Category: Mental Health

Family · Happiness · Health · Mental Health

How To Help A Loved One Suffering From Addiction

JayneLeave a comment

Addiction affects friends, families and loved ones. Knowing how to help the person addicted can be quite a struggle. It’s hard to know when to get help, how to get help and how to approach the person. Helping an addictive loved one get help can mean the difference between life and death.

Knowing the signs and symptoms of addiction is important when deciding if it’s time to approach a loved one about their problem. When their abuse starts to interfere with their daily life, causes memory loss and they have accidents, it’s time to talk to them, and you may even wish to research places like Honey Lake that will be able to help them when they are ready to begin the recovery process. They may not realize their is a real problem or might not want to admit it. A loved one on the outside of the issue can give them the perspective they need to know it’s time to get help.

Addiction isn’t just about an event that happens once or twice. If they get drunk and stumble in causing a stir once in a year, they might have just had a bad night. Watch for patterns over a period of time. They may try to hide it or say they only drink socially. Note a difference in their physical statute and/or their behavior when you believe they are inebriated.

Trust

It’s hard to trust an addicted person many times. They may have let you down due to their addiction even if it isn’t in their control. You have to step back and realize it’s more important for them to trust you than for you to let your hurt take over. Don’t nag or lecture them about the addiction. You want them to be able to talk openly about the problem and vent about it to you. They may swear up and down they can change, but an addicted person will not change until they are forced to face the consequences of their actions. It can be hard to trust them due to this fact, but you have to trust they will listen and get help when you approach them about their issues.

Compassion

It’s important to help your loved one by using compassion. The thing they most need is someone that listens and understands. Many times the addicted person feels as if someone is suffering with them and actually going through the process with them. This means they understand you recognize their pain and are trying to truly help. They feel heard and seen so they aren’t alone. Fighting addiction alone is crippling to many addicts. They know someone truly cares and wants to help them without criticizing them through the whole journey. They may understand you have no clue about addiction and what it does to their mind, but they also understand you’re trying to step in their shoes and won’t let them fail.

Communicate

Keep all lines of communication open and free of judgement. You need to learn more from the person about their addiction daily and let them vent about their frustrations. They may feel like a failure or feel they cannot be helped. Listen to them and be open with your concerns as well. Don’t lecture them about their addiction, but be a listening ear offering positive words. This will help them as they go into recovery knowing someone is on their side.

All About ME! · Mental Health

Working on Myself

JayneLeave a comment
Photo by Bryan Minear on Unsplash

I’ve not talked about it on here very much, but last year, I did a round of high-intensity therapy to try to help me with some issues that I’ve been dealing with for many years. My sessions finished just before Christmas, but I’ve been trying to do some work on my own before going back to see my therapist again, mostly around ways to improve my feelings of confidence and self worth. It’s really hard, trying to change a lifetime of negative feelings, but I’ve come up with a little list of things that I’m planning to try, in order to help. Here they are, in no particular order:

Treating Myself to New Things

I have a real problem with buying myself clothes or anything that’s solely for me, but it’s something that I need to change. Wearing nice things gives you a mental boost and makes you feel happier, and I’m planning to treat myself to a new summer wardrobe over the next few months so that I go into the nice weather feeling confident.

Dancing Queen

I’ve never been an amazing dancer, but dancing is always something I’ve loved to do. I used to go to a belly dancing class and absolutely loved it (not to mention hours spent on the dance floor every Friday and Saturday night!). It’s a place where I can do an activity which is just for me, and maybe make a few friends along the way, too.

Maintain Friendships

I’m a bit of a weird creature – I’m very sociable and can chat the hind legs off of a donkey, but actually making myself leave the house and have a social life has become increasingly difficult over the last decade. I’ve promised myself that 2019 is the year that I try to connect with people more and actually make an effort to make plans.

Ignore the Haters

When you’ve spent your whole childhood being mocked and criticised, it’s really hard to eject all those bad words from your brain. I’ve still got a whole section of my brain dedicated to remembering it all and I’m making an effort to let it go. It’s probably the hardest part of all this as most of it is deeply ingrained, but I’m doing my best to remember that people who truly love me would never want to tear me down, only build me up.

Do you have any amazing tips for improving self-confidence and self-worth? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

Mental Health

How to Deal With Baby Blues and Post Partum Depression

JayneLeave a comment

It is true that the birth of a child is a joyful news. Unfortunately, at the same time, the process takes a huge physical, mental, and emotional toll on the new mother. Every mother and every single childbirth is different and therefore, every mother responds differently to this overwhelming experience. While some women comfortably manage to go with the flow and get the hang of it, others go through phases of emotional meltdowns, mood swings, and unexplained depression. In some cases, they might also feel detached from their baby and in extreme cases, they might also feel suicidal. These are classic signs of baby blues and postpartum depression (PPD).

Every 1 in 7 women in the United States has been known to suffer through PPD to some extent. Unfortunately, the existence of PPD is not a common knowledge among most people and as a result, the situation gets worse in many cases and can even affect other relationships of the patient. If you or any new mother around you is suffering from any such symptoms, here are a few ways in which you can deal with the problem.

Healthy Diet

Childbirth makes a woman’s body ultra sensitive to your surrounding. Her hormones are messed up and her body responds instantaneously to whatever she consumes. This response could be either positive or negative depending on what kind of energy is she exposed to. The best thing that a woman can do to herself due to this time is to eat the healthy diet that helps in her healing process. Increase intake of vitamin-rich foods that helps the body sustain its energy levels and keeps the mood swings under control.

Postpartum Exercises and Meditation

We are not talking about a rigorous cardio or weight lifting at the gym. However, there are certain yoga moves and meditation that can help repel all the negative energy and channelize the positive energy around you. Yoga and meditation can work wonders to heal your mind, body, and soul and help your emotional meltdowns.

Positive Support System

Nothing can help a new mother than a group of supportive loved ones who can understand her situation and help her heal during this time. It has been observed that new mothers who have a strong and positive support system around them who help her with child care while they can rest and sleep heal much faster and are happier, healthier mothers. Involve a father, grandparent or uncles, and aunts who can help to share the stress and let you take some time off so that you can relax while they also get to develop their bond with the child.

Psychotherapy

Baby blues are fairly common in the initial three weeks and can be dealt with by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, mental relaxation, and positive support system. Unfortunately, in some cases, the symptoms fail to go away and the situation aggravates to the worst kind of depression. In worst case scenario the patient may even feel suicidal and can also take a toll on her relationship with the partner. Therefore, if the symptoms persist after four weeks of childbirth, it is best to consult a psychotherapy. You can find some of the most competent psychotherapists at claritychi.com who can talk to you and help you cope up with your depression so that you are able to enjoy your journey and take care of your child in a better way.

Home · Mental Health

THE PURGE (AKA, Don’t Stand Still or Mum Will Throw You in the Bin)

JayneLeave a comment

Before Christmas, we were lucky enough to be given a brand new sofa, and in preparation for this, I cleared every stick of furniture out of our living room and cleaned the carpet the day before it was delivered. As it turned out, I quite like having a lounge which isn’t stacked high with toys and other clutter, so much of what we moved has sat in the dining room since the beginning of December, making the room look like a huge version of Monica’s secret closet.

THE PURGE

Last week, I decided that enough was enough; we couldn’t live with one room that looked like one of those storage units, but the rest of the house was by no means ready to receive all of the stuff from my Room of Shame.

And so began…THE PURGE!

I started with the airing cupboard, taking out all of the duvet sets and sheets, and storing them in under-bed boxes, giving us a huge empty cupboard to use for other things. Then I moved on to the girls room, where I managed to clear out SIX black bags of clothes and two massive IKEA bags full of toys for charity, as well as four bags of rubbish, which gave us a whole bunch of empty storage in which to put all of the new things they got for Christmas. Next, I moved on to that dead space at the bottom of the wardrobes that I tend to fill up with things like old pairs of curtains and blankets which don’t really have another home, and managed to fill up two more bin bags of stuff for the charity shop.

My next job is to tackle The Room of Shame, but now that the rest of the house is so much clearer and we have plenty of space to tidy INTO, it doesn’t feel nearly as daunting – I don’t feel the need to start Googling ‘storage near me‘ anymore so that I can just move half of our belongings elsewhere!

The nice thing I’ve noticed is that the decluttering has had a really positive knock-on effect for my mental state, and our lives as a family. I’m taking more interest in other housework because the house looks nice and I want to KEEP it looking nice, and Sausage has a clear desk to do her homework on, rather than perching up at the coffee table each evening. BB has also taken an interest in helping me (in exchange for pocket money, of course!) to put washing away and do other little jobs, which is a habit I’m more than happy for her to get into. I think I’ll make The Purge a six-monthly thing so that we stay on top of it and don’t feel like we’re perpetually drowning in old clothes and toys!

Do you have a purge every now and again, or are you a bit of a hoarder? Do leave me a comment below.

Baby · Family · Maternity · Maternity Matters · Mental Health · Parenting · Personal · Pregnancy

Maternity Matters Week 4 #maternitymatters

Jayne1 Comment

I can’t quite believe this is the fourth Maternity Matters linky already! We really hope you’re enjoying the process of sharing and reading so many great posts as much as we are. Seeing how pregnancy and birth experiences vary so much from person to person is as beautiful as it is informative and that uniqueness is exactly what’s at the core of Maternity Matters.

As usual, we’d love it if you displayed our badge, either on your individual posts or in your sidebar, and we’d also be grateful for anyone who isn’t already to follow the Maternity Matters Facebook and Twitter accounts.



MaternityMatters~ Mum's the Word