If you have children or younger siblings, you will know just how obsessive they can be when it comes to watching their favourite movies. Often they will want to watch the same show again and again to the exasperation of the rest of the family. Relentlessly quoting their favourite lines and demanding that it is always on.

For the most part, this is a win-win. This hypnotising program can serve as a well-deserved respite from the pressures of raising children. For a few precious hours, they are entertained and mum and dad can relax. They can get onto that project they have been meaning to do, read a book, exercise or have a long overdue adult conversation.

Before you can properly address a problem, you first need to accept that the problem exists.

This is true for all aspects of life, but in my experience, particularly true for addressing the impact of past trauma, and dealing with mental afflictions…

Imagine waking up on a Monday morning excited to be going to work? Or lamenting the fact that it is Friday and you won’t be working for the next few days? If you loved your work, this would be a reality.

This isn’t to say that your dream has to be financial of course, but considering how much time we all spend working, it would be ideal if our work was somewhat in line with our passion as opposed to the drudgery that many people complain of.

For all the hassle that anxiety causes us, it is actually an evolutionary must have. Of all of our potential ancestors, only the anxious survived. The ones who were concerned for their future enough to stockpile supplies for the winter, lived. The ones who took an extra wide berth to avoid that snake looking stick over there, lived. The ones who were concerned about the social cohesion of their tribe, lived.

To this day, anxiety stops us from making fools of ourselves by proposing the question, ‘what if it goes wrong?’

Working correctly, anxiety is the little voice on our shoulder that keeps us safe from harm. It is our imagination harnessed for the purposes of self-preservation.

“When you say ‘yes’ to others, make sure you are not saying ‘no’ to yourself.” – Paulo Coelho

Say no to requests that don’t align with your goals and values. This will free up your time and energy to focus on what matters most to you.

“Hope for the best. Plan for the Worst.” – Lee Child

A crisis plan outlines what you would like to occur when you are going through a mental health emergency It acts as a trigger for action that when implemented, takes you through the steps necessary to get the help that you may need.

Why writing a web comic is harder than writing about trauma

I write down what was discussed, and any advice given. I do not want to leave the session and forget what was covered. I am paying for it after all, with my time, money, and mental state…

Want to lose my respect? Attempt to rush my recovery or place my mental health on a (your) time limit…

During therapy, I take notes.

I write down what was discussed, and any advice given. I do not want to leave the session and forget what was covered. I am paying for it after all, with my time, money, and mental state.

A quick review of our past reveals many moments of joy and positivity; times when things just worked. When a failure came, it did not break us. We picked ourselves back up, learnt a lesson, and pushed forward. Similarly, we can look back and see expanses of misery and suffering. Times where we were down and out, at rock bottom and struggling. There were occasional wins, yet these barely succeeded in moving the needle.

Some I know of and actively avoid. Others blindside me. Some are specific, only occurring around a particular person or situation. Others are global and will without fail impact me anywhere and everywhere.

It can be a look, a smell, a touch. Anything.

It wasn’t until I tried writing that I saw major improvements as a direct result of treatment.

Unlike talking therapy, I found that I could express myself far more freely onto a blank page. When I sat down to write, I didn’t have to worry about what the page thought of me. It can’t judge. I could ramble, reiterate and back track without concern for transmitting understanding to someone else.

I want to clarify some common misconceptions that seem to pervade around the topic of self-harm. If I have missed anything, please let me know.

1) Not everyone who self-harms is suicidal
Whilst there is a definite relationship between self-harm, depression and suicidal ideation, they are not always correlated. One does not have to be suicidal to self-harm, and not all people who are feeling suicidal will self-harm…

On the night of my father’s death, I actually had plans to visit him. If these plans were not changed, I may have been the one to discover his passing and in doing so, prevent his neighbour from breaking in and robbing his lifeless corpse ...