Illness

Dermatillomania (Excoriation) in a Bikini

Illness
Olivia
A sophomore at NYU, I've been through many treatments and recoveries and am eager to share the lessons I've learned!
Latest posts by Olivia (see all)

I have a condition called dermatillomania, an anxiety (and usually OCD) based disorder that is characterized by the inability to stop picking, prodding, scraping one’s own skin. I’ve talked about it before, but here’s a quick recap of it. I’ve gone through periods of my life where hours, meaning 4 or 5, were spent on…

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I’ve never wanted to die

Illness
Olivia
A sophomore at NYU, I've been through many treatments and recoveries and am eager to share the lessons I've learned!
Latest posts by Olivia (see all)

I’ve never wanted to die. Sure, I’ve tried to kill myself. I’ve done so three times, and with varying degrees of severity. But I never was fully committed, though I was as committed as anyone can be. Let me explain. The first time I tried to kill myself is an occasion that I don’t like…

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The Empathy Dialectic

Illness
Olivia
A sophomore at NYU, I've been through many treatments and recoveries and am eager to share the lessons I've learned!
Latest posts by Olivia (see all)

Nearly every characteristic of a human personality is acceptable at some point on its continuum. Emotions are the same way. A healthy person is neither too giddy nor entirely lacking in joy, neither frequently outraged nor meek, neither paralyzingly brilliant nor oppressively stupid. The key to these conditions is their descriptors: too, entirely, frequently, paralyzingly,…

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Reflections on Bullying

Illness, School
Olivia
A sophomore at NYU, I've been through many treatments and recoveries and am eager to share the lessons I've learned!
Latest posts by Olivia (see all)

My town has a Facebook page that is appropriately named “Town, State.” It’s a reliable source of middle aged drama and news of town happenings, good for the occasional laugh, eye roll, or sigh. Recently, my attention was caught by some postings by adults and parents within the group who were seemingly aghast to have…

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2 Well-Meaning Things NOT to Say to Struggling Friends

Illness, Relationships, Uncategorized
Olivia
A sophomore at NYU, I've been through many treatments and recoveries and am eager to share the lessons I've learned!
Latest posts by Olivia (see all)

In general, it’s better to say something than to say nothing at all. When I was in middle school, I didn’t understand this. I saw friends struggling in the sixth and seventh grade and I froze. I figured that if I said anything to them, they’d be triggered (this, before “triggered” was such a buzzword)…

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2 Crafty Keys to Setting Goals (and Sticking with Them!)

Illness, Uncategorized
Olivia
A sophomore at NYU, I've been through many treatments and recoveries and am eager to share the lessons I've learned!
Latest posts by Olivia (see all)

Screw SMART goals. Now that I’ve gotten that years-long, suppressed, festering expression of resentment of my high school Executive Functioning Skills class out of the way, constantly maintaining goals is a crucial element of mental health. I’ve always found SMART goals to be too rigid, structured, and therefore inaccessible to be of any help to…

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Welcome to Millennial, Interrupted!

Eating, Illness, News & Media, OCD, Relationships, School, Treatment
Olivia
A sophomore at NYU, I've been through many treatments and recoveries and am eager to share the lessons I've learned!
Latest posts by Olivia (see all)

I was inspired to make this blog, believe it or not, by the National Walkout movement in the wake of the Parkland shooting. I attended a school for students with special needs: academically capable, but emotionally disabled. Most of us suffered from generalized anxiety and depression, as well as a smattering of other illnesses like…

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