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.)
@healingtrauma “A mind at peace,
a mind centered and not focused on harming others,
is stronger than any physical force
in the universe.” ~ Wayne Dyer
Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder
@Josh_Bickle “Breathe in the goodness people offer and breathe toward all you can be … inspiration, aspiration, respiration.”
@zebraspolkadots “How are you feeling? what are you focused on? That’s what you’ll get more of. Focus on now to step out of pain of past or fear of future.”
@soulseedz “Be as fully present as you can be, awake to what is forming inside and around you.”
@sanzplans “One of the processes of your life is to constantly break down that inferiority, to constantly reaffirm that I Am Somebody. ~ Alvin Ailey
@reginaldcuffee “When you uncover new dimensions of who you are, you will begin to trust yourself more deeply.”
@embraceselflove “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Linked Tweets
In the News
@psychcentral Announcing the Psych Central Drug Discount Card
[SEO: Psych Central has partnered with Needy Meds to provide a discount drug card, which also can be used for savings on over the counter items. It’s free, it never expires, there are no extraordinary requirements to get it, and Psych Central does not receive any money from your use of the card. I haven’t tried it, but this looks like it could help bridge any gaps in your medicine expenses. Worth a look.]
@AVCupdate Thousands of veterans with PTSD to receive new disability benefits
[SEO: This ruling only applies to 2000 veterans who filed a class action lawsuit to force the government to acknowledge and pay for their PTSD disability status. It’s deplorable that vets had to sue their own government to receive these benefits. But it’s a start.]
About Therapy, Generally
@PTSDdotOrg Top 7 Therapy Myths Debunked
[SEO: “An expert psychologist and a psychiatrist explain the top 7 misunderstandings that people have about therapy — with a dose of reality tossed in.” These myths include: My childhood doesn’t matter; All therapists are the same; I don’t need therapy, just drugs; It’s not going to work; It’s too expensive; It’s going to send me over the edge; and I don’t have time.”]
@Good_Therapy Why Do I Have to Talk About My Painful Feelings in Therapy?
[SEO: “Much of how we feel, think and behave in the present relates back to the experiences we have already had. Understanding the pain you carry, and why is an important tool for your therapist to have when working with you. This enables your therapist to change how you feel, by understanding the root cause and then taking proper treatment channels. These most unpleasant moments in therapy are the real work, and facing them is your most rewarding challenge.”]
The Rest of the Best
@MentalHelpNet What Does a Depression Diagnosis Mean to You?
[SEO: “Diagnosis can be the beginning of your partnership with physicians for the work of recovery, or it can be the beginning of a passive relationship in which you wait for the right treatment to come along. It depends on how you respond and the messages conveyed to you by your PCP or psychiatrist.
Do they encourage you to be part of your healing or do they expect you to leave everything in their hands? Do they help you build confidence in your resilience in the face of illness, or do they encourage you to look primarily outside yourself to the latest in medical treatment?”]
@HealthyPlace Anxiety Wants You in a Box (via @kris_burns)
[SEO: “Anxiety likes to keep us in boxes. Little boxes, with four walls and a steady stream of same, same, similar, same. Don’t stray too far now. Don’t, should, must,… and after a while your mind stops using the windows, let alone the door. One doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with the same, if it feels safe, safer, or like it’s somehow protecting you no matter how unsafe we actually feel, every single day. Up to a point it’s fine. Of course it’s fine. Of course then it’s easy to miss the point that it’s not fine, too.”]
@psychcentral Getting Back On The Wagon: Success, Failure And The Cycle Of Change
[SEO: This post examines the Cycle of Change therapy, in particular, how relapse is an acknowledged part of the cycle, so it ought not to be looked at as failure. (Not just relapse involving substance abuse, but also those efforts to nourish our psyches, honor our creativity, and add enjoyment in life.) Outlines the six components of cycle of change therapy, and describes why, if you relapse, you don’t go back to “zero”, or square one. “Because you’ve already done all of your pre-contemplation and contemplation. And you’ve also probably done most of your planning.”]
@ACCRI 5 Steps for Being Present
[SEO: “The first thing to recognize is that, try as we might, we really can only do one thing at a time, so we ought to do that thing wholeheartedly. Most of our time is spent in the past or the future, rather than the present moment. What we end up doing is passing through that moment on the way to somewhere else and, in doing so, we miss the moment. That’s how life ends up passing us by – we do it to ourselves.” The five steps discussed are simple but not easy. Practice.]
@thereseborchard A guide for dealing with those that don’t get or try to get mental illness, a.k.a. idiots
[SEO: Whether they are close relatives or a jerk sitting next to you on a bus, we’ve all dealt with people full of judgments and proclamations about mental illness. While Therese writes somewhat tongue in cheek here, the advice offered is sound.]
@goodthingz Next time you feel stuck, ask yourself the following question (via @amandalinehan)
[SEO: The question is: “What can I do? This is opposed to thinking about all of the things you can’t do or don’t have control over in any given situation. … When you ask what you can do you stop trying to control the world around you, and you simply focus on yourself.”]
@SarahEOlson2009 How to Keep Going When Mental Illness Treatment Doesn’t Work
[SEO: “Everyone who has been bipolar, or mentally ill in general, for longer than about a day-and-a-half has experienced failed treatments. We’ve all had medications that didn’t work. Therapy that didn’t help. Lifestyle changes that did nothing. And so on, and so forth. In fact, most of us experience months of treatment failure before we find treatment that works for our mental illness.”
I know it’s so tempting to throw in the towel after trying — sometimes for years — to find something that works. But that isn’t the time to give up. “Every treatment is a question mark and the only way to know whether you’ll get better or not is to try. I don’t regret trying. Because even failure is information to use moving forward.”]
Enjoy!
