E.M.P Advice

Offering Emotional, Mental, and Physical Advice. Please keep in mind that the Volunteers that write for EMP Advice are neither experts nor professionals in the field of mental or physical health, and that the views and opinions expressed belong to the individual Volunteers.

[emp-advice]

The thing even worse than not getting enough sleep

Being interrupted during sleep is likely to affect your mood more than not getting enough sleep, a study suggests. Researchers at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, USA studied 62 men and women and split them into three experimental conditions. One group were subject to “forced awakenings” during sleep, others went to bed late and the last group went to sleep uninterrupted.

[emp-advice]

[mental-wellbeing-deactivated201]

How PTSD Disrupts Relationships 

[emp-advice]

[recoveryisbeautiful]

Define yourself by what you do. Not by your disorders, ailments, or allergies.

Foamy the Squirrel (via recoveryisbeautiful)

[emp-advice]

•  Are you hanging out with the wrong crowd? •  Do you suffer from low self-esteem? •  Is there peer pressure at school to join a gang, drink, smoke or have sex? •  Do you have friends who are drinking and driving, and you're worried? •  Feel misunderstood by your parents? •  Fear that you're headed down the wrong path in life? •  Know someone in an abusive relationship? Is she too frightened or embarrassed to talk to her parents? Is she afraid to leave her boyfriend? •  Are you the one who has attacked your girlfriend? Do you struggle with anger issues but don't know how to ask for help? Share your dilemmas and get advice from others. Click here for additional resources.

[emp-advice]

When someone asks, “How are you?” do you answer honestly?

1. “I’m worried. All the time. It never ends. That’s not to say I don’t feel joy. I do all the time. But that undercurrent of worry is omnipresent.” — Cheryl Soltero Egher

2. “Life raising two disabled children is hard. Sometimes I get discouraged.” — Nicki Barnes Scott

3. “I’d love to say I’m rock solid, calm, hopeful and confident at all times. More often, I’m tired, anxious and swayed by the slightest changes. And sometimes — well, usually, actually — I’m all of the above.” — Ali Foley Shenk

4. “I always say ‘good.’ The truth? Most often hanging by a thread.” — Tricia Klein

5. “I miss my mom and I can’t imagine spending decades without her.” — Carrie Giesinger

6. “I’m struggling. I’m letting anxiety and fear get the better of me. I’m letting people’s negative words and emotions affect me to a point where I had a meltdown. I am not trusting the positive words of people who matter, yet am trusting the negative words of people who don’t. So I’m struggling.” — Julianne Leow

7. “Exhausted and happy.” — Melissa Ellen

8. “If there is a word that means more than exhausted, that is the word to describe how I am.” — Leslie Da Lie

9. “Today I feel guilty.” — Erika Woolfolk-Wiley

10. “I have many great moments in the day, but my mind is a whirlpool of anixety that I constantly try to keep at bay.” — Jessica Ann Hardy

11. “‘Fine’ is my normal answer. The truth? I can’t hear what you are saying. My mind is moving too fast with all my obsessive thoughts. I am trying to hear you and have a conversation but I can’t. Too many what ifs floating around in my brain.” — Kerri Lewis Brock

12. “I am becoming well. I am fighting. I am slowly winning the war against my own mind. I am stronger than I was before. How are you?” — Harmony Rose Rogers

13. “Still alive, tired and proud. My son just turned 21 today. I never imagined we would’ve made it this far.” — Jennifer Sue Bourbon

14. “I’m 25. But I don’t feel 25.” — Brittani June B

15. “Truthfully, I’m happy to be alive. I could be tired and grumpy later, but I’m alive.” — Astrid Pianto

16. “Trying not to think about what it’s going to be like when my son is too big for me to take care of, or when I’m too old to do it.” — Anita Soto Russell

17. “I’m different than I ever thought I’d be. I’m more patient than is humanly possible. I’m more hopeful than the younger me would have dared to feel, looking on from afar. I’m new.” — Maxine Sinda Napal

18. “Good! I try to see the blessings in each day. Some days are harder than others. Tomorrow might be totally different. But today when I say ‘good’ I mean it.” — Justine Peets

19. “Drained. That’s all I can say.” — Sarah Anne Robinson

20. “I have pain, both physical and emotional, every day. More often than not, getting out of bed is a tremendous struggle.” — Julie Gault

21. “Actually, I’m feeling kinda yucky today.” — Lindsay Ballard

22. “Scared.” — Laura Reed

23. “Worn. I’m worn out with happiness, worry, sleeplessness and pride.” — Tatiana Tran

24. “Surviving. Putting in all the energy and effort I have to do the things I have to do, so I can do some of the things I want to do.” — Irina Greenman

25. “Grateful the intrusive thoughts that give me anxiety haven’t started yet this morning. I got going late and that’s usually a trigger, but I’m feeling comfortable in my skin so far today.” — KeriAnn Hollerud

26. “Today I am great! The sun is shining, my children were happy, loving and excited to go to school. A week ago, I was not great.” — Nicole Schultz-Kass

27. “I am surviving. Little by little. Good days and bad blur together in an endless haze. I’m too tired to really process the question anyway, so the truth is I am surviving — one day at a time.” — Pamela Zesotarski

28. “I’m holding on!” — Kathy Fett Schulz

29. “I’m not doing well, but not many people know it.” — Emma Wozny

30. “So many feelings, all at once. I’m worried. I’m thankful. I feel fortunate.” — Michelle A Schwindler

31. “I’m not fine. But I will be.” — Marie Rossi

[emp-advice]

Feisty Comics About Mental Illness We Can All Relate To

Finding hilarity in life's challenges.

[emp-advice]

5 Things You Learn About Sex As A Sex Therapist

For totally not-personal reasons, we found ourselves talking to Amber, a licensed sex therapist. Here's what she told us about human sex in general

This is actually quite informative!

[emp-advice]

From f**k it therapy by John C. Parkin

[emp-advice]

In other news, I know there are questions in the inbox, but I’m having some Narcolepsy exhaustion lately - not ignoring you, just dealing with life!

-Toki

[notquiteaghost]

spoon theory: a low-spoons-friendly summary

it’s sort of ironic that the original article on spoon theory costs so many spoons to read, so i decided to write a brief summary for people who need it

spoon theory is an analogy

in it, spoons = energy

you get [x] number of spoons a day ([x] amount of energy), & doing things costs [x] number of spoons ([x] amount of energy)

for example, you get 10 spoons today; getting up costs 1, making food costs 2, making a phone call costs 2, watching a tv episode costs 2, etc

the purpose of spoon theory is to explain to abled/healthy people what being disabled/chronically ill is like, in a way they might find easier to understand

it highlights how little energy disabled/chronically ill people have when compared to abled healthy people, how much more energy things can cost, & how careful they have to be in prioritising what they spend that energy on

disabled/chronically ill people also use it as a way of talking about their energy levels

if you say “i’m low on spoons”, you’re not just saying you’re low on energy; you’re saying you’re low on energy because you’re disabled/chronically ill

for this reason, abled healthy people don’t get to say “i’m low on spoons”

here’s the link to the original article

[darrenchris]

also worth noting: 

creator of spoon theory has said it is okay to apply it to mental illness as well. 

your benchmark on whether you’re “sick enough” to use spoons is your own, so if you feel like it applies, it can apply.

[mentalillnessmouse]

[socialjusticefelines]

[photo // post]

[[ Image Description: A photo featuring a fluffy cat lying comfortably on its side, with a post on it by user @howilearnedtocope.

The post reads: “3 types of self soothing thoughts

1. Validation - it’s ok that I hurt and want to feel better 2. Reassurance - I can handle this pain, even though it hurts and I don’t like it 3. Perspective taking: I’ve had bad days like this before, and my record of making it through them is 100%. I can also remember my better days, and know I’m not always hurting this much ” ]]

[mentalhealthoutreach]

How to deal with mental illness in college!

[mapsfortheroad]

many of these are applicable to those who are not in college as well :)

[rachellehola-deactivated2016040]

Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.

Wendy Mass (via rachellehola)

[makeadifferencetogether]

People’s Choice Award Winner

It is with great pleasure that Living Well and 1in6 come together to announce the results of our 2012 Poster/Visual Media Competition. We would like to commend all of the artists who contributed entries and all those who participated in supporting the competition.

For us, it is the whole collection of posters that make this a winning competition. The entries have generated much discussion and helped expand our thinking in relation to the variety of ways to name and address this year’s competition theme of ‘Let’s Talk…’

The above poster by Rafal, was the People’s Choice Award Winner.  Rafal, had this to day about his motivation to enter and intent in creating the poster. 

“WOW!!! I’m startled about the competition results and never thought I would win the people’s choice. Thank you very much for the good news. The reason I entered the competition is that I think the aim and the theme are very important for men around the world. In our male-centered society, the voice of men who were sexually abused in childhood is not present in public discourse. The main goal is to support people to talk more freely about their experiences. It is all about helping people to participate in society without grief and shame. I wanted to make the poster as universal and neutral as possible. Moreover, I wanted to underline that people who have been abused live among us as ordinary people, often hiding behind a mask that is very difficult to remove. That’s why I think making a space, even if it is only on the web, where men can take these masks off is so important. I hope that such action will also become possible in other cultures, Poland for example.” – Rafal