ptsd

On gift giving and self sacrifice

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Olivia
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There is a quality of mine that I adore. It gets me into so much trouble and causes so much suffering, but I can’t lose it. It’s an inextricable element of my identity. I’m the one who cares more. I’m the one who always gives. And that’s quite painful. I was thinking back, the other…

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Memorial Day: Veterans, PTSD and Democratic Candidates

Modern Essays
Olivia
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It’s Memorial Day! So, the day that the beach weekend is actually named after. Today we celebrate something much more important than a day in the Hamptons. It’s a day to memorialize human casualties of war. I like to celebrate this day separate from my feelings about individual wars or the military as a whole,…

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An update on my moral scrupulosity

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Olivia
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I’ve talked about this condition of mine before. An element of my OCD, a powerful one, is entitled obsessive moral scrupulosity, or the obsessive and compulsive need to follow a specific moral code, and often for others to follow it, too. The moral code itself is molded by early childhood influences, and it springs up…

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My future plans

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Olivia
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This break’s been nice. It’s truly exhausting to put things out onto this website, knowing that a handful of people from my old school will likely comment something negative and/or hateful. I have only good things to say today, however! This fall, I’m going to be attending Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. I’m on as…

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6 Books That Will Enhance Your Understanding of Mental Illness

Mental Health
Olivia
Latest posts by Olivia (see all)

By now, if you’re a recurrent visitor, you’ve probably seen the short list of books I keep perched on the front page of this site. If you haven’t, every book there will be on this list, so no need to click out. I thought it might be worthwhile to expand upon it, as well as…

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Anorexia and PTSD

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Olivia
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This week, the 25th of February through the 2nd of March, is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. It’s also the last week during which I won’t be glued to my phone, hungering for college acceptance emails, but for the purposes of this site I’m going to stick to writing about eating disorders instead of fretting…

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Disconnection and Rejection: A Schema Introduction

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Olivia
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Let’s say your dad walked out on you as a child. You now have a robust abandonment complex (or schema, as I’ll introduce it). When people try to leave your life, you scratch and claw onto them in order to get them to stay. You go out of your way to cling onto people and…

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VIDEO: My Mental Illness Timeline: A Descent into Suicide and a Rise into Recovery

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Olivia
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Below is a copy of the original transcript for the following video. In it, I discuss my mental health timeline from childhood through my first hospitalizations. Please be warned, there is lots of discussion of self harm and suicide, as well as a brief picture of blood. If those will be upsetting to you, please…

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When is a relationship abusive? Let me show you.

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Olivia
Latest posts by Olivia (see all)

Spoiler Alert: You don’t know him unless I want you to, so don’t try to find out who he is. But you almost certainly know people like him, though I wish you didn’t. Allow me to present to you a few of his facets. If you recognize this person in your life, at any point,…

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2020 Democratic Candidates on Mental Health

Modern Essays
Olivia
Latest posts by Olivia (see all)

Primary declaration season is finally upon us, and I know this is an unpopular take, but I’m ravenous. Receiving news of political tumult (at best) and terror (at worst) day in and day out is exhausting. I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like for folks (minorities, furloughed workers, the lowest economic classes, etc)…

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