If you're trying to help people with mental health issues and/or individuals who are making a lot of mistakes in life and are headed in the wrong direction, you have to accept certain things.
One thing is that you can't change people.
Once an individual is around eleven or twelve years old, his/her basic value system is already set. You can't change them.
That's not to say that teens and adults can't be helped. But they're the way they are unless they choose to change and become
An older man who I knew had successful heart surgery years ago.
After his surgery, he was asked if he wanted to join a support group for those who also had heart surgery.
However, he decided not to join the group. He just wanted to forget about the heart surgery.
Of course, he couldn't completely forget about it, because if he did, the chances of him getting sick again would increase. He had to take care of himself and take care of his heart. One way he did that was by going ou
Back in July of 2011, I was a patient in a mental hospital. It was the second to last time that I've been in one of those places.
While I was there, I got talking to one of the psychiatric technicians (psychiatric techs job are to keep patients in mental hospitals and psych wards safe). And to my surprise, he told me that he was seeing a therapist at the time.
I don't think a psych tech who is still requiring psychotherapy should be doing that for a living. Those who work in mental
Psychiatric medications have come a long way over the years. These pills have helped lots of people overcome serious mental health issues. For many, they couldn't have overcome mental illness without psychiatric medications, myself included.
Unfortunately, psychiatric medications (as well as all medications, for that matter), come with potential side effects, some quite serious. These meds have their trade-offs.
And some people are afraid to take medication because of it.
In your opinion, what's worse: a summer day in which the weather is too hot for you, or a cold, frigid day during the middle of the winter that is too cold for you? Why?
For me, a cold winter day is worse. I tend to like hot weather anyway, even though I've lived most of my life in Maine, United States.
Once per week, I volunteer at a food pantry for a few hours. It's nice to try to help those with a low income get access to healthy food for their families and themselves.
However, when I think of doing volunteer work to help those with mental illness, I often think of volunteer jobs such as visiting patients in mental hospitals, or something of that nature.
But volunteering at food pantries also helps those with mental illness. After all, if food pantries didn't exist, those who don
Performing volunteer work can be beneficial for you for a variety of reasons.
One reason is that if you're looking for a paying job, potential employers love finding out that you've performed volunteer work.
Furthermore, if you do volunteer work and your supervisor(s) at the volunteer job(s) likes your attitude and likes your work, you can use them as a reference for when you're filling out an application or resume.
I've done a lot of volunteer work in my time. As a result, I hav
Mental illness is a terrible thing. But with the help of professional treatment, people with this illness can overcome it and live happy, productive lives.
However, if you have a friend or a family member who you care about who has mental illness, you can't always help the person on your own. Often, mental health providers are needed.
For example, if you know someone who has bipolar disorder, and if the individual is in a manic phase who has lots of energy with grandiose ideas that a
If someone has been through one or more traumatic experiences in their life, such as sexual assault(s), physical assault(s), child abuse, extreme bullying, etc., many will call the person a trauma victim.
However, I've had psychotherapists tell me that if you've been through trauma in your past, you aren't a trauma victim. Instead, you are a trauma survivor. The thing is, the trauma didn't literally kill you because you are still here, which makes you a survivor, not a victim.
I thin
To everyone from the United States who's on this site, I just wanted to say that I hope that you enjoyed this year's Thanksgiving. I hope the weather didn't make things real difficult for you.
I had a good Thanksgiving. Some family members and I went out to eat at a hotel in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The meal was great and it was lots of fun.
Many people are easy to get along with. Then their are others who struggle in this area.
Some individuals who I know are basically good, nice people. But at the same time, they don't get along with so many others and have a problem with just about everyone. And they like to complain about others a lot too.
So with that said, here's my question: if they have a problem with so many people and don't get along with most others, don't they realize that maybe they are the ones with the pr
I've always been a proponent of telling myself that, when I'm having a bad day, it'll get better and that tomorrow is a new day. And when I'm having a good day or good time in my life, I tell myself to enjoy it and to live in the moment.
However, years ago I was watching a movie in which one of the main characters had issues with clinical depression.
Her philosophy was that, when she was feeling good emotionally, she'd tell herself that she was doing fine...until it gets worse for her
Helping others, such as those trying to cope with serious mental health issues, can be rewarding. You really can help those who try to help themselves. Giving them good and helpful advice matters too.
However, you don't want to tell those who you are trying to help how they should run their lives, even if you have the best of intentions.
Years ago, I knew a guy who years before then was a mental health worker. And although he meant well, he was always telling others how they should
Teenagers aren't adults yet. They have a lot to learn about life. And many of them think that they already know everything (although I don't believe all of them think that).
As probably any therapist will tell you, teenagers are the hardest to get through to, in general.
But despite that, lots of them can be helped. Many teens will listen to helpful advice given by adults, including teens who are battling mental illness. Lots of them can be reasoned with. Not all of them are super
I've worked with lots of psychotherapists over the years. Some I thought were better than others.
One therapist I saw was a counselor whom I didn't work with for long, as I didn't think she was very good at it.
However, one helpful bit of advice she gave me was for me to surround myself with positive things and good people. I thought that was excellent advice.
If you surround yourself with good things and good people, your life still won't be perfect and rosy. Yo
Working with those with mental illness has it's rewards. Many individuals with this terrible illness can be helped and will listen to good advice they're given by people who care about them, such as friends, family, and therapists.
However, with some folks with mental health issues, even the greatest and most helpful advice falls on deaf ears. It doesn't matter what you tell them. They don't listen to good advice and just do whatever they want instead.
Some people have to hit r
Life can be good. However, we all go through emotionally tough times in our lives.
During those hard times, some people can get suicidal, unfortunately. Some individuals can get suicidal when something major in their lives goes terribly wrong. Maybe they're going through a messy divorce, or perhaps their child passed away.
But some people can actually get suicidal over much smaller problems. I don't think all people realize that.
So if you get suicidal easily over smaller issu
When I was in high school, their were some students who liked bullying others, unfortunately.
Their was one youth, who was sort of a big kid, who liked messing with people every so often.
Well one day he came up with the brilliant idea of messing with one of the biggest and strongest kids in school.
He paid for it, as he really got pummeled.
But then just a few months later, he started messing with a friend of mine, who was sort of a muscular kid himself.
It's like hel
When I was a teenager, I generally came across as a happy person.
But one high school student who I knew didn't like me because he was jealous of me. He believed that my quality of life was better than his was at the time. And I think that he thought that I was a happier person in life than him.
Little did he know that, back then, I was dealing with severe depression much of the time. My life wasn't so rosy back then.
Just because someone appears to be happy, like I usually did
One of the most common forms of psychotherapy, called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, focuses on replacing irrational beliefs with more rational beliefs for those in therapy with mental illness. For example, those with clinical depression have lots of negative irrational beliefs. And people with bipolar disorder who are in a manic phase often have grandiose beliefs and goals that aren't realistic.
However, one person I know feels that saying that those with mental illness have a lot of irra
Between 1990 and 2003, my pet was a little bird, a cockatiel. His name was Luke. He was so tiny!
He enjoyed copying songs and words. He'd copy numerous songs, and he'd copy my mother when she said, "Mike?" He would say, "Hello," "Hey!" and "Pretty Boy." He also copied me coughing, sneezing, chewing gum, laughing, and more.
The odd thing is how could that little tiny brain of his be able to remember all those songs, noises, and words?
Some people love working in the mental health field. They love helping others and work in the field for many years.
Then their are others who basically enjoy working in the mental health field, but don't have a passion for it.
Then their are others who would rather do something else for a living.
Here's my question: can you go as far as becoming a psychiatrist or a psychologist if you don't have a passion for that type of work?
Considering the enormous dues you have to pay i
Years ago, I volunteered at a local elementary school for a school year. My job was to help some of the students who were falling behind with their grades with their classwork. It was a worthwhile volunteer job for me.
When I worked with the kids, who were in the third grade at the time, I decided not to require them to call me "Mr. Brown." Instead, I let them just call me, "Mike."
The reason was because I felt that the young students would respect me just as much if I let them call
The stigma against mental illness in America isn't as bad as it used to be. But it still exists. That's why many with mental health issues don't want others to know they have this terrible illness.
If you're disabled with mental illness and can only work part time at a paying job because of it, and you're looking for part time work and you're at a job interview, if the individual interviewing you wonders why you don't work full time at a job, I think it's okay to tell the person that you'
I have a long history of mental illness in the form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and bipolar disorder. I've been a patient in mental hospitals more than once over the years as a result.
The last time that I was in the hospital, back in 2011, my parents came to visit me like they often did when I was in one of those facilities.
I told them that it must be hard to have their own son in a mental institution once again.
However, they disagreed with me. They responded by sa
