i just want to drink
Now that I’m here, I really want a drink, but Alejandro won’t let me. I’m so nervous and anxious. Lost. My thoughts are circling, and I can’t stop the spiraling repetitiveness of my obsessions. I’m afraid.
Mental Health
It was the longest period of time I have gone without a psychologist appointment since I first began treatment three and a half years ago. And I was getting weird, real weird.
Dissociative identity disorder (DID), formerly called multiple personality disorder, is an extremely misunderstood condition related to serious trauma usually in childhood. It’s a controversial diagnosis, in part because of the widespread ignorance and because it frequently occurs alongside other disorders.
You don’t need to understand a person or their post traumatic symptoms to listen to their trauma story. Having empathy and patience does not mean you must experience what they experience. We can never know exactly what another person has lived through and how they felt in each moment.
I can’t say anything. He wants me to tell him if I’m ok and I am trapped in my head, but not in my body. I can’t move my eyes to look into his.
Being depressed and an introvert can make it hard to tease apart what these social urges are attributed to. Social contact helps treat depression, but depression causes social isolation. Is it depression or just introversion?
Addiction
The Importance of Women’s Recovery Spaces
I’ve heard rumors suggesting that women’s only recovery meetings are not good because they’re just “man-bashing.” This is unequivocally false; just because something isn’t for you doesn’t mean it is against you.
Is It Possible to Stay Clean Without Getting Sober?
For the purposes of this essay, clean is defined as being off “hard drugs” and sober is being off all drugs (alcohol included). Accepting these definitions, is it possible to stay clean without getting sober?
Teaching Kids About Drugs: Alternatives to DARE
Any program predicated on the idea that people need to “just say no” causes the opposite effect. High risk groups tend to be encouraged to participate in the forbidden behavior.
Binge eating at a holiday party
This is what a few hours in the life of a compulsive overeater are like. It wasn't a constant binge, but a stretched out lifelong binge. I cannot recount how many days I experienced this over three decades of my life.
Drinking as Self-Harm
When I can only see the world through foggy glasses, the urge to destroy myself by drinking again becomes an enticing option. Drinking can be a method of self-harm and was for me.
Crisis Help
In an emergency call 911
Find more resources here
1-800-799-7233 (SAFE)
200 languages (USA based)
TTY 1-800-787-3224
Online chat
hotline.org
1-866-879-6636 (USWOMEN)
International toll-free
866uswomen.org
In an emergency call 911
Find more resources here
1-800-273-8255 (TALK)
Connect with a local crisis center (USA based)
TTY 1-800-799-4889
Online chat
suicidepreventionlifeline.org
IMAlive
Virtual crisis center
imalive.org
International
Listings of suicide hotlines worldwide
suicide.org
Wiki listing
In an emergency call 911
Find more resources here
1-866-331-9474
Help with dating abuse for teens (USA based)
Online chat
Text “LOVEIS” to 22522
loveisrespect.org
1-800-422-4453 (4-A-Child)
Child abuse hotline (USA based)
childhelp.org
1-866-488-7386
LGBTQ youth crisis intervention and suicide prevention
Online chat
Text “Trevor” to 1-202-304-1200
thetrevorproject.org
In an emergency call 911
Find more resources here
Crisis Text Line
24/7 support
Text: “HOME” to 741741
crisistextline.org
1-800-273-8255
Crisis call center (USA based)
Text: “ANSWER” to 839863
crisiscallcenter.org
Throwbacks
Domestic Violence
The Persuasive Mind Tricks of Abusers
If abusers are such assholes, how do they get someone to fall in love with them in the first place? Easy, they're not just assholes, they're often charismatic and attractive. Oh, and very persuasive.
Relationship Red Flags: Are You Dating an Abuser?
Trust your intuition, relationship red flags aren't easy to identify, but there are warning signs. Are you dating an abuser?
Lack of Resistance is Not Consent, It’s Assault
Sexual assault and harassment boil down to a violation of one basic principle: consent. Never assume consent. Lack of resistance is not consent.
Resiliency, Isolation, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Despite the impulse to isolate, it is socializing that is critical to healing a core identity and building resiliency. Recovery is not something that can occur in isolation.
Ten Things Survivors Should Know About the Title IX Rollback
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos warned that she would not protect the Obama-era guidelines that helped schools establish systems and policies for investigating allegations of sexual misconduct. As early as January, during her confirmation hearings, DeVos said she would not commit to protecting those guidelines.
Cutting Domestic Violence Programs is Dangerous
Courtesy of Donkey Hotey on Flickr Creative Commons Sharealike License The current political climate in the United States is putting victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) and the police officers who respond to their emergency calls in greater danger. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said one of his top issues is protecting police officers; the White House website even included “Standing Up For…
Why Do People Return to Domestic Abusers?
There are many reasons people return to domestic abusers. One of which is the psychological phenomena of re-enactments and re-experiencing.
Why I Didn’t Try To Lose Weight For My Wedding
The author on her wedding day. Courtesy of Adrian Herrera of Victor Herrera Photographers To take care of myself in the months preceding my wedding I had to make a conscious effort to not dive into dieting. Wedding weight loss was off the list of things for me to do, or to even attempt. As…
