Third of a Lifetime

Announcement: I just love changes…

Sarah Olson — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 18:05:39 +0000

Photo Credit

“A year from now you will wish
you had started today.” ~ Karen Lamb

Well, okay, sometimes I love changes….

After 2.5+ years of publishing Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors nearly every Friday, I’ve concluded that I’ve tweaked the current format to its limits. That format consumes about 20 hours of my week, every week. Fridays are hectic here, to say the least.

I’m eager now to start some new projects, but they never really get off the ground due to the time constraints — and what’s left of my brain by Friday evening.

I’m exploring what are (hopefully!) faster and better ways to present curated resources, and I’m planning to morph what I do now into something more lastingly useful.

I’ll never stop tweeting the most helpful PTSD resources, but Best Tweets is going on hiatus for a few weeks while I suss out better alternatives. In the meantime, I’ll still publish my Favorite TweetStuff each Friday because, well, that’s fun and hardly ever mentally taxing.

Thanks so much for your support, as always!

Sarah

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Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors (09/14/12)

Sarah Olson — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:48:51 +0000

This week’s focus: Suicide Prevention Resources

I am honored to have my Twitter feed included in this list of 50 Best Twitter Feeds for Psychology Majors! Go check out the other 49, broken out into these categories: News; Organizations; Patients; and Professionals.

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

‏@BeyondMeds “You are not a drop in the ocean,
you are the entire ocean in a drop.” ~ Rumi

Some Tweets to Ponder

@800273TALK “There is nothing deep down inside us except what we have put there ourselves.” ~ Richard Rorty

@DalaiLama “When we are caught up in a destructive emotion, we lose one of our greatest assets: our independence.”

@PemaQuotes “Whatever arises, we can look at it with a nonjudgmental attitude.” ~ Pema Chödrön

@LillyAnn “Stand so strong in your knowledge of self that you allow no other person to define you.” ~ J. Perkins

@HealthyPlace “I think everybody’s weird. We should all celebrate our individuality and not be embarrassed or ashamed of it.” ~ Johnny Depp

Linked Tweets

The September 11th Anniversary

@MentalHelpNet News Coverage of 9/11 and PTSD
[SEO: “There is accumulating evidence that repeated viewing of traumatic events on television cause symptoms of PTSD even if you were never traumatized before. Studies show that watching four hours of television images per day of soldiers at war or of other terrorist attacks results in psychological and physical damage, such as high blood pressure and heart attacks.”]

[ETA: Both of these art therapy links displayed below as broken are not. And I can’t figure out why they display as such. Just click on the links, and both will take you to the correct posts at Psychology Today.]

@TheCatAndTheKey What Art Therapy Learned from September 11th
[SEO: “Repeated exposure to traumatic events impacts the content of children’s art. As I have noted in previous posts, ‘when trauma happens, children draw.’ … And this innate impulse to communicate through creative expression is more than just another picture or just ‘pretend’ — it reflects the neuropsychological nature of trauma itself.” Read both articles for greater understanding of how art therapy helps to resolve trauma.]

National Suicide Prevention Week

@PsychCentral World Suicide Prevention Day 2012
[SEO: “Between ages 10 and 55, suicide is one of the top four reasons people die in the U.S. every year. Yet you hear more about heart disease, HIV, diabetes and cancer on the nightly news than you ever do about this fatal but preventable problem. Why is that?”

“Society and the media appear to continue to believe — and through their belief, reinforce — the lies and the half-truths about suicide. Today is a day to end your own false beliefs about suicide.”]

@natasha_tracy We Must Talk about Suicide to Prevent It
[SEO: “I don’t believe we will be able to successfully prevent suicide until we learn to talk about it. No one wants to admit to thinking about suicide and that’s in spite of the fact that between 10-14 percent of the general population has considered it. That’s more than one-in-ten people that have contemplated something that we can’t bring ourselves to talk about.”]

@BeyondMeds Comedian Chris Gethard Reaches Out To Anonymous Suicidal Fan With Long, Heartfelt Message
[SEO: “As a comedian and storyteller, Chris Gethard’s comedy has always come from a personal place, but nothing could be more personal than the lengthy, heartfelt response to an anonymous question he posted on Tumblr Tuesday night.”

“‘Anonymous’ asked Gethard, who wrote at length about his psychological issues in his memoir A Bad Idea I’m About To Do, if he has ever had suicidal thoughts, and went on to express his own troubles with anxiety and depression. Within minutes, the comedian got to work on a response that reads as a powerful essay on finding the strength to anticipate better times in life.” Truly remarkable, please take the time to read Gethard’s post to Anonymous.]

@SarahEOlson2009 It’s Suicide Prevention Week: Here’s My Personal Story (via Capturing Moments Blog)
[SEO: “If I could say one thing to my Mom, it would be Please Don’t Go. I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense, and there are things that I will never understand, but there is no greater pain that I have experienced. Nothing that has shaped my life more then the day that my mother committed suicide.”]

@ssanquist Matters of Substance: Supporting Suicide Survivors
[SEO: “I have heard family members say that they feel they can’t grieve in the same way that they would have done had the person they lost died of a car accident or of cancer. The stigma surrounding suicide means many survivors suffer alone and in silence. This silence impacts their grieving.”]

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Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors (09/07/12)

Sarah Olson — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 22:48:47 +0000

This week’s focus: National Suicide Prevention Week
and Therapy Issues

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@BeyondMeds “Nobody realizes that
some people expend tremendous energy
merely to be normal.” ~ Albert Camus

Some Tweets to Ponder

@BeyondMeds “I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

‏@LillyAnn “All limits are self imposed. Expanding your thinking will expand your life.”

@DrAthenaStaik “Each day is an opportunity to travel back into tomorrow’s past and change it.” ~ Robert Brault

@PemaQuotes “Only in an open, nonjudgmental space can we acknowledge what we are feeling.” ~ Pema Chödrön

‏@HealthyPlace “It’s not that some people have willpower and some don’t… It’s that some people are ready to change and others are not.” ~ James Gordon

Linked Tweets

National Suicide Prevention Week, September 9-15

@800273TALK “No matter what, you matter. If you’re struggling emotionally or thinking about suicide, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255).”

@800273TALK Next week is National Suicide Prevention Week. Find out how you can get involved!
[SEO: “This year National Suicide Prevention Week is from September 9th to 15th. From posting purple and turquoise suicide prevention ribbons on social media to making a “Reasons to Call” sign, the Lifeline has special activities planned for each day of the week. Please help us spread the word that suicide is preventable by participating in these events.”]

@NIMHgov You can prevent suicide. The best way is to educate yourself!
[SEO: Published by the National Institute of Mental Health, this page is a gateway index to numerous resources for suicide prevention education, as well as what to do if you or someone you love needs help. Bookmark this.]

Therapy Issues

@SarahEOlson2009 Power and Social Media: Thoughts for Therapists Working with Trauma Survivors
[SEO: After providing a definition of “trauma informed care”, this post discusses aspects of the power relationship between therapist and client, and how the introduction of social media into the mix changes the dynamic. This is a valuable read for both clinicians and their clients.

“Most clients who are survivors of childhood trauma were abused by someone with power, someone who should have been trustworthy and then abused that trust. Therapists are authority figures who you are supposed to be able to trust, a characteristic we share with our clients’ abusers. Abuse involves the misuse of power — people who have been victimized feel helpless, vulnerable, and powerless. Healing from abuse involves recovering (or achieving for the first time) a sense of our power in the world. For this reason, a trauma-informed approach is based on the assumption that recovery from trauma must include collaboration and empowering clients whenever possible.”

@SarahEOlson2009 Therapy Worksheets
[SEO: Intended for use by clients with their therapist, this site includes dozens of therapy worksheets and other resources. Use the labels in the right column to peruse the wide range of topics. In some categories, worksheets are accompanied by self help resources, and/or a link to the book from which the worksheets were (with permission) obtained.]

‏@PsychCentral Therapists Spill: 8 Ways Clients Spoil Their Progress in Therapy (and How to Change That)
[SEO: “Therapy can be tremendously effective. But sometimes as clients, we can stand in our own way. In fact, we might unwittingly hinder the therapeutic process and spoil our progress. Clinicians share eight actions that typically prevent clients from getting the most out of therapy — and what you can do.”

This is an open, honest look at a lot of what can go wrong in therapy. My only quibble is that, for most items mentioned, the client isn’t “spoiling their progress” in a vacuum. A skillful therapist can stop some of these issues at the gate, and/or use them as teaching moments for their client’s benefit.]

The Rest of the Best

@Mindful_Living Want to participate in research on willpower, desire, and mindfulness using only your smartphone?
[SEO: See the link for qualifications and how to join. “The purpose of the study, conducted by our team of researchers from the University of Chicago and the University of Basel, Switzerland, is to better understand how people experience everyday desires, how they enjoy their desires, and how they deal with these desires when they threaten to conflict with goals and plans.”]

@SarahEOlson2009 Complete List of PTSD Pages by Sub-Topic on FamilyOfaVet.com
[SEO: Resources for PTSD symptoms, treatments, medications, coping skills, secondary PTSD, PTSD and relationships, PTSD and domestic violence, and how to help your children understand it. As always, while this is definitely geared for veterans and their families, this site contains lots of resources for anyone wishing to further understand PTSD from any cause.]

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Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors (08/31/12)

Sarah Olson — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 23:08:29 +0000

This week’s focus: Self Harm Resources

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‏@HealthyPlace “Each man’s life
represents a road toward himself.” ~ Herman Hesse

Some Tweets to Ponder

@visityourself “If you’re not aware of self-judgment, you’re stuck inside it. If you’re aware, it’s just something inside you.”

@PemaQuotes “The trick is to keep exploring and not bail out, even when we find out that something is not what we thought.” ~ Pema Chödrön

@LillyAnn “To hold, you must first open your hand. Let go.” ~ Tao Te Ching

‏@BeyondMeds “Sometimes taking care of yourself may piss people off — do it anyway.”

‏@StevenHandel “You’re only given one little spark of madness, you mustn’t lose it.” ~ Robin Williams

Linked Tweets

Self Harm Resources

@HealthyPlace Relaunch of Self Injury, Self Harm Information Center. 40 new articles plus videos.
[SEO: “Detailed information about Self-Injury (Self-Harm, Self-Abuse, Self-Mutilation) including why people self-injure, warning signs of self-harm, treatment for self-injury and information for parents.” Bookmark this page if you, or anyone you know, is involved in self harm.]

@HealthyPlace Why I Self-Harm: Why People Self-Injure
[SEO: A clear, unflinching discussion of why people self harm, and how to understand it in terms of environmental and psychological factors as they pertain to each specific person’s life. Includes first person accounts, in words and videos.]

‏The Rest of the Best

@missptsdanddid Why People Refuse Therapy — Therapy Feels like an Insult
[SEO: “Yesterday I was at my psychiatrist’s and I wasn’t doing terribly well. It seems I’m a little stressed. Turns out being a well-known mental health writer is a smidgen more challenging than one might think. And so one of the recommendations my doctor made was to do some mindfulness training in a local program. Instantly I felt myself rile against the idea. Internally I was feeling very resistant against yet more therapy.”]

@pilotpenpoet I think people living with depression need to read this supportive and empowering article by CNN’s Kat Kinsman.
[SEO: “…I’ve lost too much time and too many people to feel any shame about the way my psyche is built. How from time to time, for no good reason, it drops a thick, dark jar over me to block out air and love and light, and keeps me at arm’s length from the people I love most.”

“The pain and ferocity of the bouts have never eased, but I’ve lived in my body long enough to know that while I’ll never ‘snap out of it,’ at some point the glass will crack and I’ll be free to walk about in the world again. It happens every time, and I have developed a few tricks to remind myself of that as best I can when I’m buried deepest.”]

@PsychCentral The Extraordinary Power of Despair
[SEO: (The post author states the following is not a description of clinical depression. But … well, it works for me.) “There’s little more effective for lifting you out of misery than misery itself. When things are so friggin’ awful that you can’t imagine them getting any more awful, doing things that were unimaginable suddenly seem imaginable. Change is so difficult, you gotta really, really, really want it. Or have it forced on you. And when life sucks so bad that getting out of bed requires monumental effort, change is being forced on you.”]

@HealthyPlace Surviving Psych Waiting Rooms
[SEO: “Now my psychiatrist’s waiting room happens to be in a hospital’s Mood Disorder Clinic, although I think people of any disorder wait in the same place for their doctors as well. We are the people who have stepped past the average doctor and the average psychiatrist up to the specialists. So basically, we are the craziest of the crazy, all trapped in a room together. And if there were any doubt that we are scary, it is confirmed by the fact that the receptionist sits behind glass. Really, it’s rather creepy.”

In fairness, every psych office I’ve ever visited — specialists or not — had the receptionist behind glass. Perhaps it’s more about boundaries than to convey how crazy you are? Beyond that, this post resonates for me, including the idea that a cup of coffee (or whatever you drink) can ease your wait. My cup has long been an aid, both in the waiting room, and in sessions. It’s a small thing that helps to keep me present and centered.]

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Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors (08/24/12)

Sarah Olson — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 23:09:25 +0000

This week’s focus: Rep. Akin and “legitimate rape”

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@Conduru “The inward journey begins
only when you understand clearly,
that anything outside is not going
to give you contentment.” ~ Osho

Some Tweets to Ponder

@WisdomalaCarte “Fear is the wilderland, stepping stones or sinking sand.” ~ Joni Mitchell

@Tamavista “There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving and that’s your own self.” ~ Aldous Huxley

@zebraspolkadots “Creating change happens because we keep making the choice for the change.”

@LillyAnn “Becoming and being are the yin and yang of our lives. One inner one outer. The secret is balance.”

@HealthyPlace “The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are.” ~ Jim Morrison

(Mostly) Linked Tweets

Todd Akin and “legitimate rape”

‏

@sheelaraja “Does he want legitimate or forcible forgiveness?”

‏@DrKathleenYoung Legitimate takedown: Todd Akin meets the women of the Internet
[SEO: “Over the weekend, Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri saw a chance to follow suit and bullocks up his own Google standing on the eve of an election. Pregnancies from rape, Akin said, are scarce because if ‘it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.'” A recap of reactions from around the Internet.]

@pourmecoffee “Forgive Todd Akin / He accidentally said / What he really thinks” #haiku

@PsychCentral It is Time to Talk About Rape…For the Victims
[SEO: “Notwithstanding the important verbalized medical opinions asserting no solid evidence of reduced pregnancy after rape, the implication for the pregnant rape victim is emotionally and physically dangerous. In addition to whatever care she needs, what she does not need is to question the legitimacy of being raped! No one does.” …

“Society both acknowledges and denies rape. Rape threatens social mores and demands empathy with victims. Accordingly, rape is a crime, but it is one that has been obscured by legal definition, stereotype, gender bias and media hype. Callie Rennison, a criminologist notes, ‘Rape is the only crime in which victims have to explain that they didn’t want to be victimized.'”]

@SarahEOlson2009 Eve Ensler: Dear Mr. Akin, I Want You to Imagine . . .
[SEO: “You used the expression ‘legitimate’ rape as if to imply there were such a thing as ‘illegitimate’ rape. Let me try to explain to you what that does to the minds, hearts and souls of the millions of women on this planet who experience rape. It is a form of re-rape. The underlying assumption of your statement is that women and their experiences are not to be trusted. That their understanding of rape must be qualified by some higher, wiser authority. It delegitimizes and undermines and belittles the horror, invasion, desecration they experienced. It makes them feel as alone and powerless as they did at the moment of rape.” …

“Why don’t you spend your time ending rape rather than redefining it? Spend your energy going after those perpetrators who so easily destroy women rather than parsing out manipulative language that minimizes their destruction. And by the way you’ve just given millions of women a very good reason to make sure you never get elected again, and an insanely good reason to rise.”]

@AngieMacMcA “The female body also has ways of shutting down your whole election @RepToddAkin.”

@SuePeaseBanitt I got pregnant from rape (via @Salon)
[SEO: “At 19 years old, I became an unwilling expert on the topic of rape. I learned about rape’s savagery and its psychological trauma.” At times difficult to read, this woman describes her horror and shame at being raped, which was then compounded a hundred-fold when she discovered she was pregnant.

It happens. It’s asinine and dangerous for Akin to proclaim his bizarre ignorance as truth, especially when his stated goal is to overturn Roe v. Wade. But Akin’s not the only moron in government. “In March, Kansas Rep. Pete DeGraaf said, ‘Women should plan ahead for rape the way he keeps a spare tire.’ A few weeks after that Indiana state Rep. Eric Turner said, ‘Some women might fake being raped in order to get free abortions.'” Save us from self-righteous idiots who wish to legislate our bodies. Don’t re-elect any of them.]

@HealthyPlace Victims of Sexual Abuse: Do They Ever Get Over It?
[This detailed post explores the means and methods of finding recovery from aftermath of sexual abuse, whether it occurred in childhood or as an adult. There are many ways to seek healing; some will work for one person, and not the next. Some people have other issues overlaid, such as religion, or still being in danger of ongoing abuse.

While the post makes the case for recovery being possible, please know it takes time. Sometimes lots of time, and willingness to go places in one’s mind where things have been buried deeply. But however long it takes to find healing, it’s worth it to make the attempt. Recovery creates freedom.]

The Rest of the Best

@HealthyPlace PTSD Definition: The Meaning of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. New Trauma! A PTSD blog
[SEO: This is the first post in a new Healthy Place blog by Michele Rosenthal titled “Trauma! A PTSD Blog”. I’ve often tweeted Michele’s work at her own website Heal My PTSD. She developed PTSD at age 13 when a highly unusual drug reaction resulted in a full-body burn response. Her body healed, but she struggled with PTSD symptoms for the next 24 years. She’s written extensively about her experiences and methods for healing. Highly recommended!]

@NAMIMass 3 Self-Care Strategies to Transform Your Life
[SEO: This post makes the case that in taking better care of yourself, not only do you benefit, but it radiates outward to the other people in your life. The activities discussed cover the following three areas in relation to self-care: (1) discover when, where, why and how you feel deprived; (2) find your own rhythm and routine; and (3) create an “absolute no list.”

As Cheryl Richardson writes in her book The Art of Extreme Self-Care: Transform Your Life One Month at a Time, “…through self-care, ‘We become conscious and conscientious people. We tell the truth. We make choices from a place of love and compassion instead of guilt and obligation.'”]

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Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors (08/18/12)

Sarah Olson — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 22:53:47 +0000

This week’s focus: News and Views

Photo Credit

@WisdomalaCarte “There is a crack in everything,
that is how the light gets in.” ~ Leonard Cohen

Some Tweets to Ponder

@SoulHealr “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” ~ Mark Twain

@HealthyPlace “Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven’t half the strength you think they have.” ~ Norman Vincent Peale

@LillyAnn “Dismiss whatever insults your soul.” ~ Walt Whitman

@PsychCentral “if you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.” ~ John Irving

Linked Tweets

News and Views

@NAMIMass Americans need to focus on the fact that the mental health care system is already in crisis.
[SEO: An excellent post about the Aurora, Colorado shootings: “Public discussion initially focused on the wide availability of guns in our society. It has now shifted to the question of whether or not the mental health care system failed leading up to the tragedy. It is an issue addressed eloquently in USA Today by Pete Earley in a guest column, ‘Massacres No Excuse to Stigmatize the Mentally Ill.'” Lots of food for thought here.]

@vetawareness Saddest statistics ever. RIP brothers.
[SEO: Scroll down the page for the story “Army Releases July Suicide Data”. It’s grim, but as a nation we must stop looking away. The July numbers pretty much doubled the June numbers. “Army officials said 187 active-duty and reserve soldiers have committed suicide so far in 2012. Last year’s total was 283.” And these numbers don’t include veterans!

Where is the outrage, America? An entire generation of American active duty members and veterans is obviously being given grossly inadequate mental health care. It’s not entirely about stigma, either. It’s also about money. And politics. And that those last two are even in the mix is shameful.

NOTE: At the bottom of the linked article you will find links to numerous suicide prevention resources for military members, veterans, and their families. These include crisis helplines, and suicide prevention training resources for families.]

The Rest of the Best

@SarahEOlson2009 Harborview Center for Sexual Assault ~ Creating the Trauma Narrative
[SEO: This free treasure trove of 11 .pdf client handouts can help you (preferably with your therapist’s guidance) to create a trauma narrative — to tell your story and help make sense of it. The .pdf handouts range from describing your feelings about being abused, how it has affected you, a letter to the perpetrator, remembering what happened, telling the sexual assault secret, and much more.]

@ssanquist On Loneliness
[SEO: “Loneliness isn’t just a case of the sniffles that can be cured by a singing Hallmark card. It’s associated with increased risk of heart disease, higher rates of inflammatory disease, and diminished immune function. …”

“Like depression, loneliness can become unbearable in that so much shame is attached to it. University of Massachusetts sociologist Robert S. Weiss, one of the first researchers to study the theory of loneliness and a prominent expert on the topic today writes in his book, Loneliness: The Experience of Emotional and Social Isolation: ‘So great is the shame of the lonely . . . that they are wary of each other’s company — a bit like Groucho Marx, who believed that any club that admitted him could not be worth joining.'”]

@BeyondMeds Just accept it: The voices are real
[SEO: Growing up, I heard many voices inside me. I knew from age five to never reveal them because my mother threatened to throw me in the “crazy house” if I kept up my stories of being abused by her “family friend”. I never ever admitted to hearing voices until after she died 30 years later, and even then, it was said out loud with tremendous fear that my therapist was also going to lock me up. But not all inner voices are evidence of insanity.

This post argues that hearing voices could actually be viewed as something normal. Read it with an open mind. And check out this blogger’s index of all her posts which deal with the experiences of voice hearers.]

@PsychCentral Why Shouldn’t You Spank Your Kids? Here’s 9 Reasons
[SEO: These nine reasons go much deeper than “because it’s politically incorrect”. They deal with the psychological messages conveyed when a child is spanked. But beyond those very real messages, the one that gets me (as I was spanked/hit till age 14) is the basic truth that “No one can learn when they are afraid.”

Well, that’s not entirely true. I did learn how to dissociate.]

Share My Stuff! ~