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Are you in a possible toxic relationship? Are you looking to help someone who is in a toxic relationship? What is a toxic relationship? Learn more in this contributed post.  Have Faith In Your Own Self-Awareness The compulsion to explore whether you’re in a toxic relationship could be due to; your own perception of your relationship or your concern over someone else's, the suggestion by another that you are in a bad relationship without your awareness, or even the thought that you may be the perpetrator, the victim or that both of you in the relationship are accomplices in being abusive to one another. This post sets the foundation for how we can stop violence against women and men, by gaining an understanding of how we interpret toxic relationships, identifying some of the common mechanisms of an abusive relationship, to having faith in your own self-awareness and taking steps to prevent, stop abuse or leave a relationship entirely. How Do We Determine A Toxic Relationship? For a person to define a relationship as healthy or toxic, is for a person to judge based on their own morals, values, beliefs and their acceptance of the law that governs their state to determine what is proper behavior and actions in a relationship and what is wrong. However, no two peoples beliefs, values, upbringing and experience of seeing and being in relationships are exactly the same. Furthermore, toxicity doesn’t arrive wrapped in the same packaging for everyone to define it as something that’s immediately obvious. It creeps up in all shapes and forms, sometimes unnoticed such as the gaslighting effect, manipulation, and mind games other times tragically obvious, such as forcing substance misuse, murdering or raping of a partner. In other cases, it’s difficult for someone who is prone to being the victim, to see that they might also contribute in being abusive themselves. For some of the signs that distinguish whether you may be involved in a bad relationship, preview the next section. Common Traits Of Toxic Relationships Part of this post is to explore beyond the us and them view, “they are the abusers, and I am the victim,” it’s also to create a sense of self-awareness on whether we may unknowingly actually be abusive ourselves. By previewing the signs below, this may trigger whether you may be the culprit, accomplice or victim of a toxic relationship.
This is a non-exhaustive list of how abuse might occur between two people. Self Awareness In Relationships With the above mentioned it may be difficult to define whether some of these situations you have endured could be interpreted as abuse, or you may convince yourself that although some of the above mentioned may have happened in your relationship, that they’re not severe and won’t lead to any other toxic behavior. When we’re in a relationship, it’s difficult for us to see things objectively. Moreover, when we’re outside of a relationship, we may fail to see the whole picture and what actually occurs behind doors. However, if you feel you may be inflicting or have inflicted harm on someone else you can seek professional help to prevent violence in your relationship and any issues escalating into irreparable damage that could affect you or another person both physically and psychologically. Never doubt your feelings if you think you are being mistreated, or that you are hurting someone close to you. Your emotions and gut instinct will give you an indication that something isn’t right in your relationship. To prevent falling victim to or being part of the abusive pattern in your relationships, there are preventative measures that can be taken. Don’t make way for abusive behavior by consciously pushing your moral boundaries back to allow for abuse. Don’t discount your feelings towards abuse as unimportant. Don’t fall into an oblivion of believing normalized abuse portrayed by the media on tv, films and social media is what love entails. Protect yourself as you would your own children, be protective of your mind and body and seek family, friends and professional support from organizations such as https://www.thehotline.org/help/ to enable you to take steps to solve or end your relationship problems. More than anything, don’t wait and hope it won’t happen again.
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 Mental Health Recovery and Dating Mental Health Recovery & The Roller-Coaster of Love by Elodie Bruton If there’s one thing that can make us feel crazy: it is love. So what happens when you have a mental health problem and are looking for love? I am a community mental health worker at Centre Bienvenue and want to share how love relates to recovery. Suffering from a mental illness, being hospitalized, having to stop working, dropping out of school and accumulating multiple crisis or setbacks drastically shapes a person’s confidence and self-worth. When a person is going through a crisis or is at the beginning of dealing with their mental illness, life can feel like it's coming to a stop. And when the initial shock is over, often the main focus is trying to remain stable, taking care of oneself and not rock the boat. What follows is a feeling that your dreams have been shattered. That you will never be the person you wanted to be. This translates into despair, discouragement and a general feeling that suffering from a mental illness means never having a family, a job, a ‘normal’ life. And here we have the image of:
However, dating, falling in love, and meeting your soulmate requires taking a risk. Mental health recovery means emerging from this crisis by redefining oneself, finding new interest, discovering your strengths, trying new things, finding you have talent in those things and slowly rebuilding your self-confidence. Recovery does not necessarily mean being cured but rather living beyond the illness. Where the illness does not define your life anymore. Therefore being able to have a relationship with a partner is an important part of overcoming the illness and getting back the feeling of normalcy and of being an active part of society. Unfortunately the importance of being in a relationship can often be overlooked by a persons treating team. Dating is not seen as a priority in their stability. Also when mental stability is the main focus of their treatment, the high and lows created by love can even seem counter intuitive. There is a perception that the person is at a high risk of becoming unstable because of an incapacity to regulate emotional upheavals. This is scary for mental health workers trying to stabilize a patient to prevent re-hospitalization or suicide attempts. But it is also scary for the person suffering from a mental illness, as well as for family and friends. Dating requires us to engage in a range of emotions:
But learning to overcome this fear, finding tools to deal with emotions and gaining enough self-confidence to take that risk is what mental health recovery is all about.  Support Mental Health Recovery About The Author
 Hidden Trauma of Niceness Learn about the hidden trauma behind nice guy behaviors in this contributed post The Hidden Trauma of Niceness by JR from Austin As a recovering nice guy spending plenty of time in therapy, research and self-reflection I have noticed that one of the serious causes of my nice guy behavior is complex emotional trauma. Growing up in my highly controlled home I learned how to be nice through punishment for doing the wrong thing. Instead of being properly corrected I was punished physically or through shame (i.e.: the doghouse). Since the home was controlled through a narcissistic matriarchy I was punished when I would stand up for myself or saying anything that challenged my mother's viewpoints. Niceness was reinforced through coercion. Because of that I developed CPTSD and have constant flashbacks. Flashbacks are emotional responses that are triggered by sensitive events that would send a person emotionally back to the time they were being abused. With proper treatment and acknowledgment of these issues a person can minimize or even completely remove the emotional charge of these flashbacks. Now where this all ties in with Complex Trauma is that the man has been conditioned from his formative years to associate assertive behaviors with rejection and abuse. He will cling to his nice guy behavior like a glove since consciously he will think it is the right thing to do. (A lot of the time nice behavior is the right thing to do) On a deeper subconscious emotional level though he will cling to it since he has been programmed to believe assertive behavior will lead to abuse and rejection. When abuse and rejection happen it will often cause him to flashback to when he was a child and was getting abused. Because the flashbacks are so horrible he will cling to the nice guy behavior to avoid them at all costs. This will cause the nice guy to cling to cowardly behaviors in situations when assertiveness is absolutely necessary. Behaving in an attractive manner with women is something that comes to mind here. Now is this condition hopeless? Absolutely not. The more a person has been traumatized the more time and effort they will need to work through the damage. First and foremost the traumatized person would need to go see a qualified therapist who understands complex trauma as it relates to the person's individual need. A female therapist who specializes in helping women who have been abused by past lovers would probably not understand the needs of a man who has been emasculated etc. Second the person would need to be driven to work on the problem on his own as well. He can learn new skills and understand how the bullying tactics were used against him. Learning that will help him find a new sense of empowerment. Third, the situation tends to be highly ingrained into the psyche so the person would have to be patient with the process. It can take years for someone with CPTSD to heal. With this hard work and patience the traumatized nice guy can build a far better life and start winning instead of just breaking even. By no means is this article comprehensive. It is worth checking out Pete Walker's book Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving. That book gives a very thorough look into CPTSD. YOU HAVE A CHOICE If you are a Single Nice Guy and you want some coaching to learn how to be Assertive for Dating, Sign up for Single No More Coaching Right Now!  COACHING FOR NICE GUYS  Your Sexuality Is Your Birthright - Galen Fous Towards Kink Positive Therapy by Galen Robert Fous Yesterday I was banned without notice from the Depth Psychology Alliance, a moderated Facebook group for Jungian oriented therapists. I had posted a link to an interview I had done recently titled, “The Personal Erotic Myth and the Rise of Fetishsexuality.” I included this quote with the link from my Psychology Today interview by Michael Aaron based on my presentation to the AltSex NYC Conference "When engaged consciously and allowed to express and embody with a consenting partner, these fierce explorations of our taboo, wild instinctual edges can offer a profound sense of empowerment and acceptance, as well as a full-body, soulful, exquisitely spent bliss from either side of the power exchange." The group’s moderator accepted the post. Several positive comments were made. The third was an agitated comment from a therapist who stated that Kink is only a pathological expression of “someone incapable of love and intimacy,” and made a reference to how harmful it was to women and relationships when men want that kind of sex. I replied that her view was outdated and an insult to the millions of men AND women engaging in consensual Kink. I said I felt her views were similar to and as inaccurate as those held by therapists in the 1950’s about homosexuality. She was rather livid that I would dare compare the “courageous struggle of gays and lesbians” to pathologically disturbed people engaging in Kink. Several more people joined the thread, all favorable to my POV (point of view), and some challenging the other therapist over how judgmental she was being. I was getting excited at what I thought would be a very informative discussion about Kink within a professional psychological model I was very much at home in. I was about to reply to someone’s comment, and got notice the post had been removed. I intended to contact the moderator to ask why and discovered that I no longer had access to the group. I had been banned from the group without explanation nor notification. In response, I started a new thread on my Facebook page titled “Kinkaphobia - Are you a sex-therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist suffering from Kink-phobia? Help is available. Get treatment now before you harm any more patients that you have shamed, judged or diagnosed as suffering from a psychological disorder or addiction based on your moralistic, outdated, unsubstantiated, harmful beliefs about Kink oriented clients. Shaming is not therapy.” One of the replies to this thread was from someone in the DPA group who disclosed that right after my post was taken down, a new rule about posting was created. "Any content determined to be inappropriate, in poor taste, or otherwise contrary to the purposes of the forum will be deleted and the poster risks being removed from the group.” She (the person who informed me of the groups actions) commented further, “The article you posted was totally relevant to Depth Psychology. If an equivalent article regarding working with gay clients were posted and a commentator said "Homosexuality is only a pathological expression of someone incapable of love and intimacy" - we would never accept that as a reason to delete a post. I am pretty (upset) about this.” I am too. And I hope this begins a wake-up call within the various academic, clinical and alternative therapeutic communities to become educated about Kink oriented sexuality and stop shaming and pathologizing client’s seeking to come to terms with their sexual truth. -Galen Robert Fous *Disclaimer: the views of the author do not necessarily represent the views of Franktalks.com. It is important to present different views/mindsets, and that includes material that may be deemed controversial in nature. About The Author Galen Robert Fous MTP, is a Fetish Sex Expert, Psychotherapist and Sex Researcher. He studied Fetish Sexuality and Authentic Sexual Expression at Institute of Trans-personal Psychology and studied Psychology at Portland State University. He is the author of the book: Decoding Your Kink: Guide to Explore Share and Enjoy Your Wildest Sexual Desires He can be reached at http://www.galenfous.com/  23 Reasons Why: Suicide: The Signs, What To Do, and Where To Go For Help Suicide: What are the signs, what to do, and where to go? By Jenn and Sam, Mental Health Caseworkers If you’ve been on the internet lately, you’ve probably seen posts about the new controversial Netflix show “13 Reasons Why”. If you have not seen it, let us break it down for you. The show depicts a teenage girl, Hannah Baker, trying to navigate her way through a new school. Here, she encounters bullying from her peers and struggles with mental health issues that eventually contribute to her committing suicide. Prior to her suicide, she created audio tapes that detail the reasons why she chose to end her life. The popular show has been criticized for glamorizing suicide and portraying suicide as a justifiable act of revenge. On a more positive note, many mental health practitioners and teachers are using the show to open up a line of communication about suicide with youth and adults, to educate people on how to identify the signs and how to seek help or support someone who may be suicidal. There have additionally been initiatives by local high schools where students created and shared “13 Reasons Why NOT”, which are lists of reasons why suicide is not an option. Although the show opens up this doorway of communication regarding suicide, it demonstrates little knowledge or understanding of Hannah’s mental health problems. It does not address her hopelessness, desperation or helplessness. The show appears to focus more on morality and highlights that the consequences of bullying can be deathly. There is no denying the truth behind that last statement or the detrimental effects, both short term and long term, that bullying has on its victims. That said, there is still a much broader topic that is being left out. Suicide itself. Bullying is not the only reason people chose to take their own lives. The show additionally does not address many other questions surrounding suicide including;
As mental health workers, we see individuals with suicidal thoughts, ideations, and tendencies on a daily basis. It is something we are consistently screening for, because it occurs frequently as a result of other mental health disorders. This does not mean that a person has to have a mental illness to become suicidal, but it does increase the risk of suicide. According to a study completed in 2011, approximately 3,500 people commit suicide annually in Canada. This is a staggering number. Unless you are directly affected or working in a social service/mental health setting, you are most likely unaware of what the signs of suicide are. Furthermore, you are probably unaware of what to do if you encounter those feelings yourself or discover someone you love is suffering from them. What to look for: signs and symptoms What signs do we look for? First and foremost these are general guidelines and are in no way absolutes. Some signs are more obvious, while others are more subtle. An obvious sign is someone having or verbalizing that they have suicidal thoughts and/or ideations. Simply put, the individual is thinking about dying, how to do it, and what will happen if they go through with it. These are more obvious signs as the individual will often express these thoughts to multiple people and rarely will go through with it. Subtle signs include those that are less noticeable or associated with suicide. These are often not expressed by the individual, but can be noticed in their changed behavior. These can be significant changes in mood such as anger, volatility, recklessness and/or an increase in risk-taking behavior. The individual may start to withdraw from family and friends, become more reclusive where they were once social. The individual may turn to substance use that was not present before to numb the feelings or change their state of mind. They may feel anxious, hopeless or helpless in their situation and are unable to cope with it. They may also express thoughts of having no purpose to live and that no one would be affected or care if they were gone. They may express feeling that there is no other way out of a situation. On the flip side of the coin, their mood could drastically change in an appearingly positive way where they could present much happier than they have been, as they feel a sense of purpose through their plan to take their own life and are determined to see it through. What do you do if you see these signs in someone you know or love? The first step, although maybe the hardest, is to talk to them about what you see and your concerns. Do this with an open heart and from a place of empathy. Let them express how they feel and validate their struggle, while letting them know you are there to help and support them. It is important in these situations that the person feels someone cares about them and wants to help. At some point you need to be brave enough to ask them directly if they are contemplating suicide. Ask them if they have a plan, how they would do it and if they have a time frame. If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, then there is an urgency that needs to be addressed. This can be seen clearly in “13 Reasons Why”. Hannah creates a clear and precise plan. She chooses to create 13 tapes, clearly collects all the items she needs (tapes, razor blades, recorder etc), maps out what to record on them and then ends with her taking her own life. Often, the person will reach out in some way or another, by trying to tell someone what they are feeling or by giving away something that holds a lot of importance for them. Hannah demonstrates this by making a final attempt to get the attention she needs from her school counsellor. Suicide is a serious issue, and if you recognize these signs in someone else, it is important that that person is not left alone.
It is a scary thing to do, but you could be preventing an unnecessary death. If the situation is less urgent, but warrants help, you can visit your local CLSC. The CLSC can refer you to the appropriate services. What do you do if YOU are having these thoughts or recognize these signs in yourself? If you see the signs in yourself, it is important that you speak to someone you trust and create a plan to help yourself. We encourage clients to create a SAFETY PLAN which includes a list of reasons you shouldn’t harm yourself. This can be lists of things you love to do, places to visit, things that make you passionate and important relationships in your life such as loved ones, family, friends and pets. Add a list of resources to call in a time of need
Add people you trust and can speak to on the list including family and friends. Make sure that these are people you can get in touch with if you feel unsafe being alone. Being aware of these signs and how to provide help might make it easier to catch someone who is contemplating suicide before they act. So please, do not be another face in the crowd. Reach out if you recognize the suffering in yourself or another. You could be the difference between life or death. -Jenn and Sam For more information on suicide prevention please use the following services: Suicide Prevention Canada http://suicideprevention.ca/ Canadian Mental Health Association They have a page dedicated to services for those facing suicidal thoughts and struggles or friends/family support. https://www.cmha.ca/mental-health/understanding-mental-illness/suicide/ West Island Crisis Centre Phone: 514-684-6160 Services: 24 hour emergency hotline, psychological assessment, intervention, temporary shelter and equipped with mobile unit for evaluations. Suicide Action Hotline: 1 866-277-3553 or 514-723-4000 This hotline is open 24/7 and can provide support and assistance. Author Bios Let us introduce ourselves. We are mental health case workers, and although that sounds like a big scary title, it is actually just clinical terms for saying that we help people help themselves. Our job is to empower people with the knowledge and tools to help manage any mental health issues they may be facing. This can range from small bouts of depression and anxiety, to suicidal ideation and chronic illnesses such as Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder. Whatever the concern, we are here to provide support, guidance and direction in riding the wave to recovery. On a daily basis you can find us meeting with clients and creating Action Plans to accomplish short and long terms goals. We help locate and direct clients and families to community services and organizations. We create and facilitate sport therapy groups, workshops, educational seminars and group activities, all with goal of normalizing mental health issues and empowering clients with the tools and skills to move forward not only in their recovery, but with their life goals. If you are lucky enough, you can even spend time with our onsite therapy pup named Norbert, who is always available and more than willing to give some love and cuddles. Norbert plays his own role as a worker, going out into the community to spread awareness and help with prevention. Our approach is far from traditional and we strive to work outside the clinical “box”. We focus on the individual’s strengths, using their passions and goals to facilitate stability and recovery. Jenn and Sam Mental Health Caseworkers  Donate to Support Mental Health Care  Suicide and Depression: Happiness is Sourced From Within Suicide and Depression by Frank Mondeose Wow. Chris Cornell, say it ain't so bro! Another one leaving us to suicide. What makes a beautiful, powerful, impactful soul, take their own life? Earlier this year, a very popular Tantra teacher in California, Psalm Isadora, also took her life. She was bringing magic into people's lives in such big ways and dedicating her life to sexual health and awakening. So why?
What makes these suicides more notable then all the rest of them? To me, it shows that, no matter what it looks like, no matter how shiny the exterior, people are battling their demons every day. So these 2 are great examples, that happiness is not "out there", in perceived "success", but more sourced from within. How could these 2 individuals with all this light around them take their own life? And why do we sometimes try to glide over that the cause of death is suicide? Shame? Shame of what seems to be an insurmountable sadness that forces someone into the furthest edges of the rational world? RAW TESTIMONIAL: I want to share because I think if we speak, others won't feel as alone, because everyone is going through something worthy of escaping from. Many of you will probably be surprised, but... I have also battled with suicidal tendencies since high school, being brought to the brink at least a couple times. I have prayed for death. The result: cancer. My get out of jail free card, as I saw it. So why? I can only speak for myself. I feel. I feel everything. Some things regarding to myself, other things regarding to others, some from people I don't even f-ing know. It is a gift and a curse. It is so attuned, that sometimes I even feel what is coming up before it even happens, and feel, before I can even understand what I am feeling. This has often time put me in bouts with depression. I don't understand. I don't know anything. Why am I here? What does it all mean? Even when I am doing my best, the world seems to be falling around me. So what is the f-ing point of being here anyway? Why don't I just go back to source, where I can be at ONE again and not have to feel? Ouffff, what a topic. I need to keep it short to keep your attention. Bear with me. :) So why am I still here? I picked up a few things along the way. #1 I am here, I have no choice. I was put here for a reason. So what to do? Do the only thing that means anything: Show up in the best version of myself, that I can, as much as possible, and where i under-deliver, stay aware, attentive, and open to improving. This is all I can f-ing do. From there, the rest will play out, but at least I am in right relationship with my soul, while in manifest form. #2 The first time I did ISTA In ISTA Level 2 with Bruce Lyon, I had a shift in consciousness. I had a huge realization that suicide just could no longer be a part of my reality, as it will affect my vibrational footprint and effect my life in consequence. But it was Komala Lyra, who in my second ISTA Level 2 just recently in Guatemala, that anchored this concept of why stay here? Komala succinctly described the idea of escaping from manifest reality (duality), by yearning to return to "Oneness" through suicide as an impossible realization. This intense need to escape and leave here and now, is pulled by the soul's call to wanting to be in ecstatic Oneness with all, the interconnection of energy and source force. As Komala explained, buying a ticket to Oneness, by getting on a train of Duality and Separation is impossible. "You will never get there." Everything about suicide is in the realm of duality: me, my soul, my emotions, life, death, killing, who is doing the killing, for what purpose...the mind is engaged. Duality. The ceremonial intention to return to Oneness is littered with duality. "So, live your life. If you have a death wish, live it bigger than ever, and see where that takes you. But live it, and live it fully, from the core of your heart!" I don't know how all this is landing with you, but to me it unlocked the concept of my divine, gifted time, I have here, and that every feeling and emotion, is a gift. Every heart break, every longing, every broken expectation, every laugh, every cuddle, every orgasm, is all a gift. A gift that brings us back to the realm of experience. Oneness sounds blissful, but i don't think it will feel like anything more than *everything all at once*. So while we are here, engage the singular experience of feelings, and emotions, and allow them to put you on a path of self-discovery, and soul alignment. This is why I can live so boldly. This is why I can speak my mind so clearly. This is my time. This is the blessing I was gifted with, and there is no person, no culture, no authority, that will tone me down, because my soul speaks to me and tells me that I was put here to SHINE, and it is my divine responsibility to use this time, while I am here and gifted with it, to open my HEART, to FIND MY BLISS and SHINE. And there is no way to make that happen if I am more focused on what others will think of me if I live out my bold truth. With love, respect, and gratitude for all and those souls who felt the need to go, instead of living it out here with the rest of us. You are great teachers. xo -Frank Mondeose About The Author Frank Mondeose is the owner of Monde Osé is which is a lifestyle brand focused on promoting the understanding and enjoyment of life, love and sensuality. Their mission is to offer distinguished sexy entertainment and seduce our audience while maintaining a classy high end product. Read Frank Mondeose's past posts here: http://www.franktalks.com/blog/burlesque-101 http://www.franktalks.com/blog/intro-to-sexual-shamanism-workshop-montreal  Such a Thing as Happily Single? Is there such a thing as Happily Single? By Frank Kermit Is being single really that bad? After all, when a person considers the amount of pain that a relationship or casual dating can cause, it may seem that just skipping the whole dating-thing altogether might make for a more peaceful life. Could it be that intimate relations are simply not for everyone, and maybe you happen to be one of those people? How do you know if being alone is the right choice for you and is it even possible to be content, o r even fulfilled in a life without romantic love? As always, that answer is completely up to you.
Without having experienced what a health loving relationship can be, or not having experienced the positive attributes of being with someone that cares for you, it is challenging for someone to see the value is pursuing a goal they have no concept of.
In these cases, people tend to be encouraged to work on themselves before entering into romantic relationships so that the challenges inherent with romantic relationships do not distract the people from the healing process, nor allow the romantic relationships to exasperate a persons energy causing them not to have the personal resources to slay the demon. This is most commonly understood when someone enters a drug and alcohol treatment center where patients are forbidden to have relations with each other and contact with loved ones must be limited.
Dismissed as laziness by some, the lack of willingness to put in the work required to change behavior patterns is nothing to scoff at. Changing anything in your life forces you out of your comfort zone. It takes work. The motivation to make such changes may very well require that someone hit an absolute rock bottom before having enough gumption to finally make that change. The same principle applies to changing the status of a persons love life. It is unfortunate that people require that kind of rock bottom to reach a point where the pain of staying where they are is finally greater than the pain of making a change. When I am asked if it is better to be in a relationship that is bad, or being alone, I often quote one of my inspirations. To paraphrase: "Are you better off with that person, or better off without that person?" There is no set answer. It completely depends on the context of your situation. There are a number of other factors to consider in the answer to this question.
If you complain about being in a relationship, again do something about it.
If you are trying to figure out if you want to give up on love or not, one of the ways to decide this for yourself is to sit down and work through the differences between your feelings towards single life and your desires for the kind of lifestyle you want for yourself. Start with your ideal lifestyle and work your way backwards to your current present date. Once you have that ideal (and REALISTIC) lifestyle mapped out, see if you are the type of person that can actually attain it, and if you would be able to attract the kind of partner that you yourself would need to be. Frank Kermit P.S. Do you Agree With This Article? Disagree? Have something to Add? Write your thoughts in the comments below and share this article to see how many of your friends think like you.  Get Frank Coaching Right Now  The Realities of Mental Health Realities of Mental Health by Jenn and Sam, Mental Health Caseworkers Let’s talk about mental health. What really is mental health and who is it affecting? The reality is that it affects everyone. It is the thoughts, feelings, behaviors and emotions that we feel every day. Some days are better than others, and this is true regardless of whether you suffer from a diagnosed mental illness or not. Sometimes, however, the low days become low months or you can’t get the thoughts out of your head. In some instances, your behavior becomes wildly different from how you normally are. Thought patterns or behaviors begin to disrupt your daily activities and functioning. This is when mental health becomes problematic. Most of society believes that they will never be affected by mental health problems. However, approximately 20% of Canadians experience some form of mental illness in their lifetime. This means that 1 in 5 people living in Canada are facing mental health struggles. With the wide reach of social media and social networks alone, you are guaranteed to know someone who is having a difficult time maintaining their mental health. This statistic doesn’t even include those who have a mental illness and do not seek help or agree to participate in statistical surveys. Most mental health disorders emerge in late adolescence to early adulthood. Some will develop later on, at age 40-50 years. We are seeing a trend in recent years, however, of people being diagnosed earlier than average, and we’ve even seen major disorders being diagnosed in children. This sounds scary, but the most important thing to remember is that the earlier a person is diagnosed and treated, the better their outcome. Recognizing the symptoms and seeking treatment early on creates a better prognosis, and a better chance of recovery. Obvious, right? But the reality is that most people have no clue what the signs of a mental health problem are, or are unwilling to seek treatment because of the stigma surrounding mental illness. Our main goal in writing these articles is to desensitize people to the topic of mental illness, inform, and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health. We want people to be able to open a line of communication to those suffering from mental illness; to seek help, talk to someone, and get on the road to recovery. Your mental health, although a part of you, does not define you. Within that same discussion, we hope to provide support and guidance to family members, friends and loved ones of those facing mental health struggles. One of the greatest factors in recovery is having a solid support system, which is why we encourage family and friends to educate themselves with accurate information concerning mental illness, so that they may understand what their loved one is experiencing and support them in seeking the appropriate help. -Jenn and Sam  Donate To Support Mental Health Care Author Bios Let us introduce ourselves. We are mental health case workers, and although that sounds like a big scary title, it is actually just clinical terms for saying that we help people help themselves. Our job is to empower people with the knowledge and tools to help manage any mental health issues they may be facing. This can range from small bouts of depression and anxiety, to suicidal ideation and chronic illnesses such as Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder. Whatever the concern, we are here to provide support, guidance and direction in riding the wave to recovery. On a daily basis you can find us meeting with clients and creating Action Plans to accomplish short and long terms goals. We help locate and direct clients and families to community services and organizations. We create and facilitate sport therapy groups, workshops, educational seminars and group activities, all with goal of normalizing mental health issues and empowering clients with the tools and skills to move forward not only in their recovery, but with their life goals. If you are lucky enough, you can even spend time with our onsite therapy pup named Norbert, who is always available and more than willing to give some love and cuddles. Norbert plays his own role as a worker, going out into the community to spread awareness and help with prevention. Our approach is far from traditional and we strive to work outside the clinical “box”. We focus on the individual’s strengths, using their passions and goals to facilitate stability and recovery. Jenn and Sam Mental Health Caseworkers  Support Mental Health Care Now  Ready, Set, Panic! - Sex and the City - Pillow Talk Gal Sex and the City: Season 2- Ready, set.......PANIC!!! Written by: Pillow Talk Gal Has this ever happened to you...Your thoughts are racing, your heart is pounding and then that dreaded feeling that you’re going to pass out begins. You feel like everything around you is closing in and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. What’s happening? Well, chances are you’re having a panic attack. It’s scary (especially the first time) and it happens to so many people, yet it’s something not spoken of, due to its stigmatic nature. In season 2 of Sex and the City, episode 5 – Four women and a Funeral, Miranda has decided to make the jump and buy her own place. She is financially independent and feels ready to take the next step. Being a 35 year old, successful woman buying her own apartment alone (without the financial help of a man) seems to be a concept lost on many of the people around her (her realtor, the mortgage broker, associates at her law firm).
As she visits the vacant apartment to measure for drapes, she meets one of her soon to be neighbours who mentions that the previous owner was an unmarried, lonely old lady, who died and was found a week later, having had her face eaten off by her cat!
Finally in a last ditch effort to save her own life, she gives herself the Heimlich manoeuvre on the back of an unpacked moving box and to her relief, she is able to dislodge the trapped Kung Pao chicken. After she has caught her breath, Miranda immediately calls Carrie to inform her of her near death experience, luckily Carrie is able to talk her off the ledge (so to speak) and calm her down. When asked if she needs company, Miranda puts on a brave face and shrugs off the experience (with the exception of making sure her cat’s food bowl is completely full with food, you know, as a precaution of course).
Then out of nowhere, things start to feel very wrong. Her vision starts to blur, the buildings and everything around her begin to spin and she feels as though she is going to pass out. Luckily, a cab happens to be a few feet away (this is New York City after all), so she summons the strength to hail it over and immediately tells the driver to take her to the nearest hospital. $500 worth of tests later, doctors tell Miranda she has had a panic attack. Even though Miranda was trying to be strong, the stress from the possibility of living and dying alone became too much for her to handle.
In today’s society we are all finding our own way of dealing with the stress factor in our lives. There are so many issues now a days (divorce, politics, terrorism, bad economical times, etc...) that for many it has become almost impossible to not worry, a daily ritual if you will (in waking thoughts or as you put your head to pillow at night). As I write this I can’t help but wonder,
Mental health issues have definitely gotten more attention in the last few years, but it’s important that we all remember that the next time you see someone struggling, instead of brushing them off, be compassionate and think twice before judging. Everyone has ‘’something’’ and we can never really understand how they are handling it. About Pillow Talk Gal Born and raised in British Columbia, she is a professional woman managing a career, marriage, and a teenager. Life can be challenging at times but she's a firm believer that everything in life happens for a reason, and more often than not, she tries to understand those reasons. "Join me in my journey throughout life’s issues and I guarantee you’ll be left pondering an issue or two." - Pillow Talk Gal To read Pillow Talk Gal's last post, click HERE *Disclaimer: Sex and the City was produced by HBO and all rights, titles and interests in any images or clips, used herein under Fair Use and Fair Copying, remain the property of the author. P.S. Do you Agree With This Article? Disagree? Have something to Add? Write your thoughts in the comments below and share this article to see how many of your friends think like you.  Donate Here for Mental Health and Panic Support  FrankTalks.com: What Is The Savior Complex? Battling the Savior Complex By Frank Kermit As children, many of us grew up on stories about the hero that saves a person, and in the process, earned the undying love and loyalty of the person saved so that the hero and that saved person live happily ever after. The message that some people got was that being a hero is a way (and for some people, they learned it is the ONLY way) to earn a love that will never experience abandonment. Others learned from those stories that you are only worthy of love if you save someone.
The "saved" person could be a person with low self esteem that makes poor choices for their own lives, a recovering addict, a person that has given up on some part of their life, a person that is always short on money, or a person that is unable to accept and express love and compliments. The savior in this case finds a person that needs help in an area that the savior feels they have some talent in and attaches to that person-in-need-of-help, usually very quickly.
For example, out of an Emotional Need of fear of abandonment, a would-be savior will actually sabotage a person's progress of healing so that the person is forever dependant on the savior. Lastly, a savior might also be a victim of someone that preys on the overly nice nature that some saviors exhibit, which results in the savior eventually needing to be saved from the manipulative puppet master.
Another scenario is that once a person has healed, he or she becomes a different person, and the new person would not have ever sought to date a savior type to begin with, and the healed party moves on to find a new life partner that they can be on more equal footing. A life partner cannot be someone that a person needs to save in order to earn love. Your life partner will love you regardless if you have the power to save them or not. If a potential life partner seeks you out to solve all of his or her problems, or if you are the one that feels obligated to save your partner from him or her self as a means to stay importantly relevant in their lives, it is all one big Red Flag. At best, a life partner is something that you can be equal too, in the sense that neither one of you is required to save the other, especially saving a partner from themselves. As partners, people can grow together, and explore the world together, and support each other through hard times, all the while making the mistakes we all make being human beings.
Beware of online profiles and single dating ads that start with: Rescue Me or something of that nature. Fairy tales might make damsels in distress seem like a romantic notion, but the real world is no place to have a life partner that does not have the inner capacity to be their own hero. Frank Kermit P.S. Do you Agree With This Article? Disagree? Have something to Add? Write your thoughts in the comments below and share this article to see how many of your friends think like you.  Sign Up For Frank Coaching Right Now To Save Yourself From Your Savior Complex |
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ABOUT FRANKFrank Kermit MA, is an expert Relationship & Dating Coach with 25 years of experience. He is an author of original content books, eBooks and audio products. he has written many publications online and in print. He is frequently asked to be a guest speaker for media and events. MEDIA APPEARANCE **** TBA 
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