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@LizaB, I'm so sorry for your loss. Suicide is very hard for the family. I can imagine it would be especially difficult for you, having your own mental health challenges and past suicide attempts or ideation. Schizophrenia is a very isolating disease, and meds often don't work, or it takes a...

I'm surprised I've heard a few people on this site talk about touching their therapists. I would totally not be comfortable with that. The one time my therapist touched me, I was walking out her door and she touched my arm to stop me because she thought of something else she wanted to tell me...

I get it. I have no idea what things are like in a cult. What kind of things they do to you. What you've described is awful. I'm very sorry you had to go through that. You are very strong to have come out of it and realized what they taught you was wrong even though it was all you ever knew...

Be careful with EMDR. It can really exacerbate symptoms if you're not stable enough to handle it. I've always been told that I'm not ready for it yet because I still don't have my behavioral issues (addiction and eating disorder) under control enough. I knew someone who had been in remission...

You will be missed. Be well.

My parents are in the psych field, too, and they're idiots. And keep in mind that if you're in your 40s, psychology/psychiatry have come a long way since your mom's time.

Not only were you way off in thinking you could just go in for a few sessions and be over your issues, but three years is nothing in terms of trauma treatment, unfortunately. You might be in therapy for a very long time--even the rest of your life. I am pretty sure I will be for the rest of...

My first visit to the psych ward was terrifying, too. I sat on the windowsill in my room and wouldn't leave the whole time. It was in inner-city Baltimore, and there was a homeless guy walking the halls talking to himself who I used to see walking the streets talking to himself. I was only there...

I played some really f*cked-up make-believe scenarios over and over with a friend when I was 4 or 5. We took turns being the molester or the one tied up. And other, similar games of sexual abuse and exploitation. I don't recall being sexually abused before that...but where did a four-year-old...

Most of what you're complaining about are just things that are standard in any psych ward. Sheppard Pratt probably doesn't warn you about them because they assume if you're coming for inpatient psychiatric care, you know what that is. Generally, insurance only covers inpatient if you're a danger...

They say that yoga is triggering. (They say pretty much everything is triggering.) I'm not really sure why, because there are trauma-informed yoga practices. Maybe just something about people working out together, I don't know. They do do chair aerobics every few weeks! Really intense workout...

You don't have to be good at any form of self-expression for it to be therapeutic and healing. The hard part is getting over the desire for the end result to be "good." My therapist is also an art therapist and she always says "it's about the process, not the product." So go ahead--write a song...

I have never had a therapist who I contacted on their cell. Maybe it's because I've always gone to community mental health centers and not private practices, but they just don't give out their cell numbers and they aren't a person to contact in a crisis. I personally really wouldn't feel...

Containment box outside by lux. posted Mar 11, 2017 at 1:31 AMContaiment box inside by lux. posted Mar 11, 2017 at 1:31 AM This is my containment box.

It appears that it is not, but the word shame is a link in my first response.

I feel exactly the same way about a lot of my abuse. I feel like I got myself into that situation and I could have gotten myself out of it, I could have protected myself, so it's my fault--so therefore I shouldn't even call it trauma. Unfortunately, since I haven't even begun to get over this...

First off, it is absolutely not your fault. You tried to stop this again and again, and actually kept it from progressing to the point of taking off your clothes, and I'm sure that was hard enough to do. Your body's reaction is natural and not something you can control. That does not make you...

They say that each time you talk about the things you're ashamed of and find that people don't judge, it mitigates the shame. And it's pretty anonymous here, so it can't hurt. If you decide to share in the thread, there are probably other people on the board who've been through similar things...

I do know some techniques to deal with nightmares. One is just containment. You can do it either mentally or physically. Most people do it mentally, by imagining putting the images of the nightmare into any kind of container of your choosing--lock it in a safe, put it in a book on a high shelf...

Not that it's anything to be ashamed of. I just have severe, irrational shame issues. I experienced childhood abuse and another trauma as well.

I was in a relationship like that. I don't really talk about it because of the shame, but I can probably talk in general terms. I think this is a good place to talk about any sort of trauma. People are always understanding and I think there's always someone who can relate at least on some level.

Once I didn't sleep for three nights--not by choice, but just because I couldn't--and then on the fourth night I started to have what they call "microsleeps." I would fall asleep for about 15 seconds, and each time it would be a brief flash of a horrific nightmare, worse than my usual...

Glad things are looking up!

These are great! I wish I could hear the music that goes along with them. I can tell you really pour your heart and soul into it.

Distraction is usually what works for me when I have impulses to do things I shouldn't do. And it can't just be watching a movie--it has to really occupy my mind. A lot of times I'll do something while watching TV or a movie--like playing sudoku or coloring.