How To Maintain The Facade Of Normalcy?

[Friday]

On the waking up drenched in sweat, piece... Just some practical advice:

- Sleep in technical fabric (as opposed to cotton) which will dry wicked fast all on it's own (can even be washed by hand in a sink with shampoo & rinsed & wrong out & will dry just hanging in about an hour). These fabrics can be warm or cool, but either way they scrunch up so about 6 pairs is the size of one set of sweats.

- Use a water bottle & a towel to wash your face.

- Use baby wipes on the rest of you, or the wet towel from washing your face.

- If you have short hair, rinse it out in a sink in a bathroom, no shower needed (or put the towel around your neck and rinse out with the water bottle, if there's no loo). If you have long hair, braid it. Assuming it's not freezing where you're going, you can rinse braids out just as easily as short hair, with no unbraiding necessary. The water just sluices over your scalp, clearing away all the sweat/salt/oils. If it IS freezing, don't soak long hair that you won't have a chance to dry, thoroughly. Just unbraid, & let the sweat dry once you're done cleaning up the rest of you.

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Remember, you won't be the only one with issues you're wanting to keep under wraps.

 

[physicist13]

How do I get Mental Health...

I've checked out all the links-- spent hours doing research, and honestly I can't find something that is relevant to me that I can afford. There is a chance I just suck at research, but it seems like for know I will have to continue without T

 

[physicist13]

On the waking up drenched in sweat, piece... Just some practical advice:

- Sleep in technical fabric (a...

Thanks for the tips! I will definitely keep these in mind :)

 

[physicist13]

I don't know if this will be the same for you or not @physicist13 , I have often ex...

Hopefully this is the case for me too, I will report back :)
Thanks!

 

[physicist13]

@physicist13 - @Rumors is right.

Also look up your local NAM...

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[joeylittle]

I can't find something that is relevant to me that I can afford.

Mindfulness classes are relevant
Stress reduction is relevant
CBT - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
DBT - Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Peer support groups for depression, anxiety, parental alienation

None of these are going to be about addressing your specific trauma. But all of them are going to give you foundational skills that will enable you to eventually work on the trauma. Good trauma therapists won't really get into any trauma processing until you have a reliable set of tools to manage symptoms, because in trauma processing things usually get worse before better.

NAMI should have some helpful leads. Also, teen drop-in centers usually offer various kinds of support, in terms of managing all the stuff that goes with trauma.

Hospitals often have free programs, they are just a little hard to find. You can call the psychiatric/mental health services division of any hospital and ask about resources for the uninsured.

The Kabat-Zinn stuff one can do totally solo, and it's really quite good.