Category: kimmymc80

Guests posts by Kimberly McPherson of http://withoutalabel.me

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Coping Depression kimmymc80 Self-Help

Doggie Kisses Are The Best Medicine

I haven’t been posting much because I have been taking care of a mentally unwell friend, my elderly grandmother, and an elderly dog. I figured since they love me so much, the least I can do is to take care of them when times get rough. I fully believe in the theory that you get what you give. Therefore I try my best to give as much love as possible.

When it comes to my dog and my grandmother I know they will never lead me astray or try to use me. However, when it comes to my friend, I have a different concern. The thing is I feel like I am enabling her to continue to make the wrong decisions when getting into relationships. I tell her constantly that she needs to learn to love herself without a man before entering a relationship. She says she agrees but her actions are different. Because of her recent actions, of entering into another unhealthy relationship while trying to keep it secret from me, I have packed my things and left her house to go home. I don’t mind helping others, I actually love it, but I DO NOT like being used, abused, or lied to.

After rushing to my friends side, when she called me to tell me that she didn’t think she should be alone, I stayed with her in a city 45 minutes away from where I live. For days I listened and hugged her back to health and the second she started feeling better she decided to go for a ride on her motorcycle by herself. I thought nothing of this but she returned with a big ol’ grin on her face like she had fallen in love. Come to find out she had begun to date another biker and “forgot” to tell me about it. It really wouldn’t be any of my business but it seems like I am the person she calls to rescue her the second these relationships turn to crap. So, it does make it my business.  I reiterated how I felt and decided to head home to take care of my dog and grandmother.

You see my dog is 13 and is slowly going downhill. She has bad hips and can barely walk. Also, she is forced to live outside, which I think is cruel, and constantly has new bites on her body. I absolutely hate this for her because her kisses and love are the greatest medicine I have ever received. Oxytocin is my favorite drug. Oxytocin is that feel good chemical that is released when you hug someone or your pet for more than 20 seconds. I love it. She constantly gives me a boost of oxytocin, love , and doggie kisses while I give her hugs, do Reiki on her hips and back, and lightly massage her.

Well, my parents don’t know this, but I have snuck her into my room right now and we are cuddling. I am typing this with one hand and rubbing her with the other. She is in heaven loving every second of this. I don’t quite know what I’m going to do when I have to feed her and let her go potty, but I guess I’ll figure that out when the time comes. Right now I am soaking up all of the love I can get.  She currently has her head in my lap staring at the computer screen while I try to type.

I know we are down to the last few days with her so I am trying to do everything in my power to make her happy. For now, that means she is allowed to stink up my room and slobber all over everything I own. I really could care less. To be honest with you I don’t know what I’m going to do when I no longer have her. I don’t even want to think of it.

My dog can make me go from depressed to laughing uncontrollably at her licking my tears away. She is probably one of the best serotonin boosting things I have ever found. She helps my mental health more than I can even put into words. I know I am going to need to reach out once I have to put her down. Until then, we will be huddled up in my room cuddling and trying to not make a sound. Who knows when we will get caught by my dad. It may just be a war!

Oh crap, she just sneezed really loud! Noooooo! Not my best friend, you can’t take her. Love me, love my dog, or else!

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Coping kimmymc80 Self-Help

How Does #Forgiveness #Heal? #Anxiety #Peace #MentalHealth

Everyone has been done wrong at some point or another in their life. Maybe, even, you have even done yourself wrong. Whether you have been abused, spoken ill about, made fun of, or harmed yourself in some way, we all need to find a way to forgive and move on. Individuals who have been hurt, betrayed, and abused have the right to be angry and resentful. These are normal reactions and emotions when feeling the crushed spirit that can come from being disrespected or abused. If not dealt with, such angry reactions can damage personal health on several levels.

It’s easy to become resentful towards someone or yourself when horrible things happen but we need to remember that forgiveness is divine and it can actually heal and transform you. Just how does this transformation occur? Deepak Chopra explains what happens when you harbor resentment and what happens when you release this and forgive.

He states that when you have a resentment, grievance , feeling hostility towards anyone or if you have any of the other toxic emotions like guilt, shame, depression or fear , these emotions release hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones have effects on the cardiovascular and immune systems, and your mental health. Your immune system becomes compromised, even your platelets get jittery with the high levels of adrenaline and they start a harmful cascade leading to cardiovascular illnesses, panic attacks, depression, heart attacks, harmful relationships, and stroke.

Once you begin to forgive and let go the burden of judgment, everything settles down and your body starts to return to homeostasis, which is self regulation and self healing. This gives you a peace of mind where you can start to work on your own mental well-being

One law of physics is that for every action there is a reaction. So this means once you start to forgive and ask for forgiveness it is the best use of your own energy. It is also one of the best paths to start the exploration of self-healing.

Hostility is not healthy . . . it is the number one emotional risk factor for premature death from cardiovascular accident (stroke and heart attack). Hostility is an inflammatory emotion and causes physical inflammations as well. It is also linked to autoimmune and psychological disorders.  It is more than remembered pain; it is also rumination over a past hurt.

Learning how to let go of toxic emotions such as hostility is the essence of learning how to forgive, because forgiveness is basically releasing your attachment or identification with the conditioned response.

Here is a 7-step process that is known to work:

1 Taking responsibility for your emotion

2 Witnessing the emotion

3 Defining or labeling the emotion

4 Expressing the emotion

5 Sharing the emotion

6 Releasing the emotion through ritual

7 Celebrating the release and moving on

If you are holding on to a grievance or resentment and feel hostility toward someone, here’s what you can do.

1. Close your eyes and recall the episodes that caused you to feel this way. Recall the experience in full sensory mode, noting the voices, gestures and setting. As you visualize it, feel the sensations accompanying the experience.  You will usually feel a tightness or discomfort in the area of your stomach or your heart. At this point remind yourself that these are your emotions but they are not you.  You are responsible for creating them and you have the power to heal them.

2. Once you have located the discomfort in your body, feel it for several minutes. Ask yourself,  Who is most damaged by holding on to this toxic energy?

3. Having located and experienced the discomfort for several minutes, and having realized its damaging effect on you, give it a label. Define it. Is it hostility, anger, sadness, guilt, fear or a combination of all of the above?

These are the first 3 steps, taking responsibility, physically feeling it and then defining it.

4. The fourth step is to express what you are feeling in writing. It is suggested that you do this from three different perspectives. First, as you recall the experience, express in writing what you are feeling in the first person.  Having done that, express it in the second person, pretending you are the other person in the conflict. . . . And finally, express it in the third person as a neutral observer. When you express the conflict or emotion accompanying the conflict from three different perspectives you will find the toxic energy accompanying the emotion will begin to dissipate.

5. The fifth step is to share this experience with a loved one.

6. The sixth step is to release the emotion through a ritual. You could burn the paper on which you have written these feelings and offer the ashes to the winds . . . or to God. Ritual action is a way of trapping energy & releasing it effectively and bringing things to closure.

7. Having released the emotion, celebrate and do something fun, Go out exercise, see a movie, go dancing, whatever makes you happy.

Ultimately forgiving another is forgiving oneself. In forgiving we release the false sense of identity with which we have attached to a story about an event. When we release an attachment to a toxic emotion, we are freeing our self from that false sense of self. As we free our self from the illusion, we are really forgiving our self in the deepest sense. What we think we are forgiving in another is an act of freedom for our own soul. Every situation that calls for forgiveness is a step in our own growth to higher consciousness.

The good news  – your brain comes with equipment that  segues into peace and recaptures gratitude, hope and joy.  It’s rarely easy to pardon though, and has little to do with showing your side of a story in defense. Rather than recycle guilt,  see yourself – along with others – as worthy of care without demands for change as a condition.

Forgiveness literally alters the brain’s wiring – away from distortions brought about by the past,  and beyond fears that limit the future. It leads from misery of a broken promise, to wellness that builds new neuron pathways into physical, emotional, and spiritual well being.

Forgiveness does not change the past, but it changes the pain of the past, and unlocks the door to the future.

Revenge is natural. Forgiveness is supernatural.

Paul Carlin

What the Bible says about forgiveness:

While Jesus was teaching in Capernaum, he was approached by one of his leading disciples with a question on forgiveness. Peter asked Jesus how often he was to forgive a “brother” who had sinned against him, and offered up the number “seven” as a possible answer.

Jesus waved off Peter’s guess, responding: “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:22, NKJV)

Once you forgive the person that wronged you and forgive yourself you will notice:

Decreased anger and negative thoughts

Decreased anxiety

Decreased depression and grief

Decreased vulnerability to substance use

I hope this helps you in some way, shape, or form. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them below.

Much love and abundant blessings,

Kimmy

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Coping kimmymc80 Self-Help

Can Music Alter Your Mood? #MentalHealth #Mindfulness #Mind #Leisure #Music

In my opinion music has got to be one of the greatest tings on the planet. I have found that by listening to various kinds of music, it can alter your mood greatly. There are so many different types of music out there, so which type does what? In a moment I will tackle this question.

After doing a bit of research I have found that music, if chosen correctly, can dramatically increase your pleasure states in your brain. Meaning, music can raise your serotonin, boost your norepinephrine, and dopamine. Also, studies have proven that music can dynamically show physiological indicators of emotional arousal. These physiological indicators include: changes in heart rate, respiration, electrodermal activity, body temperature, and blood volume pulse. This means that we can use individual pieces of great music to change our brain chemistries and physiological states in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. So, basically, music is a great medicine for both the mind and the soul.

Music can be used for numerous reasons. In it’s most simple form music is used to entertain. It is played at parties, weddings, sporting events, at home, or while driving. My favorite thing to do is to make a playlist on my IPod and hit shuffle, it can sure make a boring drive go by a lot quicker. I am that person you see singing at the top of her lungs while driving from here to there. I tend to get many a “double take” from complete strangers while sitting in traffic.

So many of us use music to help pass the time or make a monotonous task fly by. I know that I use music to help make cleaning the house a lot less tedious and exhausting. It would be quite boring without music to help entertain and allow the time to at least appear to pass quickly.

The second reason why people use music is for revival. Music can set the tone for your day or night. In order to get your day going, listen to something upbeat when you first wake up. It can put you in a better mood by listening to fun, happy music. Because music affects your mood, if you were to listen to slow songs in the mornings you might find it harder to wake up and get motivated to start the day. At night, when you are winding down or have had a stressful day at work or school, listen to music that will calm you. Slower beats, acoustic, or classical music can have a calming effect on the mind.

Another way people use music to their advantage is to receive a strong sensation. It can produce deep, thrilling experiences, particularly while performing or exercising.  Researchers found a positive correlation between faced paced music and exercise. It’s not too surprising that music works to increase exercising strength by distracting attention and pushing the heart and muscles to work at a faster pace. Not much is known about how or why it works, but it is thought to ease exercise. The best music to listen to is between 120-140 beats per minute, which also happens to be the standard tempo for upbeat dance music.

The next way music can be used to our advantage is by creating a diversion. Music distracts the mind from unpleasant thoughts which can easily fill the silence and decrease our anxiety.  This can help us from choking under pressure. In a study of basketball player’s who were prone to failing at the free throw line, research found they could improve the player’s percentage if they were to first listen to a catchy tune and hum it in their heads.  Listening to the Monty Python song, “Always look on the bright side of life,” caused the players to lose focus and execute their free throws with minimal involvement form the prefrontal cortex. If you are prone to getting anxious, worried, or choking under pressure, throwing on a humorous, light-hearted song before you perform might help distract your brain enough to keep you from failing. Distraction is considered one of the most effective strategies for regulating mood.

Using music to allow your body to discharge is another way to utilize it to your advantage. Music matching deep moods can release emotions having a purging and cleansing effect therefore boosting your immune system. Soothing music is known to decrease stress, and when it does that, it decreases the level of the stress hormone cortisol. It’s not just soothing music though, even upbeat dance music is known to increase the level of antibodies in your system.

The sixth reason why people listen to music is to help them with mental work. Music encourages daydreaming, sliding into old memories, and exploring the past.  You may remember some reports back in the 1990’s that said studying while listening to Mozart increases the likelihood of performing well on a test, but that has been disproven in some studies, and in turn studies have shown some music has a negative affect on fact retention if you’re studying numbers or lists. Still, performing music has been proven to increase memory and language skills, but for listeners, it’s better used as a means to recall memories. It has been shown in Alzheimer’s patients to help with memory recall, and even helps restore cognitive function. When you listen to music you know, it stimulates the hippocampus, which handles long-term storage in the brain. Doing this can help bring out relevant memories you made while listening to a particular song. If you’re having trouble remembering something, you may have better luck if you play the same music you were listening to when you first made the thought.

Lastly, music has been shown to help fight fatigue, especially if you change up the music often. Studies have shown that almost all music increases your mood, because it causes a release of dopamine. So if you are feeling tired, bored, or depressed, a good pop song might just be the cure you need.

The following are various types of music and the effect they may have on your emotional state:

Folk music- virtually all folk music is serotonin boosting.

Jazz and Rhythm and Blues- Rhythm and blues can be pretty depressing, especially if you are already depressed. Don’t get me wrong- this genre offers a lot of great music, but most of the lyrics focus on life’s travails. Many people find this music highly cathartic and emotionally healing, but others can be brought even lower by the deep suffering that the music often expresses. Therefore, I recommend exercising caution in this category, at least until you feel ready to deal with your own deep emotional pain. Jazz on the other hand, can be incredibly uplifting and joyful. It can be melodic and soothing (thus a serotonin booster) or exciting and arousing (a norepinephrine booster). Choose the pieces you especially enjoy for their desired effects.

Rock and Roll: Most rock and roll is norepinephrine and dopamine boosting. However, rock is often hard to classify. Even hard rock bands produce serotonin-boosting songs from time to time, such as Guns and Roses’ “November Rain.” Also, many of the Beatles songs are serotonin boosters. Most modern rock and roll is arousing and consequently will boost norepinephrine and dopamine. There are endless choices to suit your tastes. Bruce Springstein’s album “Born to Run” is a classic norepinephrine and dopamine booster

Musical Theatre: The music of musical theatre is generally upbeat and inspiring. Many of the stories have a happy ending and this boosts serotonin, too. Of course, there are exceptions, such as Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Miss Saigon” – musicals that offer perhaps more catharsis than uplift. The following list includes the names of some classic serotonin-boosting musicals.

  • Cole Porter: “Anything Goes” and others
  • Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rogers: “ Oklahoma ”, “The Sound of Music”, “Carousel”, “South Pacific”, and many others
  • Frank Loesser: “Guys and Dolls” and others
  • Andrew Lloyd Webber: “Cats”, “Phantom of the Opera”, and others
  • Stephen Sondheim: “A Little Night Music” and many other
  • Marvin Hamlish: “A chorus Line”
  • Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe: “My Fair Lady”

Classical Composers: Most classical music will boost norepinephrine and dopamine, the following are examples of these.

  • Beethoven: most of the music from the Fifth and Ninth Symphonies is arousing and will boost dopamine and norepinephrine
  • Kabalevsky: “Gallop” from Opus 39, no. 18
  • Mozart: Overture from “The Marriage of Figaro”; Menuetto from “A Little Night Music”; Serenade no. 13
  • Tchaikovsky: most of “The Nutcracker” is arousing, as is much of Tchaikovsky’s music

I composed a music playlist of various serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine boosting songs on YouTube so you can just press play and you will have hours of great mood elevating music.

I have also done a post on my site about if music can get you high. Feel free to check it out.

If you have some favorite music that puts you in a great mood please comment below and let us know what songs you find especially uplifting.

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Coping Depression kimmymc80 Self-Help

A Pill-less Cure For Anxiety and Panic #MentalHealth #PanicAttacks #Anxiety #Faith #GodCanDoAnything

In my last post I briefly spoke about my spiritual awakening that occurred during one of my stays in a psychiatric hospital. I would like to discuss this a step further and give you some tips on how to alleviate panic for good.

First I would like to share my experience in full with you.

After I was in full remission from my eating disorder and self mutilation I began to suffer from debilitating panic attacks among other things. During these bouts of panic and mania I was drugged beyond imagination since I suffered from seizures because of the attacks that were happening over 30 times a day. The doctors just kept pouring liquid xanax into my system every time I would awaken with another bout that would make me nearly seize out of my hospital bed.

During one of my hospital stays I finally gained a moment of clarity and screamed out “NO MORE DRUGS”! I realized that all they were doing was placing a blanket over my deep rooted problems and not fixing anything. I continued to panic and seize for days and had to be institutionalized.

While in the psychiatric hospital I continued to have panic attacks that made me see actual spiritual warfare in front of my very eyes. I could see angels and demons fighting over my soul. I thought I was going crazy because there were no windows in my room and I continuously saw darkness and light fighting each other.

In one of my deepest bouts of panic I remembered that if you were to say in the name of Jesus I command you to flee then all evil will flee because they are scared “poopless” of the mention of His name.

I screamed at the top of my lungs “Father, I give EVERYTHING to you (my mental health, my finances, my medication, my doctors, and everything else I could think of that I was trying to control) and in the name of JESUS I command all evil to leave”.

It was like lightning struck down from heaven and at that moment the darkness fled from my room and my room was lit up with an amazing, spectacular light that was so warm and inviting. I saw hundreds of angels filling my room to the brim and felt a peace like never before come over me and calmed my seizing in an instant.

At the time I thought I was just seeing things and was most likely crazy,  but all I knew was that I was starting to level off. After a few days without panic I was finally dismissed from the hospital.

Once I got home the panic started again and every time all I had to do was mention the name of my precious savior Jesus and the it would flee. After a few months of going back and forth with this I knew that until I became deep rooted in his word and prayed over my house then nothing was ever going to change.

I immediately began to look up scripture that had anything to do with panic and anxiety. I learned that Elijah was the first man in recorded history to suffer from panic attacks (1 Kings 19) and it was by listening to God’s soft spoken voice and obeying that he was able to overcome.

You see God doesn’t always have a loud booming voice and not everyone will experience lightning coming from the Heavens or an earthquake. Sometimes God speaks to us in a soft whisper and it is up to us to discern what it is that he is saying to us.  By staying rooted in the Word of God and by casting all of my concerns on Him I have been blessed to not suffer from severe anxiety like I used to. Of course I get scared and anxious, we all do, but the moment I gave it all to God and call on Jesus, everything always works itself out.

I would like to take this opportunity to share with you the verses that I found to help me the most in my times of panic. Psalm 43:5 says that hope in God is a cure. Psalm 94:19 states “In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.”

Proverbs 12:25 “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.”  When we are anxious or tormented by inner thoughts of excessive fear and concern, we feel overwhelmed and depressed. Depression literally comes from pressing down all the anxiety and troublesome thoughts into our spirit. It is a serious problem in our world. But thankfully God provides ways out of our depression. One way is when someone speaks a “good word”. Bondages can be broken and fears can be driven away through the anointed words of God’s servants.

Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Christians do not have to live in a state of anxiety, worry, fear, and confusion. In fact being anxious is actually a sin. Please do not let these words scare you or think I am trying to make you feel bad. For all of us sin and fall short in some way or another. The secret to overcoming anxiety is to rejoice constantly in the Lord and to pray to God thanking Him for His provision, His goodness, and His mercy both past and future.

But you say, why should I thank the person that made me this way, to suffer from mental illness and disease? I say to you that it was not God that gave you illness or disease, but Satan who is alive and well and ruler of this disease ridden earth.

You say “Where was God when I was suffering?”  To that I answer this: Once you ask God to leave you alone, leave your government, your family, your schools, and your mind, He will do just that because he is a gentleman and will leave when you ask Him to. Once you cry out “Oh, God where are you?” He answers, “I am right here, I never left your side, you just asked me to shut up and leave you alone, so I did”.

When you know that your heavenly Father is taking care of your business you can allow the peace of God to fill your life. God’s peace is not dependent on outward circumstances. It is a supernatural peace that comes from knowing God is in control. What you must do is give over All control to God in order to fully receive this peace.

Philippians 4:19 “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”  People in the world are always uptight about their money and having their needs met. In fact, they spend all of their time and energy on pursuit of security. The believer in Jesus Christ is to live a life free from the fear of lack of finances or any other thing. God has promised in His Word that He will take care of all of our needs through his infinite resources.

1 Peter 5:6-7 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”  Care: merimna (mer-im-nah): Believers are given the secret to winning over anxiety and tension by casting all of their care onto Christ. The word merimna comes from meiro, “to divide,” and noos, “the mind.” The world denotes distractions, anxieties, burdens, and worries. Merimna means to be anxious beforehand about daily life. Such worry is unnecessary, because the Father’s love provides for both our daily needs and our special needs.

Believers are not to live “stressed out,” “burnt out” lives. Part of being spiritual is learning how to cast our care upon God and let Him carry the load, because He is strong enough to take it! People were not designed to live under anxiety,  tension, and stress. The secret is to be able to release those things to he Lord and to trust Him totally to take care of us.

Do not let the great deceiver, Satan, tell you that you are not good enough to be saved or that you are not smart enough to comprehend this because that is just the type of lies that he thrives off of. If we humble ourselves before God, which means if we five our tension, tears, fears, concerns, anxiety and stress to Him, He can do something about it. As long as we are holding onto our burdens, God will not move in to change things.

Some more verses to turn to: Matthew 6:31-34 basically says that God promised that those who seek Him and put His kingdom first will have their needs met. Therefore, do not worry. There is absolutely nothing God can’t and won’t heal, Jeremiah 32:27. God can work a miracle for you, Jeremiah 33:3.

I hope that this helps all of you reading this. If you have any questions feel free to ask. If you have any comments, I want to hear them.

Much love and abundant blessings,

Kimmy

http://withoutalabel.me/

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Coping Depression kimmymc80 Self-Help

Bipolar, OCD, ADHD, PTSD, and Panic Disorder, Oh My! #MentalHealth #Bipolar #Depression #PTSD #ADHD #OCD

So yeah, that’s me. My name is Kimberly McPherson and I am a type 1 rapid cycling Bipolar with OCD, PTSD, ADHD, and panic disorder. Yes, it may seem like I have been tagged with pretty much every label known to man but honestly it could be worse.

I was diagnosed at the age of 19 but like many others, I knew for a long time that something wasn’t quite right with me. At fist I tried to shove my diagnoses to the back of my mind and continue on with my life but as time passed I knew it was something I needed to take seriously.

Once I honestly harnessed my disorders I knew I couldn’t do it alone so I set out on a mission to find help. The first thing I needed to accomplish was finding a psychiatrist that fully understood what I was dealing with and wouldn’t just see me as a number. I was graced with an exceptional doctor that saw me as a person and not just a label. It took many tries but I finally found the perfect fit for me.

With the help of my doctor I came to the conclusion that I needed to be medicated in order for me to be a functioning member of society. I hated the thought that I needed to take medicine in order to fully survive but I knew that continuing to hurt myself wasn’t the answer.

You see, at the time of my diagnosis, I was a full fledged suicidal anorexic, bulimic, and self mutilator. I was told by many doctors that I probably wouldn’t live to see my 20th birthday. Boy, how I have proved them wrong. I reluctantly accepted help for my eating disorders and self mutilation and now I look back and thank God that I did.

Once I was medicated properly life started to make sense. The things I used to think and say were terrible. I would lash out at anyone and everyone. I truly didn’t mean any harm, I just didn’t understand why I hated myself so much. I now see the error of my ways. I was mistreated and misunderstood for the most part of my life. It took years of therapy for me to see that I didn’t have to look at myself the way I thought others did. I thought everyone hated me but in all honesty they just didn’t understand and wanted to help. The things people would say were things like “you’re too skinny” or “boy you’re touchy” and to me they sounded like “I hate you”. Now, I understand that it was my illnesses that made me think that way.

So, how do I deal with them now? Well, that’s a great question. The number one thing I must continue to do is take my medication as prescribed and at the same time every day. It seems like an incredible task just keeping up with all of it but once you get the hang of it the schedule gets easier and easier with passing time.

The second thing I must do is take care of myself. This includes taking vitamins (I take a multi vitamin for stress, vitamin D3, a B complex vitamin, a formulation of great minerals and vitamins called lights on from a company called Dynamaxx (this formulation has helped me to be able to get off most of my ADHD meds), and most importantly an awesome omega 3 vitamin). The omega 3’s I take are from the makers of Nordic Naturals called Ultimate Omega’s. I take 4 of these suckers a day. I found out about them through a Harvard study done on depression and honestly the mix of the Omegas with my medication has changed my outlook on things drastically. I can tell a huge difference between when I take them and when I don’t. If you or anyone you know has a mental illness I highly recommend adding these amazing vitamins to your health regimen.

On the same note of taking care of myself I also try to soak in at least 30 minutes of sunshine daily, get some exercise at least 3 times a week (walking, yoga, or riding my bike), and I try to do a meditation exercise daily. I  found a great chakra realignment meditation video that takes about 10 minutes and it thoroughly changes my outlook every time I do it. I can feel the balancing act happen throughout the video.  I also try and eat properly and if I can’t do that I drink Ensure to get in the proper nutrients that my body needs.

The third thing I try to do is stay connected to my creator. I am a firm believer in the power of God (I believe in the Holy Trinity, The Father, The Son (Jesus), and The Holy Spirit (that resides in you when you accept God into your life).  It is such a simple thing to do yet it is life altering. John 3:16 states:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” What this verse means is that if you believe that Jesus Christ was real and died on the cross for your sins, then you are saved and get a free ticket to heaven. Oh, and how glorious that day will be when I get to go to heaven. From what I understand there will be no pain, no torment, no disease, no mental illness, just peace and joy when you enter the gates of heaven. This gives me hope that all the suffering that I have been through will not be in vain and one day all of my suffering will vanish in the blink of an eye.

I’m not here to try to win anyone over I am simply stating what has helped me. I did not always believe in the power of God, it was something that I had to witness for myself. At first I mainly believed in Buddhist principles and thought that if I was to create good karma then that karma would come back around to  me.  I still believe in this however, now I am a believer in Jesus Christ. The only way I came to know this power was when I was once hospitalized for my panic disorder because I couldn’t stop having panic attacks, I was having about 30 a day.

During one of my bouts of panic I remembered what a friend once told me about saying “In the name of Jesus I command all evil to leave.” I cried out to God and screamed “in the name of Jesus I command all evil to leave”. It was in that moment that the panic vanished and great, comforting, white light filled my hospital room and filled me with peace. I was frightened at first but the beautiful white loving light made me feel a peace that I never felt before. It was strange because there were no windows in that hospital room for light to enter so I know for a fact that it was the grace of God that banished the demons from my sight and saved me from my panic.

Ever since the moment that God banished these demons I have been a believer. I am not saying that I do not struggle, I’m not saying that at all. I still struggle every day to keep sane and at peace but with the help of God I have been able to tackle the most evil thoughts you could ever imagine. Through prayer, meditation, and constant research in the Holy Scripture I have been able to move mountains. This instance was the first of many to come but it was the one that won me over.

So there you have it, the short story of me, my struggles and how I have been able to deal with them. I hope that this story helps you in some way and I encourage you to ask as many questions as possible. I will do my best to answer them and if I can’t answer them I will find someone who can. So, go ahead comment as much as you like and I will be here to assist in any way possible.

Much love and abundant blessings to you all,

Kimmy

http://www.withoutalabel.me