is more than your appearance. 

-You are smart. 

-You are loved. 

-You are wanted. 

-You are needed. 

-Better days are coming. 

-Just because your past is dark, doesn’t mean your future isn’t bright. 

-You have more potential than you think. 

- Your value doesn’t decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth.

Please remember to look after yourself and know that you are more than worth it and you deserve to be happy. Keep smiling butterflies x

[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

Ill stay if you stay

[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

“Vincent Van Gogh used to eat yellow paint because he thought it would get the happiness inside him. Many people thought he was mad and stupid for doing so because the paint was toxic, never mind that it was obvious that eating paint couldn’t possible have any direct correlation to one’s happiness, but I never saw that. If you were so unhappy that even the maddest ideas could possibly work, like painting the walls of your internal organs yellow, then you are going to do it. It’s really no different than falling in love or taking drugs. There is a greater risk of getting your heart broken or overdosing, but people still do it everyday because there was always that chance it could make things better. Everyone has their yellow paint.”

— I love this so so so much

[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

Anxiety And Depression Together

Anxiety: *banging pots and pans together* GET UP! HURRY! DO IT! WE’RE IN DANGER! GET IT DONE NOW!

Depression: *lethargic* I hear you. I agree, but… I’m so tired, I wouldn’t even be able run away from danger if danger showed up because I didn’t do the thing that I didn’t do because I have no energy to do it. Anxiety: *banging pots and pans together* GET UP! HURRY! PEOPLE WILL GET MAD AT US! DO IT NOW! Depression: I don’t care. Let it happen. We deserve to be punished. Anxiety: NOOOO! WORST IDEA EVER!

inside your head for hours at a time

[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

do you guys ever get to that point where hobbies are literally stressful? like people are like “oh youre depressed and/or anxious? just do something you love!” but literally doing the things you actually do still like doing stresses you out because you don’t know if you’re doing them often enough or right enough or if you’re having enough fun doing them

[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

it’s kinda ironic how those fidget spinners are supposed to be revolutionary for ADHD but here i am, actually ADHD, unable to focus on my classwork because there’s a boy next to me playing with his spinner and i can’t handle the fucking noise

[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

me: *overthinks everything and cries*

*5 minutes later*

also me: *sees funny post and laughs* oh okay im back

[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

*opens pill botttle*

*opens water bottle*

*pours some water out into my hand*

“Wait. No, that’s…no.”

[the-well-intentioned-ditto]

if i don’t periodically remind myself that there are a LOT of other ppl in their 20s who currently do nothing at all but lie in bed and type on various different screens all day then i start having heart palpitations