It took me a really long time to take the 1st step towards therapy. I had spent the bulk of my life self-therapising and depending on the sagely comfort of my hubby and good friends. I wasn’t just getting by, I was thriving. Well, so it seemed. Successful at work, awesome social life, amazing travels… […]
No More Burying Feelings – Siblings of the Mentally Ill child.
After over 35 years of being a schizophrenic’s sister, I am only now realising what it means to be a schizophrenic’s sister. The full impact of this wasn’t even something I discovered by way of therapy. It hit me like a lightning all by myself, one fine day. Yes, my therapist knew I was the […]
Survivor Guilt – Siblings of the Special Needs / Mentally Ill child
I could never understand why I would often say I feel “guilty” when talking about my family situation. Well-meaning and practical people would respond by saying “you have done nothing wrong, you shouldn’t feel guilty.” Which I consciously agree with. And yet, the feeling creeps in, now and then. In my mind, there is an […]
The Invisible Child – Siblings of the Special Needs / Mentally Ill child
When there is a special needs or mentally-ill child in the family, the impact on the well sibling is often not seen or understood. It is brushed aside with the focus being centred on the affected child and its parents / caregivers instead. “As a child I tried desperately not to have a problem because […]
When being selfish is good.
Think of yourself first. That’s the message I am getting from my therapy sessions. And as the paranoid giraffe in my head reminds me to tell you not to misunderstand my statement, I feel compelled to explain myself first before I get accused of being… selfish. (And in doing so, undermining the point of my […]
How Dare You Call Me Non-Essential?!
Let’s talk about video calls, therapy and… NON-ESSENTIAL services. But first, let me just say that I guess it took a pandemic for me to discover just how much I enjoy connecting with friends via video calls. I wrote previously about how I like the isolation, and I had many telling me that they too […]
Happy birthday to me…
Another year older today. I’m in my head so much on a regular basis, I don’t feel any compulsion to set aside time to ponder and wax lyrical about another year older, what I have learned, what I must do moving forward, what my greater purpose in life is, blah blah. I also haven’t felt […]
Depressed or just moody?
The other day, I was feeling out of sorts. Nothing major, just been a week of nothing much progressing on the work front. And for someone who still (mis)places her identity on her accomplishments, believe me, it can put a cloud over your head when you feel like you haven’t achieved anything for that day […]
Out of nowhere, you’re triggered and you crash…
It happens, doesn’t it? For some of us, something ridiculously minor can shift our moods south. Like, maybe, waiting for a response on a not necessarily important email. Because when enough of lack of responses to unimportant emails start adding up, you start to wonder if you’re being ignored / the person hates you / […]
5 Practical tips to get you out of the funk
This is really more for when you feel a little meh or if you’re just going about your day and then something triggers you. It’s not the solution for full-blown depression or anything major. We all get in a funk sometimes, and these are some stuff I have stashed in my pocket that help me […]