thesinsemillier

[thesinsemillier]

Trauma-informed care is a need that spans mental illness, chronic pain, rare diseases, and beyond, and that need is vast. In the US, an estimated 50 million adults are experiencing a mental illness; of the 50.2 million people who live with chronic pain, 24.4 million suffer high-impact pain that limits their ability to work. 133 million Americans have a chronic disease, and between 25 and 30 million Americans live with a rare disease. Trauma-informed care should be required in medical school and other healthcare education programs, and it should be an integral part of the system in which healthcare is practiced.   

#life with cptsd #health equity #cptsd #trauma informed #medical trauma

[thesinsemillier]

My dog, Khal Doggo, over here staring at me in all caps because the earthquake woke him from his nap. Like this is my fault. Dude.

#my dog is weird #doggo #dog #pets #spoiled brat

[thesinsemillier]

"I often felt like a changeling that was trapped in this world, longing to return to an Otherworld that I was never part of. I belonged nowhere, and all too often I struggled to feel like I was anyone at all. Being invisible was my superpower."

#cptsd #cptsdawareness #living with cptsd #gen x #gen xers #memoir

[thesinsemillier]

A 2020 randomized, double-blind study shows improved brain function in PTSD patients after using small doses of cannabis. This one aligns a lot with what I've experienced myself.

#cannabis community #ptsd #medical cannabis #recovery #research

[thesinsemillier]

#cptsd life #cptsd #mental health #covid19 #dysautonomia #perimenopause #covid #long covid #anxiety

[thesinsemillier]

ECLIPSE CELEBRATION

Digital Illustration by Christina Bencina

[thesinsemillier]

LOL I can't believe how many tries it took to get through this. Living with CPTSD means being invisible *is* my superpower; I'm so shy on video and in photos. Doing my best and hoping this gets easier 🥲

#life with cptsd #chronic pain #cptsd life #patient advocate #mental illness #cptsdawareness #world mental health day #cptsd #just cptsd things

[thesinsemillier]

#life with cptsd #cptsd #mental illness #world mental health day #patient advocate #patient experience

[thesinsemillier]

If you had told me even two years ago that not only would I be more comfortable delivering presentations, but I'd actually enjoy them so much that I'd start suggesting topics, I never would've believed you. At work, we practice internally what we teach at hospitals and healthcare systems, and burnout and workforce well-being is one of our core topics. This week I gave a presentation to my coworkers on the neuroscience behind somatic therapy, and it was a great opportunity to test my knowledge since I started using it a couple of years ago with all the medical problems I've been going through. It went over well, even though it was like a class in medical school first thing in the morning (lol). They've asked that I keep this presentation on hand to offer whenever we have space/need for it. This one was a lot of fun to design, too. Fabulous mix of science and creativity!

#cptsd life #cptsd #somatic therapy #somatic experiencing #somatichealing #patientadvocacy #patient advocate

[thesinsemillier]

Just went on my first 2-mile walk after being mostly bedridden for ~2 years while I waited for surgery. It's been a long and difficult recovery, but it was so lovely to finally get outside! However, this old bog witch's knees are creakier than I remember..

#chronic pain #cptsd #cptsd life #patient advocate #patient advoacy

[thesinsemillier]

Or just go to browse and hang out! I promise it will be inspiring :)

[thesinsemillier]

Since being diagnosed with CPTSD two years ago, my patient advocacy efforts have led me to opportunities that are facilitating change in helping others who live with it. A reflection with a tribute to Sinéad.

#ptsd #cptsdawareness #life with cptsd #cptsd life #cptsd #sinead #sinead o'connor #rip sinead #mental health #mental illness

[thesinsemillier]

My coworker is bored. His name is Khal Doggo.

#dog #doggo #game of thrones #dogs of tumblr #got

[thesinsemillier]

Vever Frères, Jewelry comb “Mistletoe”, 1900. Horn, gold, mother of pearl, enamel, bronze. Paris. Via MKG

[thesinsemillier]

Disclaimer: I suck at sewing, but I bought this build-a-fox kit for a little art therapy that took me out of my comfort zone. I love that you could choose the fabric and thread colors (teal is for PTSD awareness) He's all cockeyed but super cute anyway.

#fox #teal #ptsd #art #crafting #sewing #art therapy #etsy #etsyfinds

[thesinsemillier]

RIP Sinéad, My Patron Saint of Rage 

Content warning: CSA, suicidal ideation 

When The Lion and the Cobra was released in 1987, I was an exchange student spending my senior year of high school in West Berlin. My mom and stepdad sent me the cassette tape and I was instantly drawn to Sinéad O’Connor’s unique voice and most of all, her anger and grief. Painful secrets from my childhood haunted me day and night, and I couldn’t get anyone to listen or help. I was deemed weak for not being able to simply forget about the abuse and move on. Worse, others called me a liar, even in my own family, though they knew better. By middle school, we’d moved from just outside Boston to a small town in central Massachusetts where I was relentlessly bullied until I left for the exchange program. Every day, I tried to avoid brutal beatings by getting to school two hours early and leaving at least an hour late, hiding in spaces where they wouldn’t find me. As the only punk-Goth girl in that Lovecraftian, small-town high school, broken by PTSD that I didn’t know I had from childhood, I was an easy target. Sinéad’s rage-filled howls awoke my own anger about my past. It was liberating. Only 3 years older than me, she was like the renegade sister I never had. 

I came home from my year abroad to find my mom and stepdad were facing a failing marriage. The way my stepdad broke my mom’s heart shattered her. I remember him sitting on the front stoop one evening, watching the sunset as he contemplated his future without us. Playing The Lion and the Cobra was like setting off a weapon. Tears abound, especially if my mom was around when “Troy” played. Yet, it was one of my favorite albums because of its therapeutic effect—it was the only way I knew how to express my rage.  

When her tears fell in the video for “Nothing Compares 2 U” in 1990, the raw pain in Sinéad’s soul was laid bare. When she shredded that photo on the SNL stage, I cheered as a survivor of CSA. My abuse occurred outside of church, but after, I was sent to Sunday school as part of the effort to make me forget and move on. In a lesson where “Jesus protects the little children” was the theme, I raised my hand and asked why I wasn’t protected. The Sunday school teacher, exasperated with the interruption, told me that whatever had happened to me, I had it coming. As a result, I went to war with the church at the age of 6 and eventually found spiritual solace in Celtic paganism.  

I can’t even begin to count how often I danced alone well into the night to those songs, “Jackie” being my personal favorite on the album, though honestly each song is perfect. Whiskey and a small pipe full of cannabis fueled my cathartic, music-filled escapist nights when I was stuck in a dead-end, stifling job  that was adding ever more layers of trauma to my life. I finally started a new career ten years ago, but those music-filled nights continued as a means of therapy as I sought release from so many years of anger and sorrow.  

I didn’t know anything about her personal life until I read her memoir, Remeberings: Scenes from My Comlicated Life, in 2022. I had recently been diagnosed with complex PTSD (CPTSD), and Sinéad’s book had a powerful impact on me. It helped me heal. Although our backgrounds are very different, there were enough similarities in essence. I related to her state of mind. I inherited plenty of generational trauma from my Irish heritage and her account of life in Ireland gave me some deeper insights into a history that I’m only just learning more about now. I was following her on Twitter when her son Shane committed suicide and she was tweeting from the hospital where she was staying after being tempted by the idea of suicide herself. And it wasn’t the first time, as she explained in her book. Her mourning, her wild humor, her snark as she addressed any haters on Twitter resonated in my soul.  

Today’s news of her death breaks my heart. Many of us who struggle with mental illness know those dark spaces where death seems to offer a peace from the chaos we find here in the world. Her music guided me and so many of my fellow GenX friends through difficult times—times we faced with a maelstrom of emotion. We raged, we sang, and we tried our best to hide our pain throughout all of it.  

Airím uaim thú, mo deirfiúr álainn. Thank you for sharing your voice with us. I’ll always carry your songs in my heart.  

#sinead #sinead o'connor #cptsd #ptsd #mental illnes #mental health matters #lion and the cobra #irish music

[thesinsemillier]

LMFAO

#pets #dogs of tumblr #good dogs #my dog is weird #cute dogs