Oh the joys of being an empath
"Hi, My name is Kim and I'm an empath."
It's been a particularly draining week for me and my tank is completely on empty. Taking on the emotions and pain of others as though it's your own can be super unhealthy for your mental health.
://youareenough712.wordpress.com/2018/11/18/hi-my-name-is-kim-and-i-am-an-empath/
#imanempath #mytankisempty #yourmentalhealthmatters #mentalhealth #mentalwellness #savingmyself #youareenough #protectingmyself #youarenotalone
BOY HOW TIME FLIES WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN 😢
Every year for 8 years now whenever April 4th rolls around I find myself reliving the series of events from that day back in 2014 and visualizing it piece by piece in my mind as though it was yesterday. It was the day my journey first began; the day my life as I once knew it changed forever.
I would've never imagined though, not even for a second that 8 years later I'd still be here fighting to get my life back.
I have a lot of anger in me. I internalize my negative thoughts and call myself all kinds of nasty names because of my overly critical inner voice. For way too long I have placed all the blame and guilt on myself for the events that led up to April 4th, 2014 instead of turning that blame and guilt outward on the people who let me down that day.
Anger pointed inward is a very common emotion to have for a person who is battling Depression. Some days I'm angry at the entire world, some days I'm angry at events and people from my past and some days I'm just plain and simply angry at myself. These types of anger can be difficult to control, making you feel powerless. It can be really hard to move past feelings of shame and guilt which in turn only worsens the severity of your symptoms or prolongs one's depression; and in many instances it will likely affect some of your relationships as well.
By focusing my attention solely on my emotions over the last many years with the help of my amazing therapist and now with the added benefits of the Psilocybin trial on its way which offers up an integration based therapy approach I am no longer trying to fight for who I was before April 4th, 2014. I am instead learning how to let go of the many past traumas and guilt ridden experiences from my childhood and adult life that seemingly led me to my breaking point on April 4th, 2014. I don't want to fight anymore to get my life back to where it once was because it serves no purpose. Every day I'm learning new ways to accep
A GENTLE REMINDER...IT'S OKAY TO BE YOURSELF AMID TOXIC POSITIVITY
Very often a person living with a mental illness can find themselves surrounded by people who try to deny, invalidate or minimize their feelings and emotions.
It takes great strength and courage to share our very raw emotions with others, especially someone we trust implicitly; even if we know in our heart that it's not what they may want to hear.
When we deny, invalidate or minimize someone else their feelings of sadness, grief or fear by dismissing their negative thoughts or human experiences and although it may very well be coming from a good place or be well-intentioned, responses such as "just be positive", "stop being so negative", "think happy thoughts", "you don't look sad", "others have it worse", "everything happens for a reason" or "just be grateful for what you have" lack a sense of empathy.
This is referred to as "Toxic Positivity".
Yes, having a positive attitude and outlook are great but what happens when your toxic positivity denies, invalidates or minimizes someone else their feelings of sadness or fear or even their time to morn?
What will likely happen is it will cause a false sense of reassurance and lead to feelings of disconnect if the other person is unwilling or too uncomfortable to sit with you in your time of grief, your fear, your sadness or even your anger.
Sadly, and oftentimes these same people who deny, invalidate and minimize other people's feelings with toxic positivity, whether we realize it or not are often doing the same exact thing to themselves. Trying to avoid dealing with your own negative emotions and experiences by denying them, invalidating them or minimizing them will only bury them for so long and lead to a further negative impact on your own mental health as well.
Whether we truly believe that we are comforting another person's negative emotions or trying to suppress our own
difficult feelings by overgeneralizing a situation is simply an ineffect
