Author: Sephira

Born and raised primarily in Northern Virginia, my family and I moved to North Carolina in 2006. Married for over 20 years, my husband and I have two boys and a gaggle of cats. For me, writing is a great stress reliever. I can let my mind wander and let my emotions run free in a way that is generally not possible in my normal everyday life. My writings run the gamut in terms of style and genre – for instance my first novel is a historical romance set in the Civil War, but some of the other things I have in the works are fantasy or thrillers, among other things. It probably goes without saying, but my poetry is somewhat eclectic in nature, and again while some may feel the need to stick with a particular form, I tend to write just whatever comes to mind. Let the winds of inspiration lead me on… I’m always interested in comments and feedback. So please feel free to share your thoughts with me!
~ Sephira ~ Leave a comment

ube-makaveli:

revan-trevelyan:

Sometimes the help you need isn’t the help you want. Call 1-800-273-8255 if you’re thinking of suicide.

This comic meant a whole lot to me. It was sincere in its depiction and treated the issue through the eyes of a grounded person. Not some godly hero saying everything is better than it seems, but a person trying his best before bringing her somewhere who can actually help.

What to do if your parents refuse to let you have access to mental healthcare

~ Sephira ~ Leave a comment

abusedkidproblems:

If you have the ability to pay for it, are close enough to one, and can get transport there and back a lot of grad schools that have psych programs offer therapy for cheap so that the students can get in the hours they need. University of Louisville for example offers therapy for $15 a session.

If you are able to do this and are prescribed medicine, but your parents won’t help you pay for it this post gives you several ways to pay for your meds.

However, if you are not able to get these services there are ways that you can help manage your mental illness on your own.

For starters you can use shitborderlinesdo‘s diagnostic checklists or this list of self-screening quizzes to try and figure out what exact disorder(s) you may have. From their you can work with self help tools that will be geared towards what you have.

CBT and DBT are two of the most common types of therapy. Here is a post that explains a little bit about the differences between the two and ACT.

CBT self-help tools

DBT self-help tools

Other helpful tools

Not sure if there is a minimum age to use it or not (couldn’t find anything on the site) but Maven Clinic offers mental health (and other medical) appointments online. It’s not free (appointments range from about $20-$70)), but they do send out freebie codes from time to time. There is also a forum community where you can ask general questions as well. 

~ Sephira ~ Leave a comment

coping-skill-toolkit:

During my first month with my therapist, I was given this worksheet to read and work on. She noticed that while I was talking with her, that my thoughts followed a lot of these. I wasn’t aware that my anxiety had brought me down paths of low self-worth and stinky thinking. 

After a couple of weeks of talking with her, she gave me this worksheet to work on. 

While, at first, I thought these weren’t going to work out, I was very surprised to see just how easy they were to use . My homework at that time was to identify which sort of thinking I used on the regular and which ones would best challenge them for me.

So, what do you think? Do any of the maladaptive thinking patterns sound like you? which ways would you like to untwist your thinking?