“Something that I wish I had known earlier in my mental health journey is that my mental illness does not need to define me. I stopped using the phrase ‘I am Bipolar/BPD’ and instead I say, ‘I have…’ I did this when I noticed how overidentifying with my diagnosis was hindering rather than helping me.”
“At first, the body-based techniques seemed too woo-woo for me to explore and yet I was also drawn to them. Thankfully I could hold the conflict and let myself learn anyway. Somatic work helped me reclaim my body and I finally believed my body was my own instead of an object for others.”
“Don’t hate yourself for the trauma. The path to happiness is not a single one. There are many ways to be happy so the impossibility to turn back time before trauma does not mean you can never be happy. You can be happy again. You can trust others again. Don’t lose your hope to survive. Someday, you will be thankful for your past self who did not give up your life.”
“Shortly after the trauma, I started to isolate myself from the world. Experiencing anger with just about everything and everyone. Those closest to me sensed something was wrong. I knew something was wrong. But I was not able to identify what it was. Nor could anyone else. I continued to spiral out of control.”
Helped by:
Reinventing yourself