#adventures in mental health

[largishcat]

one thing that really annoys me because no one ever talks about it is that if you have a lot of pent up negative emotions, and you start meditation, You Will Feel Worse For A Bit. because its going to bring all that stuff up to the surface. im on this meditation subreddit and i swear every other thread is some new meditator being like ive been feeling really emotionally raw and upset lately :( am i doing something wrong and then NO ONE in the comments is telling them that yeah, thats normal, and it will even out. it’s not incorrect and it doesn’t mean that meditation ~actually makes you feel worse~ or whatever, it’s just the initial hump. they literally need to put a warning on meditation apps tho like they do for antidepressants, because serenity does not come instantly, and the first couple weeks can be genuinely Bad

[mashupofmylife]

@heartbeatsandrainstorms replied to your post “For reasons that I now can't remember, my...”:

So...did you bring the stuffed animal to therapy with you? Inquiring minds that also sleep with stuffed animals want to know :)

​You bet I did! And he's such a child psychiatrist that he picked up on the nickname I use for her and has since used that nickname to follow up and ask how it felt to bring her to therapy and said that I am welcome to bring her whenever I want in the future.

We ended up talking about my attachment style and pattern of relationships and some trends with relationships in my family which all came out of me bringing her which was productive and academically interesting, not that I've been able to operationalize it or anything like that.

[first-full-moon]

anger is the one thing my father gave me. I try so hard to not let it get to me, put it's roots in me enough to let go and lash out, but it's really really really hard.

((i'm over 30, this shouldn't be so hard))

[ur-daily-inspiration]

[hamburgernotsohelpful]

She looks so healthy now…I HOPE SHE CLEANED THAT FUCKING APARTMENT

[strayswolf]

Jason slowly falling into a flashback gave this issue so much life and a greater purpose. They’re once again acknowledging harm Jason suffered at the hands of the Joker, and how he continues to deal with the mental scars left behind, an aspect that isn’t addressed enough in comics and is so appreciated here.

Also, the artistic decision to have Dick’s word bubble, “He’s taken too much from this family. We can���t let him take any more.” inlaid over introspective Jason was perfection.

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, Season Three, Ep. 119, We’re Not Gonna Take It

[liquidstar]

but for real i love adventure time bc in the face of shitty family members that are also space war criminals, most kids show protags would be all "guys lets not fight... we're family! we can be friends! peace and love!" but finn is like "im going to personally rip off my dads arm because i hate him"

[phoenixcatch7]

In love with the idea of captain marvel being Billy's imaginary friend. Like, it'd be so easy. Early depictions had them as almost fully separate people sometimes, like one soul with two minds, rather than just two filters like we mostly see now.

But imagine a Billy down on his luck, hurt and hiding from police and criminals alike, daydreaming the hours away as children do, taking inspiration from all the superheroes rising to fame, making little stories to play out his dreams of saving the world with a generic action doll he found while dumpster diving once. Most of the paint's rubbed off.

Red's his favourite colour, his comfiest jumper is a bright ruby even after all the grime and washes. Gold, too, it's shiny and warmer than silver! A hero cape is a must, big and eye catching! And he can fly, of course, like superman, and in his daydreams, when he's sore and frustrated after a long day's grind, his superhero is smart enough and knows all the right words to get the bullies to stop without resorting to fighting.

His superhero fantasy is one he spends a lot of time on, the first one he goes for when struggling to sleep at night, and he can picture it so clearly. Captain marvel is big and bright and kind, strong enough to lift the boxes for the old lady up the road who's moving all by himself, fast enough to catch Jamie who fell out of the tree on Saturday and broke his leg and couldn't come to class for weeks. He appears at the entrance to alleys when Billy is cornered, he steps up behind to cover for him when he gets caught shoplifting, he sits at the bus stop with him when it's pouring rain and the right bus doesn't seem to be coming.

And then the wizard comes, or rather whisks him away, and like a magician from a fairytale breathes life into his imaginary friend until Billy feels thrice his size and a million times more invincible.

From then on, captain marvel is a real hero, just like Billy is a real boy, and as one they save the whole city, and then the whole world, and get cats down from trees and help Mrs Victoria move the last of her boxes and she gives them a pinch in the cheek and cookies for the road and sometimes it hurts but it's so much better than he imagined.

[mitzi-moo]

My favourite views are between those brown fluffy ears 🏞️

[freriahaha]

I made his pupils look straight at you and Daaamn, how I love it!

Don't look at this picture for too long, otherwise you'll go crazy (or you already)

[lizziebat]

Okay but hear me out

Rapunzel would be a perfect hijabi. Even if she wasn’t Muslim- a veiled woman anyway.

Her hair is so important! It’s basically the sun flower that healed the Queen. It’s why it’s so important it’s never cut. Once it’s cut it will never grow- it wouldn’t be able to heal anymore.

Veiling would protect her from evil people.

[largishcat]

hi! i saw your post a few days ago about meditation, and i wanted to ask if you have any tips on how to get started, or if you'd like to share your experiences if you're comfortable. I've been trying to get into meditation since forever, but i have chronic "think too much worry too hard" disease and none of the apps ever worked for me....

(general disclaimer i am not an expert etc) so weirdly enough, meditation is actually great for sufferers of “think too much worry too hard” syndrome, although it really seems like it shouldn’t be. a while back, I had a massive, terrible depressive episode, and one of the major symptoms i suffered from was getting caught in negative thought spirals that I couldn’t get out of. it felt like my brain was dashing itself against my skull like a caged animal. terrible time. i turned to meditation out of desperation, and it really did help me. i credit 3 things with enabling me to drag myself out of that uhhhh 18 month depressive episode

dropping out of college and moving across the country

keeping up a daily meditation practice

getting a job at a bakery that I hated but did force me to go outside and interact with people

the thing about meditation is, it won’t make negative thoughts go away, but it will a) decrease the gravity of them, and b) it will make you less scared of them

because negative thoughts are, in fact, scary and they can hurt. repressing that shit is a genuine way to prevent harm to yourself, ESPECIALLY if you are prone to negative thought spirals. what meditation did for ME was it allowed me to not spiral. a negative thought would happen, but it would not catch in my brain like a hook anymore. it would happen, and then I would move on, and it was fucking great

this has already gotten long but i do have some tips!!

dont bother with the fuckin apps they’re all corporate bullshit these days. i DID use headspace when i was first starting out, but that was years ago when they still gave you the entire first module for free. there are free guided meditations on youtube, use those. they’ll teach you the basic techniques (counting, noting, visualization) just as well

make it easier. with yoga, if you can’t get into a pose, they’ll tell you to do a modified version. it’s the same. there is this very basic meditation exercise where you breath slowly and count to ten. one in, two out, etc. and you just have to get to ten without being distracted. when i first started meditating, I couldn’t fucking do it. i could NOT make it to ten without getting caught in a spiral. so i made it easier. i counted to two, over and over again, until i got the hang of it

it’s all about the breath. some bozos (headspace guy) will tell you you can breath however you want, this is NOT TRUE. it’s the breath that guides you into the meditative state. i guess it’s possible for you to achieve it if you’re breathing shallowly, but i know it’s way easier when you do the traditional deep, slow, gentle breathing. it literally forces your body to relax and your heart to slow

make sure you’re at a point in your life where you can afford to be emotionally tender. this is the warning label i was talking about. if you have stuff to bring up, it’s coming up, and it won’t be super great. you are GOING to be in your feelings for a bit. it lasts a few days to a couple weeks. if your life/work is very stressful and likely to press on that bruise, decide if it’s worth it. and make sure you’re prepared to do self care. you have to take care of yourself like you have the flu, essentially

you aren’t getting the full benefits until you achieve the full meditative state, and it might take a minute to get there. so, in my experience, there are like three states you pass through during each session. 1) there’s the more or less awake state, when you’re first starting. this is when you first close your eyes and start concentrating on your breathing. it’s very easy to get distracted during this stage, and you might even get stuck here as you’re just starting out. 2) the next stage is the BAD TIMES stage, this is when the bad feelings are going to trickle up to the surface. keep breathing through it, use whatever technique you’re practicing this session (noting, visualization, just plan counting) and keep going. you DONT want to stop at this stage, you will feel terrible. but the good news is you probably won’t get stuck here. 3) the final state beyond that is true mediation

you’ll know when you reach the correct state because it’s awesome. i experience it as a sense of coolness and lightness, like im full of crisp fall air. i think other people might experience it as warmth? it’s probably different for everybody. breath becomes naturally deep and you stop being bored. just breathing and existing become perfectly fulfilling activities (that’s the altered mental state, babyyyy). thoughts may be gone or they may still be drifting around, but none of them will seem dire, your breath is more interesting than them. and the great part is you can hang out here as long as you want! coming back up is as easy and wriggling your toes and opening your eyes. or you can just fall asleep from here if you’re doing a bedtime meditation. even a few minutes in this state is so nice and restorative, and the sense of calm lingers

this turned into an essay, but i hope this was helpful!

[raining-at-ease]

[first-full-moon]

honestly wondering if my mental health was worse or better when I was younger bc rn I feel like I’m caught in a cycle

[cierrasdiary]

Be kind to others. There’s enough hate in this world as it is. ✨

[hamburgernotsohelpful]

From The brink of suicide to Getting help, We Stan a Mental Health King