Third of a Lifetime

Special Request: If you find value in this blog showcase, please add the Dissociation Blog Showcase link to your blogroll so others can find it. Thanks!

We have amazing writers amongst us who give insight and hope to anyone struggling with dissociation, or to their loved ones. It’s a brain trust, and I treasure it. When I find new blogs, I usually update the Dissociation Blog Showcase (DBS) on Sunday evenings. Tonight I’ve added the following new blog:

Guilty By Dissociation

Please use the DBS link above to access this blog, and check out the entire directory of (approximately) ~185 dissociation-related blogs! As always, be careful and stay safe. Many of these blogs do not provide trigger warnings, nor are they obligated to do so.

Still on the way: I’ve received requests for inclusion of some DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) information and awareness sites, which are not “blogs” per se. I’m still planning to add a new section for these types of sites to the index, so please let me know if you have any favorites. (The two sites currently in the queue are DID World Map and DIDiva.com.) Thanks!

If you, or someone you know, experiences dissociation and blog about it, write to me with the URL at sarah.e.olsonATgmailDOTcom . I review each blog before adding it to the Showcase.

Thanks so much for the feedback and well-wishes for this project!

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

Please Share My Stuff! You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

Photo Credit

@Tamavista “If you understand everything,
you must be misinformed.” ~ Zen

Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder

@DeeLin76 “Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.” ~ Nido Qubein

@PemaQuotes “But at this point, for most of us, our thoughts are very tied up with our identity, with our sense of problem and our sense of how things are.”

@LillyAnn “When you doubt your power, you give power to your doubt.”

@RemarkableProj “Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.” ~ George S. Patton

@DepressionForum “If we’re growing, we’re always going to be out of our comfort zone.” ~ John Maxwell

@soulseedz “Your integrity will attract more support, love, guidance and resources than you ever dreamed.”

Linked Tweets

In the News

@StopItNow New Report Reveals Adult Views on Child Sexual Abuse
[SEO: You can download the complete report, as well as supporting documents. From the Briefing Sheet, a kind of good news/bad news:

• Knowledge and awareness is high.

Awareness, concern and knowledge about child sexual abuse is relatively high among U.S. adults. The majority of respondents know that people who sexually abuse live in their communities, are mostly known to the child, and are often other children themselves.

• Action falls short of awareness and good intentions.

There is a disconnect between widespread adult awareness and concern over the issue of child sexual abuse and the low-level of recognition of situations in people’s daily lives and among their own relationships.]

@SarahEOlson2009 Need Mental Health Treatment in Two Weeks? Fat Chance
[SEO: In a research project involving Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Preferred Provider Plan, "one of the best health plans available in Massachusetts" -- and mine) researchers created a real-world experiment to understand how hard or easy it was to get access to timely mental health treatment when they posed as patients with severe depression who needed care within two weeks. "The researchers telephoned all 64 Blue Cross Blue Shield in-network psychiatric facilities within 10 miles of the center of Boston."

The results? Only 6% of the patients were given an appointment within two weeks. Worse, 23% of calls were never returned, even with two phone messages, and 23% were told they needed to have a primary care provider within their network to be treated. This is a colossal fail for Blue Cross Blue Shield -- but I'd bet it's no better with other insurers. Shameful.]

The Rest of the Best

@tlomauro Scheduling ‘worry time’ may help you fret less (via @msnbc)
[SEO: "By compartmentalizing worry — setting aside a specific half-hour period each day to think about worries and consider solutions, and also deliberately avoiding thinking about those issues the rest of the day — people can ultimately help reduce those worries, research has shown. "When we're engaged in worry, it doesn't really help us for someone to tell us to stop worrying," said Tom Borkovec, a professor emeritus of psychology at Penn State University. "If you tell someone to postpone it for a while, we are able to actually do that." Learn the four steps involved in 'stimulus control therapy' to reduce worrying.]

@LillyAnn Improving Your Reactions to Mishaps from the Inside Out (via @tinybuddha)
[SEO: "Anxiety is something I know all too well. I often allow small and insignificant disruptions to cause me a lot of distress. I blow things out of proportion; I know this. ... I remembered a friend telling me that all you have to do to start over, to 'begin again,' is to inhale and exhale with purpose and awareness."]

@arttherapynews When Art Heals
[SEO: "You don't have to be Van Gogh or Mozart. Letting your hands play eases depression, aging, and stress." A one-stop index to 21 articles about various types of art (music, writing, crafts, painting, photography, etc), and how using them can be therapeutic and help you heal.]

@goodthingz 3 Forms of Radical Relaxation
[SEO: "The most difficult part of radical relaxation isn’t the actual practice of movement, stillness, or breathing. It’s breaking out of our habitual attachment to non-relaxing forms of 'relaxation.'"]

@psychcentral Is it worth the potential discomfort to get a good therapist? Should you share your therapist with a friend?
[SEO: Therese Borchard offers a reason why you might want to share your therapist with a friend: you want her to see someone good. But, as she says, it sometimes gets messy. The therapist gets so busy that you must change your preferred time to accommodate your friend. Or, you have a falling out with that friend, and your therapist is in the middle of that problem. (See more examples of "messy" -- and a few successes -- in the comments.)]

@SarahEOlson2009 Healing The Emptiness Inside You
[SEO: I really like how Gabrielle Gawne-Kelnar writes. In this post, she discusses how a bowl's emptiness is part of its true essence, which I'd never really pondered before. She takes that notion and applies it to the emptiness within us, and why the rush to fill that emptiness with something -- sometimes anything -- detracts from our own essence.

"But if you automatically cram the emptiness full and evade the anxiety that it can bring, do you also bury the lessons that it can teach? Perhaps, a little like the bowl, emptiness is sometimes part of our essence? Perhaps it’s important to be ‘blank’ for a while? Resting, before you move into the next phase of your life."]

Every Friday I present items from my Tweet stream — before they scroll off into oblivion — that are funny, quirky, inspiring, and beautiful. It’s been a good week! Enjoy!

@lizstrauss “Good morning, Twitterville! Don’t forget you get to pick what has meaning in your life.”

@heykim ~ A love letter to the space shuttle ~
[SEO: A great compilation video covering every shuttle mission, which coincides with the extension of the International Space Station to its current state.]

@big_picture Space shuttle era ends with Atlantis
[SEO: The Big Picture photos pertaining to Atlantis' last journey, with a lot of unusual shots before, during, and after launch. I'm truly sad to see the end of the space shuttles.]

@Good_Therapy “A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” ~ Sir Francis Bacon

@rcinstitute Little Brandon’s amazing amazing voice (video)

@sojourner5 “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.” ~ Dr. Seuss

@LillyAnn iPhone fireflies, mesmerizing to watch: the movement of 880 iPhones around Europe

@Quotes4Writers “I write plays because dialogue is the most respectable way of contradicting myself.” ~ Tom Stoppard

@lizstrauss Did you miss the World Santa Claus Congress 2011, Copenhagen? (photos)

@thecrochethook “Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.”

@CarePathways Lola in her new bonnet and Bentley getting his hair done .

@Quotes4Writers “The books I haven’t written are better than the books other people have.” ~ Cyril Connolly

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

Please Share My Stuff! You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

Photo Credit

@LillyAnn “Every single moment of your life,
both of the understanding and of the will,
is a new beginning.”

Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder

@CarePathways “If transformation in behavior is to occur in relevant and lasting ways, it must begin by recognizing past hurts and moving beyond hurtful patterns.”

@lizstrauss “Which means more to you — reaching that goal or the story that says you can’t get there?”

@soulseedz “Anxiety uses imagination to picture something you don’t want. Vision uses imagination to picture something you DO want.”

@DrAthenaStaik “Don’t limit yourself by telling others what you’re not; tell them what you are.” ~ Colin Wright

@zebraspolkadots “Being fed my truth by others kept me dependent on others for my truth. Ultimately I knew it wasn’t my truth because I wasn’t being set free.”

@LillyAnn “The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own.”

Linked Tweets

In the News

@NAMIMass Vets face shortage of therapists. New program training clinicians in psychology of combat attempting to fill gap.
[SEO: "The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 11 percent to 20 percent of veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are suffering from PTSD. Others think the number is higher. When vets seek therapy, they want a professional who can relate to soldiers in combat, and that usually means a therapist who has military experience. Without such empathy, therapy often is doomed, vets say."

In 2002, I mentioned to my own therapist that the government needed to ramp up training of therapists for veterans. In 2002! The need was obvious then, but there are not now, and never have been, enough qualified therapists to deal with the magnitude of PTSD and TBI found in returning military. It's beyond shameful. Why? "The latest statistics available from the VA show that each year about 6,500 veterans commit suicide; slightly more than 6,000 troops have died in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars since 2001."]

The Rest of the Best

@MentalHelpNet Psychotherapy: Clarifying Some Misconceptions
[SEO: A good basic primer on what psychotherapy is, and is not, as well as addressing common misconceptions. If you've never been in therapy before and are skeptical about it, start here.]

@NAMIMass Your Partner is Not Their Diagnosis
[SEO: This post is not just for partners of people with mental illness. It makes the distinction between "I am depressed" vs. "I have depression." I've never really considered the implications -- of which there are many. "Describing your partner as the illness, instead of as having an illness, can make a subtle (or sometimes not so subtle) impact on both your and your partner’s perceptions of them, their capabilities, and their hope for recovery. It implies that the illness is woven into the fabric of your partner’s being, and that things will never improve."

As a thought exercise, substitute any other disease instead of "I am depressed." That would look something like "I am cancer." Or "I am arthritis." As the post states about mental illness, "The illness may be overshadowing everything else, but it is not their identity."]

@AnnTran_ 5 Ways to Feel Empowered Each Day
[SEO: "The question we need to explore is not what we know but what we embrace and practice in our life on a daily basis." This post is thoughtful and excellent in distilling some very complex means to personal empowerment.]

@DorleeM What Sherlock Holmes Can Teach Us About Mindful Decisions
[SEO: "We and our decisions both would be well served to take some of the famed detective’s advice, to go beyond seeing and into the realm of observing. Take note of what’s around you. Take note of how or why it affects you. You might not turn into an expert crime solver, but I guarantee, you’d be surprised at the difference it can make to the quality of your life and your decisions."]

@psychcentral How Not To Become A Museum: Noticing Habits That Hold You Back
[SEO: "So it can be so easy to hang on to what worked before, long past its use-by date, and drag it into new places (where it can actually become more of a hindrance than a help to you), just because it started to feel 'normal' or comfortable. Or perhaps it even started to feel like 'the way you are'."]

@ssanquist 12 Ways to Keep Going
[SEO: "But what do you do on the days you don’t think you can take the pain anymore? When you want so badly to be done with your life … or at least be done with the suffering? What do you do when anxiety and depression have spun a web around you so thick that you’re convinced you’ll be trapped forever in those feelings?"

A discussion of twelve ways you can change how you think about the pain you are feeling. (Note: A few tips relate to religious expression and faith, which will be helpful if you are so inclined. If you are not religious, try to not discard the rest of this excellent post for that reason alone.)]

@psychcentral 10 Tips for Setting Boundaries Online
[SEO: "Overall, remember that your offline life isn’t the only one that requires boundaries. Creating margins around your comfort level is equally as essential for your time online. In fact, it makes sense: Both make up your world just the same."]

Every Friday, I gather items from my Tweet stream which are amusing, odd, beautiful, inspiring, and this week, somewhat nostalgic. Today I am grateful for air conditioning — and longing for autumn! But I digress! Enjoy!

It’s About Space…

@pourmecoffee Happy anniversary, moon landing. @wired has awesome photo essay of Apollo training

@heykim WOW! Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon 42 years ago today
[SEO: Includes the text of the speech written for Nixon in case something went horribly wrong (as in, if these men were unable to return to the command capsule orbiting the moon), and the "complete and original" video of the first moon walk.]

@petapixel Beautiful — Time-lapse shot from the International Space Station

@pourmecoffee Atlantis on the way home, taken from ISS

The Rest of the Best

@Quotes4Writers “All art consists of surmounting difficulty to produce beauty.” ~ William Allen White

@AnnTran_ 25 Stunning Photos of Bora Bora
[SEO: If ever any place on earth could be viewed as "paradise", Bora Bora must be in the running. I'm not a summer person at all (especially this week!), but these pictures truly are awesome.]

@soulseedz “Keep your mind on what matters, which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished, which is gratitude.” ~ Mary Oliver

@larryczerwonka “The willingness to share does not make one charitable; it makes one free.” ~ Robert Brault

@goodthingz Creatively Placed Street Art
[SEO: "The most creative street art isn’t the kind that’s randomly spray painted on some freeway wall, but rather, it's the kind that stops you in your tracks and gives you an experience."]

@Quotes4Writers “Writing is my vacation from living.” ~ Eugene O’Neill

@AmazingPics Most Beautiful And Amazingly Captured Wild Animals Photography
[SEO: These are gorgeous animals, colorful and graceful. The most bizarre one, however, is the kangaroo that looks like it has a baby hippo in its pouch! How did that happen?!]

@Tamavista “The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it.” ~ C.C. Scott

@GuruQuotes “If you don’t know where you are going, any path will get you there.” ~ Lewis Carroll

@mnt_psychology Urge To Imitate Is So Ingrained, Odds Of Winning At Rock-Paper-Scissors Are Higher With Eyes Closed
[SEO: News you can use! ]

@soulseedz “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” ~ Einstein

@petapixel Music made entirely from camera sounds (video)

@pourmecoffee Billionaire sheikh carves his name in desert so big it can be seen from SPACE
[SEO: Speechless....]

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

Please Share My Stuff! You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

Photo Credit

@CarePathways “The most difficult phase of life
is not when no one understands you:
it is when you don’t understand yourself.”

Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder

@TQ_Project “Worry gives a small thing a big shadow” ~ Swedish Proverb

@Quotes4Writers “When do we figure out that trust is a necessary risk?… Risk is an everyday occurrence and a life without risk is no life at all.” ~ T. Coyle

@zebraspolkadots “Learning to live an empowered life was challenging but not near as challenging as living life believing I had no power.”

@CarePathways “As you contemplate your life there is an invisible you that you cannot see. It hides within awaiting expression of your total and complete potential.”

@lizstrauss “Our spirit has a hunger. If we don’t share authentic moments, we start collapsing. Our soul gets lonely.”

@AnnTran_ “Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways it can change someone else’s life forever.” ~ Cho

Linked Tweets

In the News

@DrMelanieG The Casey Anthony Trial — Media frenzy, family dysfunction, injustice. Is this a sign of the times? I hope not.
[SEO: "The troubling aspect of this case is that Casey’s lies may have helped her escape justice for her role in the death of her daughter. Because of the lies, there was a delay in finding Caylee’s remains. ... The forensics could not tell us if Caylee died by homicide or accident. Although the prosecution does not actually have a burden to determine the cause of death, the jurors who spoke to the media said that this lack of certainty was a key factor in their 'Not Guilty' verdict. The law is not designed to reward potential perpetrators for covering up evidence and misleading investigators, yet this is what seemed to have happened."

This post looks at the role of the media, and the Anthony family dysfunctions, which added to the confusion about this case. So many questions left unresolved. Rest in peace, Caylee.]

@SarahEOlson2009 Jaycee Lee Dugard, Kidnapped at Age 11 | Complete interview (ABC News)
[SEO: Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped at age 11 on her way to school, held captive in handcuffs for much of the next 19 years, repeatedly raped, and gave birth to the first of two children in a backyard shed at age 14. She exhibits poise, confidence, and hope for her future. She is inspiring. (For a different take on the Dugard interview, see next story below.)

Jaycee Dugard and the Feel-Good Imperative (L.A. Times opinion piece)
[SEO: I'd have tweeted this if I'd seen it earlier, because it makes important points for any trauma survivor. It suggests that the media has created a narrative of redemption, whereby well-known survivors Jaycee Lee Dugard and Elizabeth Smart overcame the effects of heinous abuse relatively quickly, and we (the public) can breathe a collective sigh of relief that their torment is "over".

The article's skepticism is not that their pain was less than described, but that they could recover from nightmarish sustained trauma so quickly, and seemingly completely. (I've certainly been doing hard work for years now, and I don't consider myself to be "wallowing in it", as ignorant post comments suggest. Perhaps each of these women coming from a much-loved family environment prior to their abductions is the key difference? I don't know.) Another point made: this media-hyped model of "feel-good" redemption is why the Casey Anthony verdict struck such a nerve. "The survivor was anything but a hero. No lessons were learned."

The media bias described makes for a great made-for-TV movie, but does trauma survivors who still struggle in dark places daily a disservice -- and perhaps to Dugard and Smart as well. "Dugard and Smart seem to have successfully made the transition to survivor, but to turn them into generic symbols of hope or, worse, to saddle them with the job of being publicly loving, forgiving and grateful despite what they endured minimizes their trauma and panders to audiences by creating a false sense of closure." What are your thoughts on all of this?]

The Rest of the Best

@SarahEOlson2009 FYI Win 6 Months of Free Therapy (up to $2,400) — Good Therapy Foundation Therapy Award Contest [I am not affiliated]
[SEO: What I like about how this contest is structured is that your "entry" reply goes private. "Submissions will not be published" -- which I take to mean "forever". Read the detailed contest rules carefully for all requirements; you must respond to their questions with a minimum of 150 words, no maximum. Entries must be received before 5:00 p.m. PDT, July 31, 2011. I know how tough it is to find money for therapy; I'm hoping this helps someone in major need.]

@SeattleCounsel Smart phones are probably not a smart choice for Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims
[SEO: "When it comes to security for a domestic abuse victim, making sure that your I's are dotted and T's crossed is of the utmost importance. That being the case, how will you ensure that you cannot be found out if you seek help or leave your abusive partner? You should be cognizant of how your mobile device might be used for monitoring and tracking your activities."]

@micheletrauma Trauma Caregivers: what are the signs that you are suffering from burnout?
[SEO: "Compassion fatigue occurs when a caregiver neglects their own self-care in favor of putting most of their effort and focus on caring for their loved one. To learn more about compassion fatigue, read on and consider this valuable resource as well: Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project." Includes signs of burnout and coping strategies. If you are a trauma survivor, give this article to your loved ones.]

@anngatty Recognize your inner fears and turn off your inner voice of self doubt
[SEO: Guys, don't let the website name, Stress Management 4 Women, deter you from reading this thoughtful post. I think men have that inner voice every bit as much as women do. "No one can attain life goals when inner fears act as emotional triggers, causing you to give up on your dreams. What are you afraid of?"]

@goodthingz 21 Simple Ways to Live an Exceptional Life
[SEO: Simple, but not necessarily easy! "It can be tough to get clear on what you want, and you won’t always be perfectly clear, but the goal isn’t to be clear, the goal is to move forward and explore."]

@soulseedz 7 Strategies to saying a positive NO
[SEO: An in-depth look at how yes and no are (or should be) considered as a pair. Discusses the book Power of a Positive No by William Ury, including the following quote: "Yes without No is appeasement, whereas No without Yes is war. Yes without No destroys one’s own satisfaction, whereas No without Yes destroys one’s relationship with others. We need both Yes and No together. For Yes is the key word of community, No the key word of individuality. Yes is the key word of connection, No the key word of protection. Yes is the key word of peace, No the key word of justice. The great art is to learn to integrate the two—to marry Yes and No. That is the secret to standing up for yourself and what you need without destroying valuable agreements and precious relationships." Includes strategies for putting this into practice.]

@psychcentral 5 Easy Steps to Start a Mindfulness Practice
[SEO: "Mindfulness practice can have both mental and physical health benefits. Like many healthy habits, getting started can be the hardest part." Five easy steps, starting with your breathing.]

@thereseborchard Do You Hate Summer? You’re Not Alone: Who would have known that there are so many summer haters out there?
[SEO: While much of this post is rather tongue-in-cheek, Therese Borchard makes the case that for her, it's the lack of structured time in summer that can lead to a fear of unpredictability and feeling out of control. I've always hated summer, which has everything to do with the fact that most of my childhood abuse occurred during the summers. Excessive heat nauseates me, and the bugs that accompany it trigger me. It's kind of a relief to learn that I'm not the only one who hates summer. Do you?]

Every Friday I pick items from my Tweet stream that amaze and inspire me, make me laugh, and often are just plain bizarre. Somebody’s got to do it! Enjoy!

@heykim Whale dances for miles in front of her rescuers
[Extraordinary video of three people on a small boat in the Sea of Cortez who free a humpback whale from a tangled fishing net -- and the apparent appreciation of the whale to be free again.]

@Quotes4Writers “The more particular, the more specific you are, the more universal you are.” ~ Nancy Hale

@SarahEOlson2009 The Sequel: Kitten vs TWO scary things (YouTube)

@petapixel “Worry is the darkroom in which negatives are developed.”

@pourmecoffee Chicago ready to unveil 26-foot tall upskirt statue [of Marilyn Monroe]
[SEO: Speechless.]

@emptywheel “Meanwhile, over on Earth 3, Obama called GOP bluff on Bush tax cuts in December 2010, and we’re not even having this battle.”
[SEO: Alternate realities...]

@fastcompany Science breakthrough of the week: Patient Effectively Donates A Life-Saving Organ — To Himself

@soulseedz “Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy.” ~ Jacques Maritain

@pourmecoffee It begins. “Diver Snaps First Photo of Fish Using Tools.”

@MindfulBoston “If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.” ~ Yogi Berra

@lizstrauss “Randomness and spontaneity can be lovely, but lack of commitment cannot.”

@heykim OMG! ~ HILARIOUS ~ If you find laughter infectious, this video is for you.
[SEO: The subtitles provided are extremely helpful!]

@ebertchicago “Pooh,” he whispered. “Yes, Piglet?” “Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw, “I just wanted to be sure of you.””

@LanceUlanoff Atlantis’ booster cameras show amazing views of shuttle’s final ride
[SEO: I've watched the space shuttle launches from the beginning, but I've never before seen it from this angle. The cameras are on the solid rocket boosters, looking down from the top of the shuttle. When they break away from the shuttle you get to ride them back down to earth. Just awesome!]

I’m thrilled to say that today Mary K. Armstrong published my guest post on her Mary K. Armstrong blog! Please take a look at How writing a book helped Sarah to recover from Dissociative Identity Disorder. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments at the post, and I will do my best to answer them!

Thank you, Mary, for the opportunity!

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

Please Share My Stuff! You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

Photo Credit

@visityourself “Take three full breaths.
Lengthen spine on inhales.
Relax shoulders on exhales.”

Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder

@paulocoelho “The beauty of truth: whether it is bad or good, it is liberating.”

@zebraspolkadots “There is no prison stronger than that of one’s own mind.”

@RockChristopher “Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.” ~ Etty Hillesum

@soulseedz “You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody.” ~ Maya Angelou

@CarePathways “We need to give ourselves 365 mornings where we awaken into the self that contains our own true being.”

@Good_Therapy “We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” ~ William Shakespeare

Linked Tweets

@Childhelp You may be upset about the Casey Anthony verdict. Did you know that 5 children die every day from child abuse? Act now!
[SEO: If even half of the anger, outrage, and energy vented since the Casey Anthony verdict was applied to ensuring that every child is safe and loved, the world would look a lot different for thousands of other children. ChildHelp lists the many ways in which you can become involved and proactively prevent child abuse. Don't just sit there fuming -- do something.]

@LisaCollierCool Dangerous (and surprising) Food-Medication Interactions
[SEO: "Did you know that deli meats, milk, and even candy could cause adverse reactions with certain medications? A variety of everyday foods and beverages can weaken the effectiveness of the drugs you’re taking, make them more potent, or spark serious side effects." Most often cited in this post are various antidepressants, and/or blood pressure meds, that can create serious problems when combined with certain foods. If you're not sure if this warning applies to meds you're taking, ask your pharmacist.]

@KatzOnEarth Some consider ASD to be a form of PTSD. Others do not. This article contains some discussion about it.
[SEO: Article makes distinctions between Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder. "ASD shares many of the same characteristics as PTSD, including emotional numbness, restlessness, anxiety, uncharacteristic irritability, problems focusing or concentrating, flashbacks, and sleep disturbance. In fact, some experts consider ASD a variation of PTSD.

However, there are two important distinctions between ASD and PTSD. One is that ASD is considered a more immediate, short-term response to trauma that lasts between two days and four weeks. If ASD symptoms persist for more than a month, then PTSD may be diagnosed. The other notable difference is that ASD is more associated with dissociative symptoms. ..." This last point intrigues me, and I will be looking into it further.]

@PTSDdotOrg Surviving PTSD
[SEO: The basics of what PTSD is, and how to survive it, by Michele Rosenthal, founder of healmyptsd.com. Includes a 20 minute video created by HealthyPlace.com. If someone in your life (including you!) is just beginning on this healing journey, this is a good start to understand what they/you are dealing with. See also the next post below for common reactions following trauma.]

@VA_PTSD_Info Learning from 20 Years of PTSD Research: We know that people commonly experience a range of reactions following trauma.
[SEO: "People experience a range of reactions following trauma. Here you will find information on some common reactions, including anger, nightmares, sleep problems, and more." Each linked type of reaction goes to a separate page which describes each of these reactions in much greater detail.]

@patriciasinglet Healing from Childhood Traumas in Midlife
[SEO: "We all wish there could be a quick fix to PTSD. Dan [Hayes] can tell you that treatment can be a long process at times, but he has learned a lot along the way. While he still deals with some aspects, he is living free from the rage that he once experienced. He is living alcohol free. He is consistently working to heal while sharing his experience with others and what he has learned.” Includes a 25 minute video interview with Dan Hayes about the process of recovery from childhood trauma in mid-life. The first step is remembering what the trauma actually was, which is often a puzzle for child abuse survivors.]

@goodthingz On Showing Your True Feelings (via @tinybuddha)
[SEO: "In her inspiring talk, Brené [Brown] explains how shame can be one of the biggest barriers to connection. If you believe there is something wrong with you — that you are somehow unworthy — you may hide who you are in fear of being judged and rejected.” Dr. Brené Brown is a University of Houston professor, and researches vulnerability, authenticity, and shame. This post includes her June 2010 TED talk (at end of post). You can follow her on Twitter @BreneBrown . See more on authenticity directly below.]

@psychcentral Relationships: Five Essential Steps to Authenticity
[SEO: "It’s not the fears per se that get us stuck or take over our brain’s higher thinking functions, however. It’s our fear of fear. This fear stems from not knowing how to stop our brain from thinking anxious thoughts that produce an anxious mind, or eventually a depressed or emotionally numb mind. At root, fear of intimacy is fear of knowing ourselves up close." An in-depth look at components of authenticity, why it's needed, what makes it work, and what doesn't.]

@healingtrauma Estrangement Patterns: Effects of Trauma
[SEO: A discussion of why some people isolate and estrange themselves from family members, and why, depending upon the motivation for the estrangement, it can lead to other problems. "According to Bowen Theory, those who use emotional cutoff as a coping mechanism ironically often end up trying to replicate their prior relationships in their new ones in order to fill an emotional hole or make things 'different this time.'"]

Hurray! It’s Friday! Each week I offer up choice items from my Tweet stream that are funny, weird, beautiful, and often out of this world. Enjoy!

@GerryWiederRN “If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?”

@cindyvriend 100 Stunning Images by @TreyRatcliff. So beautiful!
[SEO: The slideshow starts up automatically for this collection; most of the photos are of panoramic landscapes or exquisitely ornate buildings, with some surprises thrown in. Truly worth a look.]

@rmmbrurghost “It is almost funny to see people try to make a point about hell to someone who’s already been there.”

@heykim Awesome! ~ Girl Covers “You’re Gonna Miss Me” With Killer Voice and Plastic Cup (via @mashable)

@pourmecoffee #askobama “If Dumbledore and Gandalf battled Voldemort and Sauron, who do you think would win and wouldn’t it be awesome?”

@lizstrauss Stunning graphic: What Happens Every 60 Seconds on the Internet? (via @chrisrecord)

@QuotesBoat “Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought.” ~ Albert Szent-Gyorgi

@heykim LOVE it! “Make Everything OK” button (via @LanceUlanoff)
[SEO: Go on, try it! Nothing awful will happen.]

@SheriMcConnell “Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes.”

@pourmecoffee The Hubble Space Telescope recorded its millionth observation on Monday. What an amazing collection.
[SEO: Just ... wow! The entire collection at your fingertips.]

@therealkcyrus “Don’t limit your challenges. Challenge your limits.”

@AmazingPics The Majesty of Bird Photographs (via @Creative_Fan)
[SEO: I love these pics! Colorful, many caught mid-flight, just gorgeous.]

@AnnTran_ Interactive Light Show! ♦ Wow! Adjust at upper left (via @DrJeffersnBoggs)
[SEO: For people who like to stare at colorful patterns. ]

@soulseedz “Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.” ~ Albert Camus