You Are Allowed to End Toxic Relationships

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You Are Allowed to End Toxic Relationships

"Typically, we don’t leave a relationship until it becomes so bad that the truth of the situation is truly undeniable.

However, by then, we have been beaten down and are broken by the relationship’s turn for the worse. Our confidence levels are shattered and we may have the symptoms of a plethora of mental afflictions – we are anxious about the future and depressed about ourselves. Our self-worth drops so low that we feel like staying is the right option because ‘they are the best someone like me could get’ or ‘at least I am lucky enough to have someone’..."

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Is Your Passion Doing More Harm Than Good? Why Militant Veganism Doesn't Work!

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Is Your Passion Doing More Harm Than Good? Why Militant Veganism Doesn't Work!

To understand how a vegan may feel, try to imagine a world where human corpses were on display in the meat section of a supermarket, or that the eating of humans was casually discussed multiple times per day in conversation.

The problem comes when these feelings are projected and forced onto unwilling and unsuspecting ears. This is often met with anger, annoyance and confusion...

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The Five Reasons Why People Won’t Believe You Are Mentally Ill

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The Five Reasons Why People Won’t Believe You Are Mentally Ill

If you share your mental illness with someone, you are asking them to imagine a condition they can only read about and can’t experience.

Really you are asking them to change the lens that they view the world by. To overlay upon their reality, one of your condition. They have to put that lens over every situation that they have ever lived through, every action both minor and major, every interpersonal interaction, as well as over their hopes and plans for the future.

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What To Buy When Your Expecting & Lots More Info You Need To Know

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What To Buy When Your Expecting & Lots More Info You Need To Know

If you are currently pregnant and wondering what to buy and why, this is for you. It covers what you should buy prior to the birth in preparation. As baby gets older, you will need to get more things, but by then you will know what you need...

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Why I Cut Myself, and What Helped Me to Stop

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Why I Cut Myself, and What Helped Me to Stop

"It was like releasing water through a dam. It felt like if I didn’t cut, that my mind would crack, with devastating results ..."

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Why BJJ Is The Best Martial Art For Combating Mental Illness

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Why BJJ Is The Best Martial Art For Combating Mental Illness

A traumatic past left me with anxiety and depression issues as well as a significant amount of pent up rage. With no guidance of how to deal with it, I turned to punching a bag for relief. Luckily for me it started to work, and I fell in love with martial arts.

Eventually I came across BJJ and I was hooked - the social atmosphere, constant learning, physicality and the practicality in a self defence situation all combined to be one of the best treatments for my mental health issues...

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Finding the Balance Between Mania and Creativity - Words from a Mentally Ill Writer

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Finding the Balance Between Mania and Creativity - Words from a Mentally Ill Writer

It is 4am as I write this, I am slightly inebriated and my brain is buzzing. I have been up all night writing and I am still going. I can’t stop.

I must keep writing. When I get on a roll I can’t help it. Something comes over me and I must get it out. It is an affliction. This has happened before and will happen again...

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Why Having a Child Isn’t as Bad as Everyone Says It’s Going to Be

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Why Having a Child Isn’t as Bad as Everyone Says It’s Going to Be

In the months leading up the birth of my first child, I noticed something strange occurring. Almost everyone that I told the news to had the same reaction. First, they congratulated me, then they proceeded to tell me endless stories of the horrors of childbirth and fatherhood.

They would share tales of sleepless nights, never ending inconsolable crying and the mountains upon mountains of poo that regularly explodes out of nappies. 

All of this combined in my mind to create a storm of anxious rumination. As the pregnancy progressed, my mental health steadily declined. I would bounce between dissociation and anxiety with a dash of regret thrown in there.

This is the post that I wish was available to me during that time.

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Your Anxiety is a Liar – and it’s Costing You Years of Your Life

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Your Anxiety is a Liar – and it’s Costing You Years of Your Life

Reflecting on my experiences with anxiety leaves me with a one sentence, anxiety killing mantra:

“Anxiety is a liar and it’s taking up too much of my life”.

I want to prove it to you. Consider the following questions:

- When has it ever been as bad as you thought it was going to be?
-How many times have you worried about something that just has never occurred?
-How many anxious thoughts do you have about one thing - could each possible outcome come true?
-How many times were you anxious before an event, only to be completely fine during the event?

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Why Mental Illness Does Not Excuse Your Behaviour Towards Others

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Why Mental Illness Does Not Excuse Your Behaviour Towards Others

"People often excuse a behaviour if there are extenuating circumstances.

We tend to forgive, downplay or simply ignore it, because we realise that the person doing the behaviour is going through something significant and therefore are ‘not themselves’ at the moment..."

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How Every Tweet is Changing You – Without Your Consent

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How Every Tweet is Changing You – Without Your Consent

"It is very hard to un-hear something. Once you have been exposed to an idea, it is impossible to remove the stain of that idea out of your consciousness. 

You can try and counter it, to disprove it, to ignore it or to fill your mind with other thoughts. Regardless, once it is in, it is there forever. Whether or not you asked to have that piece of information is irrelevant..."

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If People Gossip To You, They Gossip About You

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If People Gossip To You, They Gossip About You

"If you think that people won’t share your secrets with others, you are probably mistaken.

I can feel you instantly balking at this statement. The mere thought that your friends or family could betray your trust is confronting. This is a reasonable enough response, the idea that those closest could be talking about you disparagingly, can create an extreme level of cognitive dissonance. It is far easier to assume that if you tell someone something in confidence, it will stay that way..."

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You Are Always Only One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

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You Are Always Only One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

Just less than a year ago, I experienced an assault that dramatically changed who I was and how my brain functioned. It has been a slow decline down through depression, anxiety and isolation. The end game with that assault was too domination and control me.

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Why Putting Yourself First is Not Selfish

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Why Putting Yourself First is Not Selfish

"People should look after themselves first. Now this is not a selfish idea either mind you, I believe that it is to the benefit of society as a whole, as well as in the best interests of the individual that would be the recipient of the sacrifice. Because if you don’t look after yourself, and you fall, how will that person get the help they need...?"

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The Two Pieces Of Advice That Stopped Me Committing Suicide

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The Two Pieces Of Advice That Stopped Me Committing Suicide

"Each time that I was close to following through, one thought kept coming to mind. It was so poignant that I couldn’t shake it ..."

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How Antidepressants Saved My Life, But Didn’t Make It Worth Living

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How Antidepressants Saved My Life, But Didn’t Make It Worth Living

Despite being great at keeping me alive antidepressants are certainly not ideal. Regardless of the type I tried, I faced the same issues. First were the debilitating side effects ...

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