mentally-ill-express-blog

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Relationships don’t take your anxiety away Relationships don’t take your depression away Relationships don’t stop the bad thoughts Relationships don’t stop your mental illnesses

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ive been on tumblr a long time and i remember when everyone said “oh don’t romanticize mental illness” and it was agreed that doing that was gross and a good way to kill people indirectly

but somehow we’ve come full circle and there are people who legit defend their right to be anti-recovery there are people who don’t want to get better and spread the idea that you can’t get better as if it’s gospel and it’s fucking frightening to me bc nobody seems to want to say “hey? this is toxic and untrue and is your disease speaking, and it’s not something you should accept.”

and i feel like every recovery post gets about 500 of these people saying “this isn’t something that will work” “cool karen i’m depressed” “maybe it worked for you but it won’t work for other people” and that’s… just… im so sorry if you’re 15. i’m sorry if you’re in high school and watching grown adults tell you it doesn’t get better. that nobody says that with time and help and patience the world stops being so heavy, that accepting your illness as a fact is one thing but accepting it as the only way to be is just wrong, that you can learn to live with it and still find some degree of “happy”…. if i had seen this shit back when i was … oh god starting at 12 when i was already self-harming …. i think i’d have actually honest-to-god killed myself. not a joke, not a funny tumblr punchline, i would have actually just killed myself. 

i’m saying this right here and right now to the adults on this site. if you for any reason shoot down positivity that’s causing no harm - you might have indirectly worsened someone else’s condition, and you should try and do better in the future. if you find it necessary to tell people “recovery is a lie”, you need to do better. i know everyone has different circumstances, but i also know that mental illness behaves in such a way that everyone thinks they can’t recover.  if you feel like you should be spreading the Word Of Relapse, you are causing toxic language to be normalized and you need to do better. 

im team “cool karen ive got depression and that means i’m going to try this because i’ve got to try something” i’m team “romanticize recovery” i’m team “it isn’t working now but it might in the future and it’s worth staying to find out” im team “hey this didn’t work for me but it might help somebody else out”

fuck guys it shouldn’t be an unpopular opinion to say “i don’t want any of you to die”.

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there’s a future version of me who’s proud I was strong enough

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if I have to read one more story where a character complains about how “fuzzy” their brain feels on antidepressants and how they’re “not as creative” or some bullshit I’m gonna scream like listen b*tch you know when my brain feels it’s fuzziest and least creative? when I’m so gotdamn off my rocker depressed that I can’t find the mental capacity to exist as anything more than a hazy half formed concept that’s so uncreatjve and foolish it does nothing but hover over me and you know what makes me feel most like my glowing bitch of a self? a revolutionary combination of healthy diet, exercise, therapy, and a n t i d e p r e s s a n t s so please keep your wildly inaccurate advice very extra far away from anyone and everyone thanks for coming to my ted talk

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this is the mood for 2018

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I am so on board with 2018 being the year we switch from self deprication to self love. I’m not saying you can’t use self depreciating humor to deal with stuff, but I would challenge you to really cut back on how much you talk about yourself in really negative ways. Because if you only ever talk about yourself as worthless garbage, that’s absolutely how you’re going to feel about yourself, and it’s really going to get in the way of your personal growth and developing a more health self image. Start small, start slow, but try to be kinder to yourself in the new year. Celebrate your little victories, forgive your setbacks, remember that you have worth and deserve happiness and love. You are not garbage.

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in 2018, I wish you

better mental health

great looking skin

more energy

open-mindedness

healthy relationships

good dreams at night

success

delicious food

happiness

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Hi shelby, you're so pretty and lovely! Could you give me tips on trying not to self harm please? Like distractions or something! Love you blog babe x

Hey love,

Thank you for the compliments :)

Self harm recovery projects:

The Butterfly Project:

when you feel like you want to cut, take a marker or pen and draw a butterfly on wherever the self-harm occurs.

name the butterfly after a loved one, or someone that really wants you to get better.

NO scrubbing the butterfly off.

if you cut before the butterfly is gone, it dies. if you don’t cut, it lives.

if you have more than one, cutting kills them all.

another person may draw them on you. these butterflies are extra special. take good care of them.

even if you don’t cut, feel free to draw a butterfly anyways, to show your support. if you do this, name it after someone you know that is suffering right now, and tell them. it could help.

The Paper Chain Project:

For every day you go without self harming or purging, add a colorful link to the paper chain

If you relapse, just add a white link to to the chain and carry on the chain without any disruption

Over time the paper chain will grow in length and you can see your progress, and see that even if you do relapse, the are still days you go without hurting yourself. The colorful links.

Over time and through your recovery watch the amount of colored links begin to increase, and the amount of white links begin to decrease.

If you feel like hurting yourself, look at the paper chain and realize just how far you’ve made it, and realise that if you’ve resisted before you can do it again

Journaling:

DELAY: delay giving in to the urge for a set amount of time. Write down this amount of time and set a timer.

DISTRACT: do an activity that will occupy your thoughts and use your physical energy. Write a list of things you could do.

DECIDE: after the set time period, decide how you’re going to respond to the urge. Write down: advantages, disadvantages, reasons you want to stop, life goals.

You can also try distracting your mind. Do something where you are able to focus you mind on and be physical at the same time whenever you feel the urge to cut coming on.

For example:

Exercise: yoga, Pilates  zumba, dance, jogging, and if you have a gym membership go there.

Take a leisurely stroll through a park or even your neighborhood.

If you have a pet, try to teach them a trick.

Watch a crappy movie marathon, or have a marathon of your favorite show.

Take a nice relaxing bubble bath

read a book

listen to loud music and sing along to it and dance around if you have to

go out with friends, or call up your boyfriend and see if you can spend some time together (nothing special just hang out).

play video games

try tetris, a crossword puzzle, mind games

Coping skills for any addiction, self harm included:

Need to express pain and intense emotions

Paint, draw, or scribble on a big piece of paper with red ink or paint

Express your feelings in a journal

Compose a poem or song to say what you feel

Write down any negative feelings and then rip the paper up

Listen to music that expresses what you’re feeling

If you need to calm and soothe yourself

Take a bath or hot shower

Pet or cuddle with a dog or cat

Wrap yourself in a warm blanket

Massage your neck, hands, and feet

Listen to calming music

Color in a coloring book

Plant flowers

If you feel disconnected and numb

Call a friend (you don’t have to talk about self-harm)

Take a cold shower

Hold an ice cube in the crook of your arm or leg

Chew something with a very strong taste, like chili peppers, peppermint, or a grapefruit peel.

Go online to a self-help website, chat room, or message board

If you need to release tension or vent anger

Exercise vigorously—run, dance, jump rope, or hit a punching bag

Punch a cushion or mattress or scream into your pillow

Squeeze a stress ball or squish Play-Doh or clay

Rip something up (sheets of paper, a magazine)

Make some noise (play an instrument, bang on pots and pans)

Substitutes for the cutting sensation

Use a red felt tip pen to mark where you might usually cut

Rub ice across your skin where you might usually cut

Put rubber bands on wrists, arms, or legs and snap them instead of cutting or hitting

Cut an apple with your blades, scissors, knife, etc

Helpful Links:

Feeling the need to self injure? Please take a look at these posts: 24 ways to avoid self injury & Alternatives to self harm.

Check out this support community for individuals who self harm recover your life.

Help Guide A site containing articles to help understand, help numbers,  “tool kits”, and self help.

Understanding self injury is a text post that explains that self injury is an addiction and the different forms of self injury.

Mental Support Community A forum to talk about self harm and how it affects your life.

Here is a  post about understanding self-injury, the reasons why it occurs and the forms it can take.

Here are some Alternatives For Self-Harm

Here are some instructions on how to make a  Glitter Jar

Here are some Safety Plan printable wallet cards

Here are some instructions on how to make a Comfort Box

Here is a master post on coping with urges to self harm:

Alternatives for when you are feeling angry or restless

Alternatives to self harm

More self harm help/recovery links

How to care for cuts

How to care for burns

Helping to calm down: 1, 2, 3

Alternatives to self-harm

Natural antidepressants

How to fade and cover scars

What to say when someone sees

Helpful websites

Tips for stopping

Suicidal?

Friend self-harms?

Anxiety

How to tell someone

Hotlines

Keep me updated? I’d love to hear back from you

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some weirdo on here: my friend hates me cause im mean to her and call her names and never respond to her but thats my mental illness so i cut her off and blocked her on everything! finally some self love☺️☺️

u guys: what an inspiration tonight we eat at goresoftboy666 uwu

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Don’t think too much, unless you are thinking about baby crows like these:

If that’s the case then continue thinking about them a lot, because that’s a really good idea and I fully support it.

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does anyone ever do the opposite of dissociate?? where youre just suddenly and uncomfortably aware of your situation and reality 

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