May is Mental Health Awareness Month!

It’s May 1st: Mental Health Awareness month is here. My goal is to continue to write posts in which I share how I live with Borderline Personality Disorder and my very personal journey with DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy). It is my continued hope that readers will identify with and find comfort in my posts. Perhaps they can relate or have a family member they love or a patient that they treat, and they leave my blog better understanding and compassion for that person. Whatever reason you are here, I am glad to have you as a visitor and hope you come back again soon.



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As far as my experience with mental health issues, to begin with, I struggle from time to time with debilitating symptoms from several diagnosis, including Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and at times depression, so while I have become quite fluent in DBT and CBT find myself applying it to my life on a daily basis multiple times a day, I find it ironic that, just last night, I was reminded quite vividly that my walk is ongoing.

Last night, I nearly had a crisis episode – something that has not happened in quite some time.  I reacted intensely with fear and anxiety to a work related incident. I took to Twitter and received supportive replies and suggestions that I very much appreciated.  It really helps to at least have social network connections, even if “real” in-person friendships feel too difficult right now. I also grounded in my breathing and self-talk directed toward a Wise Mind state. Crisis averted. Oh, and naturally – when I got to work and talked to my boss, he wasn’t anywhere near as concerned as I was and found the incident not to be a big deal.

In general, I have become stable enough in my walk with BPD that I am able to reach out and support others via this blog’s community on Twitter and Facebook, but I will continue to express that I am not completely well. I am also on this journey of healing, a road paved with discovery, experiences, and highs and lows.  I would be doing my readers and connections a disservice if I did not remind them and disclose that I am one of you.  I am still learning, too.

As Mental Health Awareness month continues, do you have any plans to partake in it? Will you wear a bracelet, ribbon, or t-shirt to spread awareness?  Will you be “coming out” to anyone?  I am curious as to how others will participate.

Thank you for reading.
More Soon.