Tag Archive for: distraction

Distraction vs. Avoidance

For those of us who deal with intense emotions, whether due to Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), BPD traits, or other reasons, we know how important it is to take a mindful, skillful break from our suffering through the use of conscious distraction. I call it conscious distraction, because in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), we use […]

Skills for a Psychiatric Pickle* (*dilemma) – Rapping about DBT

In DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy), we learn that if you can solve a problem that is distressing you, then problem solving is a great place to start.  But what happens when you find yourself extremely stressed out by a situation over which you have no immediate control or way of resolving? We encounter situations like this […]

Impulsivity with Texting, Social Media, and Emails (and Suggested DBT Skills)

Yesterday on my Facebook page, we talked about when our emotions get the best of us and we behave impulsively, such as sending texts or emails that we later regret. Here was my original post: Sometimes our emotions can be so powerful that we feel compelled to make impulsive decisions that we later regret — […]

When The Pain Won’t Go Away (Tolerating Distress & Not Making Things Worse)

Sometimes when we are in great emotional pain or distress, it seems as if the way we are feeling will never end.  We may feel like we can’t tolerate the pain, stress, anxiety, loneliness, or other difficult emotion for much longer and don’t know what to do. In a desperate attempt to “feel better now,” we […]