I am the author of 'Becoming One: A Story Of Triumph Over Multiple Personality Disorder', and have maintained an online presence since 1993. Each Friday, I post 'Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors', an annotated compilation of links tweeted in the previous week. I also maintain the Dissociation Blog Showcase, an index of ~180 blogs which discuss dissociation primarily from a personal experience perspective. Having survived a violent, secretive childhood, I know the craving for security, love, and hope that is so often missing in adult survivors' lives. I understand feeling crazy and continually misunderstood. I also know how hard it is to find help to move beyond the pain and daily challenges of trying to put a different life together. What I've learned over many years is that there is always hope. Always. My premise is that 'becoming one' is an ongoing process that is always coming into shape and focus. And it always requires diligence, honesty, and integrity to make it real. It's a journey that does not have to be done alone, either. There are hundreds of great resources for trauma survivors and their supporters, many of them organized by category on my website. Be proactive, and be your own best advocate.
Author's posts
Aug 25 2009
No Magic Wands
I know far too many people who are hurting in this economy, and have been for a very long time. Unemployment impacts real people, not numbers. It impacts choices, and squanders opportunities. And still, we are told it is somehow patriotic to buy something. Things I’ve been buying lately: “Forever” postage stamps — good for …
Permanent link to this article: https://thirdofalifetime.com/2009/08/25/no-magic-wands/
Aug 22 2009
Crystal Balls In August
In that perfected “no one could ever have imagined” gov-speak way, on the yuckiest three days of the year thus far, Massachusetts state public swimming pools were closed due to the lack of a crystal ball. And will remain closed till next year. According to the public servant moron on local news last night (couldn’t …
Permanent link to this article: https://thirdofalifetime.com/2009/08/22/crystal-balls-in-august/
Aug 20 2009
Dancing for Normal
When I was first diagnosed with diabetes about 20 years ago, my original hbA1c test was 13.4. The A1c gives a good snapshot measure of your blood sugar levels over the last three months, weighting heavier to the last six weeks. The people who set the standards moved the goal posts several times through the …
Permanent link to this article: https://thirdofalifetime.com/2009/08/20/dancing-for-normal/
Aug 19 2009
The "Routine" of Distractions
At what point does what you do routinely turn into a distraction? Everything that interests me, I look at with a “dry sponge meet drip” mentality. No drop left behind. I want to know it all, whether it’s about the economy, the stock market, multiplicity, book marketing, the Red Sox, diabetes, cats, weight loss surgery, …
Permanent link to this article: https://thirdofalifetime.com/2009/08/19/the-routine-of-distractions/
Aug 18 2009
Two Weeks of Summer
Some people are affected seasonally in winter with depression. I, however, do my best work in the dead of winter, and keep the thermostat around 62. But summer heat makes me lethargic and the humidity here induces nausea. Not to mention, this laptop really heats up! (Which is a bonus heat source at 62. At …
Permanent link to this article: https://thirdofalifetime.com/2009/08/18/two-weeks-of-summer/
Aug 17 2009
Triggers Inform You
Many abuse survivors are hyper-sensitive to things that remind them — or trigger a response in them — of a danger or grievous wrong that happened long ago. It feels fresh, though. It may appear quite innocently, as in a song not heard in years, or a certain smell from the kitchen or someone’s perfume. …
Permanent link to this article: https://thirdofalifetime.com/2009/08/17/triggers-inform-you/