Mental Illness Mouse

MentalIllnessMouse is a blog run by mentally ill people for mentally ill people. We provide peer support and resources through responses, posts, and reblogs. We are not professionals and as such cannot diagnose. Learn more via our FAQs. Please check out the helpful resources page and relevant tags before asking questions. Do not send in questions containing graphic descriptions of violence, assault, self harm, or numbers related to weight and dieting/eating as we've defined here or asks about medications. For urgent, time sensitive concerns please use a hotline or chatroom as asks can take up to 3 weeks to answer. We welcome the creation of memes! Please use the meme generator and submit!

[mentalillnessmouse]

recently someone asked if our inbox is still open and accepting questions, and the answer to that is "yes, of course!"

just mind the rules about answering questions, but otherwise go nuts.

[positivelypastelpink]

If you want to say thank you, don’t say sorry

[daily-reminders-that-ur-enough]

It’s okay to struggle

[traumasurvivors]

You are a person. You are not a product. What they did to you doesn’t make you damaged goods.

[happydayssuggestions]

reset, restart, and refocus as many times as you want to.

[mentalillnessmouse]

I've had two episodes where I become non-verbal and go limp. A paralysis-like state where I am telling my limbs or hands to move, but they do not. Or if they do, it is slow and uncoordinated.

The first time it lasted around an hour, and my head was impossible to prop up. The second time was shorter as I was able to get into a call with some friends and their voices got me out of it.

All the while both times my mind was racing, and I was overwhelmed. I know what triggered it the second time, but don't remember what happened the first. I don't know what is happening.

hey anon,

you really need to consult a medical professional about this. if this happens again i would suggest going to your nearest emergency room or urgent care.

as a reminder: we are not able to give out medical advice on this blog.

stay safe,

kei

[mentalillnessmouse]

I'm struggling with self harm and I'm scared to ask for help. Do you have any advice and could you tell me what would happen if my therapist found out? Will I be taken away and supervised?

SELF HARM CW

hey anon,

it can be scary to discuss things with your therapist—especially when you’re unsure of what might happen. i will say that therapists in the USA are mandated reporters—they have to by law report when their client is doing something that threatens their own safety or the safety of others.

what this means is that depending on the severity of your self harm and if its posing an immediate threat to your life that it could result in hospitalization.

this doesn’t mean that it absolutely will!

using myself as an example here for a moment, my therapist and i have an understanding about what requires immediate hospitalization and what just requires me to check in with her. this is called my safety plan. what will it take to keep me safe and sound? what coping skills, tools, etc do i have in my toolbox to help me? typically that looks like me having an emergency session with her and disconnecting myself from the source of stress. most recently that was a work/home conflict that could have gone either way. we discussed it and it was understood by both of us that hospitalization would just cause an unnecessary amount of stress/drama and that i really just needed a day or two to refocus, regroup, recharge.

that’s what works for me!

for you i would say your best option is to be honest and open with your therapist. focus on working with your therapist to come up with a safety plan for yourself and building that toolbox together.

as someone recently said to me: it’s going to be difficult, but it’s going to okay in the end. if it’s not okay, it’s not the end.

stay safe,

mod kei

[mentalillnessmouse]

Do you have any tips on what could help someone cope with self harm?

CW SELF HARM

hey anon,

thanks for reaching out! i apologize for the delayed response. coping with self-harm can be difficult and especially if you’re not sure where to start. have you checked out our resources?

Self Injury

Feeling the need to self injure? Please take a look at these posts: 24 ways to avoid self injury & Alternatives to self harm. More 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 is a forum to talk about self harm and how it affects your life.

StudentsAgainstDepression has great coping skills and support

WikiHow on coping with self-injury

Self-harm coping tips and distractions

stay safe,

mod kei

[mentalillnessmouse]

would sucking my arm without realising till it bruises count as self harm because sometimes I latch on and suck my arm without thought of what it could do

CW Self Harm/Self Injury

hey anon,

self harm/self injury is a deliberate, intentional method of harming yourself. if you feel that your arm sucking falls underneath this definition, i would welcome you to consider looking at our resources on this topic.

Self Injury

Feeling the need to self injure? Please take a look at these posts: 24 ways to avoid self injury & Alternatives to self harm. More 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 is a forum to talk about self harm and how it affects your life.

StudentsAgainstDepression has great coping skills and support

WikiHow on coping with self-injury

Self-harm coping tips and distractions

hope this helps!

kei

[mentalillnessmouse]

Can licking a recent cut lead to an infection or is it just a myth??

cw wound care

hey anon,

we can't give medical advice, but consider this: your body is full of bacteria and there's no telling what bacteria is living on your tongue/in your mouth that could lead to an infection on an injury. sooo for safety i would recommend you follow standard cleaning methods to clean a cut or injury.

hope this helps!!

kei

[beezlebutch]

"Pride month is over"

WRONG! Your pride month is over! Me and all the other disabled queers are having pride month two: disability edition

[jehandant]

Reblogging this again bc people in the notes are asking a lot of "Am I included? Am I disabled if I have x?" and I just wanted to add the flag here to show people who the pride month is for.

This is the new flag, the old one was more vivid and in a z shape, but it's been made more neutral to be inclusive of people with seizures or sensory issues.

Each stripe represents a different aspect of disability:

Red: Physical disabilities

Yellow: Cognitive & intellectual disabilities

White: (And this is the key one I think) Invisible AND undiagnosed disabilities

Blue: Mental illnesses

Green: Sensory disabilities

If you're autistic or have ADHD? this is your pride month. If you have a mental illness, it's your pride month. If you're hard of hearing, this is your pride month. If you have an autoimmune disorder, this is your pride month. If you are not diagnosed with anything but you know something is up with you: THIS IS STILL YOUR PRIDE MONTH.

[mentalillnessmouse]

Hey! Welcome back. Saw I reblogged a post from you and was like “man it’s been a while since I’ve seen you on my dash”

Hope you’re having a great day (-:

thank you! i've been back for a while! the inbox is just super quiet!

[daily-reminders-that-ur-enough]

Your small acts of kindness are noticed

[daily-reminders-that-ur-enough]

You are enough

[daily-reminders-that-ur-enough]

You do not need to give your all. If you always give your 100% then you will crash. It is okay to rest, to have days you give less effort, and to have days when you struggle. You are always doing your best.

[daily-reminders-that-ur-enough]

Different does not mean bad, change is hard but it brings good things and new opportunities

[wholeheartedsuggestions]

break unhealthy patterns even if they feel good in the moment