The only take away from the tragic news of Lindsay Clancy — The stigma attached to people sharing that they suffer from mental health disorders is drastically amplified when it comes to mothers and the postpartum period. Hallmark-type expectations between mother and newborn are part of the package of the “American Dream” to have a baby and experience nothing short of joy…

How to break life altering news and reassemble the aftermath “You have cancer.” Those three brief words, that seem to bear the weight of the world, is one type of bad news I have been in the position to deliver. The action packed phrase “breaking bad news” uses the insightful…

Moral codes and burnout have healthcare workers suffering — I was not trying to be a whistleblower, it happened subconsciously. My nursing and nurse practitioner training all aligned with one basic fundamental concept: to abide by a code of ethics. Do no harm. Healthcare was marketed as a profession of caring, of service, of making a difference. Instead of…

Our soundtracks reflect our state of mind — Music has immense potential to therapeutically impact us. Melodies, rhythms, and lyrics can orchestrate a vast array of feelings and influence a shift in our mindsets. Research by John Hopkins Medicine reiterated that listening to music can significantly reduce anxiety, pain, and blood pressure. …

Brainwashing led to one core concept — After extensive research and therapy, I finally lost interest in the psychological labeling of all the types of abuse I survived. Whether the man that possessed my mind and controlled my life for nearly a decade was suffering from narcissism, schizophrenia, bipolar, only drug addictions, or all of the above…

The way out is by self-reflection and critical thinking — As humans, there is an ebb and flow with our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that develop within our internal monologue. We gather data instinctively from every experience, persistently trying to make sense of life’s complexities. We acquire concepts and belief systems from our parents, from cultural and school experiences, from…

I learned to victim-blame myself along the way, but no longer will — Blaming a human for experiencing any type of abuse, especially sexual abuse, exacerbates the shame that remains after surviving these traumas. The story goes that we must have triggered an abusive behavior or that we didn’t escape it efficiently. We “should have known better” or should have done something different. …

Remembering them helped me re-process neglect, abuse, and abandonment — When I was a young teen, a sequence of life-altering events occurred. My father, an evangelical pastor of a fundamentalist, cult-like church, retired from that role and then my mother divorced him. Two years after, she moved states away, leaving my sister and I behind. I had not noticed her…

She asked me, “where are you right now?” — Triggers, especially ones that resurface suppressed memories of traumas, can often lead to dissociative symptoms with PTSD. In an instant, I am sent time-traveling as my body prompts my mind to return to the past. I am not here anymore. I am not present. Dissociative symptoms are common when recalling…