Tag Archives: borderline personality disorder

How a Detox Bath Can Help Ease Depression Symptoms

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Anyone who has experienced depression knows how tired it can make you feel.  Surprisingly, metabolic toxic build up can make us feel pretty lousy as well.  Sluggish.  Run down.

In fact, when metabolic waste from toxins builds up in our body, we get sick. Functional medicine expert, Dr. Mark Hyman, says, “problems with detoxification is one root of illness. If you feel lousy, it’s likely you’re toxic.”

We all are exposed to toxins on a daily basis from the medicines we take to the foods we eat to the fluoride in our water to the pollutants in the air we breathe to the chemicals in the soaps we use to clean our bodies and clothes.

The liver does a great job of getting rid of toxins by sending them out through our bowel and bladder. Our skin releases toxins when we sweat as well, which brings me to the Detox Bath…

Typically, a detox bath is made with Epsom salt also known as magnesium sulfate, which not only draws out toxins, but has physical and mental health benefits of its own:

  • Eases stress and improves sleep and concentration
  • Helps muscles and nerves function properly
  • Regulates activity of 325+ enzymes
  • Helps prevent artery hardening and blood clots
  • Makes insulin more effective
  • Reduces inflammation to relieve pain and muscle cramps
  • Improves oxygen use
  • Flushes toxins
  • Improves absorption of nutrients
  • Helps form joint proteins, brain tissue and mucin proteins
  • Helps prevent or ease migraine headaches

 

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Vanessa Romero of Healthy Living How To provides the following guide to

How to Draw a Detox Bath

1. Add 5-10 drops essential oil (I love lavender) to 2 cups Epsom salt, then add to a standard tub full of water.

2. Ideally, you want the water quite hot as we are looking to create a nice sweat.

3. If your bath water is not filtered, add 1 cup of baking soda as this helps neutralize the chemicals, primarily chlorine, as well as increase mineral absorption.

4. Immerse yourself in the water, all the way up to your neck. You want as much of your body underwater as you can. Close your eyes, do some breathing exercises and soak for at least 20 minutes.

5. Once you are done soaking, rise out of the tub very slowly and cautiously. You may feel a little dizzy and light-headed, this will go away as you shower off quickly in cool water.

6. It is important not to use harsh soaps or shampoos as your pores are open and will just absorb the chemicals found in those products.

7. Once dry you can apply a natural moisturizer like body butter, shea butter or coconut oil and some aluminum-free deodorant, but again no lotions with perfumes, dyes or chemicals.

8. Do not eat immediately before or after taking a detox bath.

9. Instead hydrate yourself with filtered water before and after.

10. Allow time after your bath to rest and rejuvenate.

I took a detox bath last night after a day overshadowed with depression and a slight migraine. Afterwards, I felt relaxed, lighter, airier, less stressed, and pain-free. I added mood lighting and music to my detox bath, so the whole experience was a great gesture of self-care which totally combats depression. So, yay! Score one for me! The detox bath wasn’t a lot of work and it had many benefits. I’ll definitely be doing another one again soon.

Mental Illness and Emotional Vulnerability

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This week I opened myself up to some close friends who didn’t yet know about my bipolar and alcoholism. The conversation shifted to topics where it became convenient for me to disclose this information to them in a natural way versus making some sort of out of the blue “announcement.”

They received the news quite graciously, and I felt neither judgment nor fear from them, but more support and curiosity than anything. They asked some questions about my experiences and shared some stories of other people they have known with the same conditions.

Yet, as I lay in bed that night, I couldn’t help but worry about the possible effects my disclosure may have on our friendship. Will their behavior change towards me in the future, even if subtly? Will they think differently of me? Will they be wary of me? Distrust me? Fear me? Worry about me?

Ironically, I am worried that I may lose the intimate connection I have with them due to me sharing one of the most intimate things I could have shared! I feel very emotional vulnerable. Most people avoid being emotionally vulnerable, myself included, because we don’t want to be rejected or hurt. But then I got to thinking…

When we put on a façade or hide who we really are so as not to be rejected or hurt, aren’t we in a sense already rejecting and hurting ourselves? If I am not being my authentic self then I am rejecting who I really am. That is so sad to me. Oh, how I don’t want to treat myself that way! To not allow myself to be who I truly am hurts my self-esteem and confidence, which in turn hinders my ability to develop and maintain healthy relationships.

When we do it to avoid being uncomfortable, aren’t we already uncomfortable? Now, I realize being uncomfortable comes in different degrees, and maybe putting on a façade is less uncomfortable than being real, but I think there comes a time in every relationship where the façade has to be dropped in order for true joy to occur. If your goal is to merely have a warm body next to you then keep the façade, I suppose. If, however, you want more than that, consider being emotionally vulnerable at some point in time.

When we hide who we really are to avoid losing friendships or relationships, if that were to happen, do we really want those types of relationships to begin with? Like I mentioned above, if your goal is to have someone, anyone, in your life then maybe so. If, however, you want the real thing, the good stuff, then love yourself and be real.

This brings me to a final point. In order to be our authentic selves, to be emotional vulnerable without the risk of wanting to harm ourselves if rejection were to happen, we first must have some level of self-love and self compassion in place. Getting to this point is not easy. It took years of therapy for me to get to this level, and even now I still have a fear of vulnerability, but I know I will be ok if I do lose those friendships.

If your fear is great, I suggest you work with a counselor or therapist or spiritual advisor. It is definitely worth the effort to be able to be emotionally vulnerable. Your life will be much better for it.

Treating Multiple Mental Illnesses

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With my multitude of diagnoses and their over-lapping symptoms, I often wonder which illness has a hold on me. Am I on edge because I am hypomanic or anxious? Am I depressed because of a hormonal change/Bipolar issue or because my husband is working long hours/Borderline (BPD) issue? Am I exhausted because I’m depressed, because I’m not sleeping well due to anxiety, or because I’m overwhelmed with the kids being off school for the summer (BPD thing again)? You see my dilemma?

I know from experience what is usually causing my symptoms. Right now, I know I am dealing with anxiety because change is hard for me and with this being the first week the kids are home from school there has been a big change in my daily activities.

I also know from past experience that anxiety exhausts me physically, and that being physically exhausted makes me feel depressed. I say “feel” depressed because I know that it is just a feeling – I am not clinically depressed as in I need a medication change (yet.) First, I’d like to give myself time to adjust to the new schedule, and see if the fatigue and anxiety subside on their own.

I came across a study that looked at the interactions of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Bipolar Disorder over the course of 10 years. They found that BPD impacted major depression remission and relapse rates, and vice versa, but argued for the treatment of the BPD as a priority.

BPD and Bipolar Disorder remission and relapse rates, on the other hand, were largely independent of one another except for one area: bipolar type II lengthened BPD’s time to remission. (Wouldn’t you know that would be my case!) BPD did not affect bipolar mood swings. The study suggested that BPD and Bipolar be treated as independent disorders.

I do have rapid cycling bipolar and I also have borderline personality traits, so both on a physiological and psychological level I am battling quick fluctuations. Can anyone else relate to this? How do you cope with over-lapping symptoms from multiple diagnoses?

Weekend Mental Health Writing Prompt – Travel

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Travel. Write about a memorable trip you took. How old were you, where did you go, who were you with, etc? How did this trip affect your mental health? What would be some of the ups and downs of this type of trip for someone with your type of mental illness symptoms?

I’ll be doing some traveling of my own this weekend and will tell you all about how it affected my mental health when I return.

In the meantime, link your response back to this post or reply in the comments below.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Dealing with Agoraphobia

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Agoraphobia is a type of anxiety disorder in which one feels and often avoids situations that may cause them to feel panicky, trapped, helpless, or embarrassed. Using public transportation, being in a crowd, and standing in line are a few examples. According to the Mayo Clinic,

You may feel that you need a companion, such as a relative or friend, to go with you to public places. The fears can be so overwhelming that you may feel unable to leave your home.

I definitely identify with this as I only feel safe leaving my house if my husband is with me. It is especially hard for me to drive myself anywhere. He has to be the one to drive. I believe my fears have to do with previous anxieties experienced in crowded situations. The noise and unpredictable stimuli of people merely moving around me is anxiety-producing for me. I don’t know why and I don’t know how to stop it, but I do know that I am tired of it controlling my life!

I take a PRN anti-anxiety med before going to any social event, which helps a great deal. However, I have to ration them because my doctor only prescribes me five of these pills a month per our agreement due to my addiction history. Thus, I am left with no medication assistance when I have to go to places like the store or to some of my kids’ activities.

So, what’s been happening over the past three weeks is I have been working myself up into an anxious state before leaving the house to do anything by telling myself how awful it is going to be and how much I DON’T want to go. I now realize this type of thinking has to stop if I am to find any relief.

Therefore, I have dug out my DBT (Dialectic Behavioral Therapy) binder to review some skills to help me regulate my emotions. I am starting with “Wise Mind” which is the part of our mind where “Emotional Mind” (our thoughts based on distressing feelings) and “Reasonable Mind” (rational thoughts) merge together (what I want to do vs. what I should do.) Wise Mind says, Yes, our Reasonable Mind is right, but Emotional Mind is important and needs to be validated, too. It is all about having compassion for yourself while still pushing yourself to do what is out of your comfort zone.

Last month, I overextended myself by doing way too much out of my comfort zone without checking in with my feelings and wants. I completely ignored Emotional Mind and blindly succumbed to Reasonable Mind, which over time lead to a state of depression and extreme anxiety – throwing me full force into Emotional Mind. Hopefully, with my new-found awareness I can now start using my Wise Mind to get back on track to emotional well-being and productive living!

What type of “Mind” do you tend to have – Wise, Emotional, or Reasonable? How does this affect your emotional health?

New Issue of Turtle Way Mental Health Journal Just Published

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Check out the just published online issue of Turtle Way, a literary art journal written by those with mental illness. Poetry, prose, research, humor, photography, and more…

Weekend Mental Health Writings Prompt – Influential People

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First of all, I’d like to welcome the plethora of new followers here to Write into the Light. It is so great to see this community grow with each new post. Whether you are new or not, I hope you’ll consider joining in this weekend’s writing prompt. Here it is:

Write about one or two people who have had the greatest impact on your life. It could be family members, friends, a famous person, etc. Write about how they have influenced you and your life in positive ways, and what you have gained most by knowing them or knowing of them.

Feel free to share your response here or on your blog, if you have one, or just write it out privately in your journal at home.

Hoping you have a wonderful weekend!

Love,
WiL

Daily Meditation – Fear Not

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Fear can dominate our lives. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the past. Fear of the future. Fear of all that is, of all that isn’t. It is an agonizing state in which to live. It is a state of mind, not a state of reality, in most cases.

If we can train ourselves to stay in the present moment, in the moment of what task is at hand, then fear cannot survive. What are you doing right this moment? Reading this meditation perhaps. What fear is there in this task? When you are making your bed, doing your dishes, taking your shower, what fear is there in that? None. It is the thoughts you have outside of those actions that cause you fear.

Keeping our minds focused on exactly what we are doing in the moment can eliminate much of the fear in our lives. It is not easy, but it is simple. It is worth striving for if only to gain a little peace in our day, minute by minute.

Daily Meditation – Fantastic Things

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Life can often seem so mundane. We drag ourselves out of bed to carry on the same old routine day after day after day. When will it ever end? When will something exciting and new come our way?

What we don’t realize is that it is our own mind that makes these tasks boring and unassuming. It is our own preconceived ideas and unconscious conditioning of going through life without gratitude for what we have, what we are capable of doing.

Did you know that in most places in the world there are no indoor toilets? People go in the streets, in front of everyone else! Did you know that millions die of starvation each year? Many do not have running water for drinking or bathing.

Today, let us do something fantastic for ourselves. Take a warm shower, eat a meal, flush a toilet, visit a friend, brush your teeth. Be grateful for every little thing that you can do, for every little thing that is available to you. These are fantastic things! Things which are hard for us with mental illness to do at times – to eat, bathe, groom, socialize – but nonetheless, fantastic. Rejoice and delight in this fact.

Daily Meditation – The Sum of Our Recovery

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We spend so much time and effort on our recovery, and some days, it seems as though there is little pay off. What is it all worth? Has it really made a difference? And then we look back over the months and years and we see that, yes, it has made a difference. We are further along than we were.

One plus one equals two. Life is more complex than such a simple equation, but does it have to be? If we take each simple action as an accomplishment, it can become as simple as the “1” in the equation of one plus one, and our daily activities will add up into something grand. Even something as simple as sitting up in bed in the morning and putting our feet to the floor can be considered an accomplishment, for it is healthier than laying there all day!

We must give ourselves credit for every little thing we do. Let us not take for granted each step we take toward recovery, for it is all the one plus ones that add up to the sum of our well-being.