My Own Space

I’ve got a lot of trauma | I’m neurodivergent, mentally ill, queer, disabled, white | 21 years old or something | I’ll do my best to tag things | full of anxiety

[deeelusional]

Acknowledge your emotions, then allow yourself to heal. You owe yourself that.

[thesigilwitch]

I was just about to spiral into a bad panic attack, and my boyfriend goes "Stick an ice cube in your mouth." I'm not really sure where he got the idea, and I kinda laughed at it because I didn't see how it would help, but he was insistent. So I did it.

And now I'm on my second cube, because it worked.

[thesigilwitch]

He explained his reasoning to me when he got home.

1. I would initially think "what the fuck" and be distracted from the anxiety. (Correct.)

2. The cold of the ice would shock my system, bringing me back to the physical world and reality, drawing my focus to the cold in my mouth, and keep my brain away from thinking "I'm panicking, I must be dying." (Correct.)

3. He assumed I hadn't drank much water today and wanted to keep me hydrated. (Triple correct.)

[pigeonwithaknife]

It also forced your mouth to make saliva!

When you go into fight or flight mode, non-crucial body functions stop working so you have more energy to do what you need to do to survive (oooor to spiral into a panic attack). By forcing yourself to make saliva it helps calm you down because since fight or flight is an all or nothing response, they can’t happen at the same time.

Learned that from my old therapist, who would use it with veterans with ptsd

[queer-papayas]

I’m doing this right now and its working????

[autumnsnuggling]

THIS! Do this!

Anxiety is an emotional thing BUT there are feedback systems in place in your body that pay attention to physical states as well, which is why you then experience raised heart rate and so on when anxious. Eliminate or confuse one feedback system? Reduce anxiety.

Go be free!

[smute]

biting into a lemon also works

[k-phoenix]

Btw, this is part of Dialectic Behavioural Therapy, DBT for short, which was invented by a woman with borderline. It doesn't only work with panic attacks but also self harm, negative thought spirals, and sometimes even intrusive flashbacks.

Eating very spicey stuff works as well. I used to keep little packets of wasabi in my jacket, and that saved me more times I can count.

[twitblr]

Putting forward what you didn’t have

[lookingthroughthewater]

The face of a hero

[alexseanchai]

[image: a white man possibly in the process of demonstrating how to tie a tie. text transcribed below:]

Hope this is a useful resource! Recently my Dad made a Youtube channel called Dad, how do I? where he walks you through how to complete everyday life skills (like ironing a shirt, changing a tire, etc). He made these videos because his dad had walked out on his family when he was 12 years old, and he wanted to help out others who are in a similar spot.

[lifeafterpsychiatry]

You cannot go back in time and change what happened. You cannot rewrite that chapter of your story. But if you can acknowledge that you were in the wrong and you wouldn't do whatever you did back then again, then you learned what you needed to learn from what happened - and that means this mistake doesn't have to define your present and your future.

[prettypositivity]

someday when you’re at peace, you’ll be so glad you didn’t give up

[thelatestkate]

Shop, Patreon, Books, Mailing List *•. ✧˖°`

[tiredtrauma]

[Image description: a digital drawing of a very fuzzy moth on a green background. The wings are a lighter green and darker red, the body is white with darker red stripes, and the antennae are light orange and fuzzy. The text says “Hey, no bad vibes needed. You are competent, you are capable, you are a bit of a badass.” And there’s a watermark next to the head of the moth that says The Latest Kate.]

[thelatestkate]

Shit’s rough, friend. Please do what you need to to get yourself through whole. We will wait for the other side of this thing together. Shop, Patreon, Books, Mailing List *•. ✧˖°`

[tiredtrauma]

[Image description: a digital drawing of a red panda with yellow, pink, purple, and grey stripes on a pale purple background. There’s dark purple text next to the panda that says It’s okay to not be okay right now. And a watermark in the bottom left corner that says The Latest Kate.]

[coyotesmokebreak]

Anyway on a lighter note in the vein of the “let yourself be a beginner” post:

I love it and I wish people would work on the skill of being a beginner

bc it really IS a skill. it’s acquired and honed.

being willing to learn to find humor in the process of learning and your mistakes. learning to tolerate frustration and confusion. learning to pace yourself when you want to rush past discomfort. learning how you like to learn. and should the time come—learning to take take critique and correction.

please please please work on being a beginner you never know what you may fall in love with and who you might meet thru your interests

[dimpledthings]

changing your life doesn’t mean you become a different person; it means you change how you live and where you stand.

you improve, grow, and transform, but you never change completely. that’s a good thing.

[boopish]

Baby Autumn wants a treat :3

[tiredtrauma]

[Image description: a brown guinea pig with a tan and white spot on her back. In the first picture she’s staring up at the camera, and in the second image she’s sniffing the camera so that all you can see is her nose, mouth, and whiskers]

[prinnay]

Open road

[tiredtrauma]

[Image description: a digital drawing of a road stretching off into the distance followed by electrical lines. On the right side of the road grow purple flowers and some trees. On the left side of the road is a patch of yellow flowers and lots of grass. In the distance is a patch of mountains and there are purple clouds dotting the sky.]

[teaboot]

Some rando: You should think about stopping your prescription

Me: My pills make me not want to die tho

They: You shouldn’t want to die, that’s not normal

Me: Yeah that’s why I’m taking my pills

[teaboot]

Again: But you aren’t the *real* you when you’re on your pills

Me: I’m the alive version of me

[teaboot]

An actual doctor, once: “Relying On A Chemical Crutch For A Hormonal Imbalance Denies The Fortitude Of The Human Soul”

Me: Cool so like I’m agnostic

[inner-muse]

They: “But you might be on pills the rest of your life!”

Me: “So?”

[illnessisnteasy]

Good! That means that I have a “rest of” my life to continue living!

Thanks to the pills.

[erinptah-admin]

Meanwhile, no person ever: “You should think about giving up your insulin/antiretrovirals/beta blockers/anti-rejection drugs/prosthetic legs/daily multivitamin, because using those your whole life is bad for some reason”

[teaboot]

Oh no, they do that too.

[living-deciduously]

I have a kidney transplant. A woman once told me she didn’t believe in organ transplants and that people should just die when they’re meant to. 

[teaboot]

Sounds like a great set-up for a murder

[teaboot]

People who are fully healthy, fit and neurotypical seem to think they are that way because they’re doing something right that the rest of us haven’t thought of, and not just because they got lucky

[livebloggingmydescentintomadness]

furthermore, neurotypical/healthy people are literally 100% dependent on the same chemicals and hormones as those of us on medication, it’s just that their own bodies are capable of supplying them without aid. if a neurotypical suddenly lost all their serotonin, they would ALSO be severely depressed. 

needing medication to find the equilibrium that healthy/NT people can supply themselves with doesn’t make you weak or a failure. honestly, let’s just be grateful that such medication exists rather than shaming ourselves for needing it.

[stickyfrogs]

Voigt has had a Wonderful Day!

BUBBLES!

[tiredtrauma]

[Image description: a green tree frog chilling in water. It’s staring at the camera with lots of bubbles around its feet]

[positiveautistic-deactivated202]

You are trying, and that’s enough

[e-seal-deactivated20210319]

*makes subtle tweaks to my gender settings*

[letsgrownnhealtogether]

“You can’t heal what you don’t let yourself feel.”

[zandraart]

the harbinger

[tiredtrauma]

[Image description: a digital drawing of a white stag standing on the edge of a large rock in the distance. The stag’s horns are getting zapped by lightning. The sky is dark and stormy.]