Mental & Emotional Health

Thanks to Fear and Anxiety (learn to live without them), I came across an enormous list of stranger phobias.

• Ablutophobia- Fear of washing. This one has to be challenging. Fear of bathing or water is not that uncommon especially with children.

• Cryophobia is the fear of cold or ice. This would be a difficult phobia because even in warm weather would probably stay away from ice cream, popsicles, ice cubes etc.

Lachanophobia- Fear of vegetables. Having a legitimate fear of vegetables cannot be easy because the darned things are everywhere.

• Thaasophobia- Fear of sitting. I cannot even imagine this one but it would definitely interfere with participating in many things such as meetings, classrooms etc.

Pluviophobia- Fear of rain or of being rained on. Can’t be fun. Have you noticed how many people start running very quickly when it rains though?

• At Life in the Fast Lane, there’s an excellent listing of the 60 Weirdest Phobias People You Know May Have.

Treating Phobias

Everyone has been afraid of something at some point or another. A phobia is different in that usually people know the fear isn’t rational and yet they still can’t control it.

Phobias are frequently treated with behavior therapy or exposure. Over time the hope is that the fears will become reduced and eventually subside.

Flooding is a quicker method where a person is exposed for a lengthier time. Apparently, you can only be full of anxiety for so long so after 40 minutes or so your fear usually subsides.

I’m curious if this is the method Dr.Phil’s guests with phobias are exposed to because many of them seem cured in a hurry. Not everyone can deal with this and if it’s used needs to be supervised by a professional.

More Information on Phobias and Help

At the Phobia List, check out the huge list of phobias that took years to collect. There is also resources for help with your phobias if you need it. (Phobia Links)

You wouldn’t think clutter sucks your energy and brings you down but it does. Rodika Tchi, the Feng Shui guide on About.com shares her take on How to Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui. She makes some good points about how cleaning up clutter and organizing your space takes time and effort.

That does explain why many put it off including me. Your outer surroundings do often reflect how you’re feeling inside. If it’s cluttered around you, you’re probably cluttered inside with emotions as well.

Our main entrance is a nightmare but that’s because we don’t have a closet there. It’s in a very odd place way down the hall. If you saw the entrance right now, you would assume twenty people lived here because of all the pairs of shoes.

• I’m a bit of a pack rat but would like to become more organized. Instead of waiting for more energy I’m going to declutter and see if that doesn’t increase my energy. My sister is brilliant with that stuff and is actually going to become a professional organizer. I would love to have her over but need to tidy up first. I am still extremely uncomfortable in a home that does not look somewhat lived in. Throw a magazine on the coffee table or something!

I know someone who has a trunk full of stuff because there is not enough room in his house but the weight is really starting to strain on his car. He might need it some day though. See, I know I have a bit of a problem because I’m trying to find someone worse off.

Clutter and Hoarding

Over at the Psychology of Clutter Dr. Ragan wrote an interesting article about the difference between clutter and hoarding. (When is it Clutter and When is it Hoarding) Hoarders become extremely anxious about throwing anything out even if they know it’s useless. According to Dr.Ragan, it’s considered a form of an anxiety disorder. Clutterers are just disorganized although of course can be mentally ill as well.

Ablutophobia- Fear of washing or bathing. (PEE-YOU!)
Aichmophobia- Fear of needles or pointed objects. (I have this! I’ve been talking about it all week long!)
Alektorophobia- Fear of chickens. (I could understand this. There is no technical term for “bovine phobia,” other than bovine phobia.)
Ambulophobia- Fear of walking. (How do you get around if you live with ambulophobia?
Anuptaphobia- Fear of staying single. (This one made me sad)
Arachibutyrophobia- Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. (And this one made me giggle!)
Automatonophobia- Fear of ventriloquist’s dummies, animatronic creatures, wax statues - anything that falsly represents a sentient being. (Yay! I have another to add to my list!)
Bolshephobia- Fear of Bolsheviks. (Lots of giggles for this one.)
Basophobia or Basiphobia- Inability to stand. Fear of walking or falling. (Imagine having this one AND ambulophobia!)
Chaetophobia- Fear of hair. (I have this … but only of single strands of wet hair! I didn’t know there was an actual name for it!)
Cypridophobia, Cypriphobia, Cyprianophobia, or Cyprinophobia - Fear of prostitutes or venereal disease. (*snort*)
Dextrophobia- Fear of objects at the right side of the body. (Very specific, there.)
Ephebiphobia- Fear of teenagers. (I think everyone deals with this at one point in their life!)
Geniophobia- Fear of chins. (Hope they don’t watch late night TV!)
Hellenologophobia- Fear of Greek terms or complex scientific terminology. (I had this in 8th grade for a term.)
Homichlophobia- Fear of fog. (Don’t move to Oregon!)
Ichthyophobia- Fear of fish. (And why I won’t snorkel or scuba dive.)
Kathisophobia- Fear of sitting down. (ambulophobia, basophobia and this would make for a miserable life!)
Lachanophobia- Fear of vegetables. (Then I am an lachanophile!)
Lockiophobia- Fear of childbirth. (In my opinion, if you’re not the least bit lockiophobic then I worry about you.)
Medorthophobia- Fear of an erect penis. (Well …)
Mycophobia- Fear or aversion to mushrooms. (They *are* gross.)
Novercaphobia- Fear of your step-mother. (Cinderella, perhaps?)
Oenophobia- Fear of wines. (A rough fear, in my opinion.)
Opiophobia- Fear medical doctors experience of prescribing needed pain medications for patients. (Talk about specific!)
Pygmachophobia- Fear of boxes or of being sealed in a box. (Nermel - Garfield’s cousin - probably had this after being shipped to Abu Dabai so many times)
Syphilophobia- Fear of syphilis. (Everyone, in my opinion, needs this!)
Ynotophobia- Fear of life not having been worth living. (Life is always worth living!)

Earlier today I posted some basics on Pica disorder that you should check out. Now I’m going to look at why researchers believe that people develop pica disorder.

When looking at why people develop pica disorder, there are quite a few different things that researchers keep in mind.

There may be:
> nutritional deficiencies - you may be lacking zinc or iron. This lack may trigger a specific craving, but even when you’re eating those non-food items, you’re not feeding your body the nutrients that you need. (If you need zinc, eat oysters, red meat, poultry, beans, nuts, whole grains, fortified breakfast cereals and some dairy products. If you need iron, look for clams, pork/chicken or beef liver, oysters or mussels.)

> severe dieting - by eating non-food substances, you may be easing your hunger with this feeling of fullness. However, these non-food substances could doing more harm than good!

> malnutrition - those in underdeveloped countries have been known to commonly eat soil & clay in order to feel full

> parental neglect - children who don’t have parental (or other adult supervision/attention) may develop pica to feed themselves, or to attract attention to themselves; this is most often seen in children living in low socioeconomic statuses

> developmental problems - mental retardation, autism, brain abnormalities and other developmental disabilities may lead children (and adults) to eat non-food substances

> mental health conditions - such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (the girl who ate her hair was later diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder) or schizophrenia (there have been reported cases where voices tell people to eat non-food items)

> pregnancy - the most commonly eaten non-food item during pregnancy is ice chips, and women who exhibit pica disorder symptoms while pregnant may have had symptoms beforehand

So, pica disorder is something to watch for and be aware of, as you might end up in the hospital having 15 inches of hair removed from your stomach! If you have cravings for non-food items, please contact your physician and let them know. Let them know that you have been reading about pica disorder and are interested in talking with them more about it!

mental and emotional health, pica, pica disorder, why pica

I was recently amazed by an article written about a girl who eats her own hair. There is a picture of the hairball in another news story, and I was FLOORED to see how large it had gotten. This prompted a little bit of research on my part, and I was pretty fascinated to read about Pica. The picture is not for those with a weak stomach. I just can’t get over it’s size! Intensity in your stomach!

Pica (also called pica disorder) is when a person has an appetite for “non-nutritive” substances (dirt, clay, paint chips, plaster, chalk, coffee grounds, ice, glue, hair, buttons, paper and even soap) or an appetite for food substances (baking soda, starch, raw potatoes, flour). If these food item cravings persist for more than one month, it may be time to be checked out. This can be dangerous for small children, as we all know, paint chips are not normal foods!

The name “pica” comes from the Latin word for magpie (as they will eat everything) and is most commonly seen in pregnant women and small children - especially those who are developmentally disabled.

Do you worry that your children (or pregnant wife) may have pica disorder? Watch for:
> repetitive consumption of nonfood items (for over a month)
> a situation where this behavior is inappropriate for your child’s developmental stage (every child puts non-food substances in their mouth, but it becomes a problem when the child is over two years old)
> a situation where the behavior is not part of a religious, cultural or ethnic practice

In a few hours, watch for another post on why researchers believe that certain people develop Pica disorder!

mental and emotional health, pica, pica disorder, childhood eating disorders

If you Google health information, you have the option of 110,000,000 different links to choose from. Google-ing mental health information and your results are a little more specific, but still leave you with 70,800,000 links! 110 million links? 70 million links? Where do you go to get information that you trust from experts? Where do you go when you’re looking to meet someone who deals with the same generalized anxiety disorder or the premenstrual induced migraines that you live with?

You go to WEGO Health!

You sign up***,
You read and post on the forums,
You see what sites the experts recommend and you can rest assured that you are being provided with the best health content there is on the internet.

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Part of me wants to apologize for the abundance of personal posts lately, but no one has complained and people are still reading, so I guess they’re not as tiring as I thought they could become. Mental and emotional health is such an integral part of my own life, and I try to make sure that people know I’m not ashamed of my mental and emotional health struggles so that my readers, both new and old, might one day become more comfortable sharing their own struggles with those around them.

In the past six weeks, I have had a few friends tell me that they’re noticing something different going on with me. Normally this would make me feel weird (as I wouldn’t know what they were talking about) but this time, I know exactly what the deal is. Six weeks ago I started attending church regularly again. There have been a few Sundays that I’ve missed, but it’s only been because I’ve been out of town or volunteering with Special Olympics (which I’m pretty sure that the Lord is okay with). I have felt better about everything since joining a church again.

When I am anxious, I’ve been able to pull out Matthew 6:25-27: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Not me, I can’t add anything to my life by worry. Two nights this week, intense panic feelings have been staved by the reading, re-reading, and re-reading aloud of this verse.

Making new friends within a church, hearing encouraging messages weekly, knowing that I have a place to turn to in times of darkness, and a general feeling of re-connection have really helped my life lately. People are starting to notice, and I have been so aware and thankful of the reason why. Little things have been amazing to me - the leaves blowing madly around the quad, people smiling at me as they walk by, the smell of coffee, the sunshine on cold days - it’s all been so much to encourage me lately, and I’m happy about that.

mental & emotional health, Christianity, Matthew 6:25-27, the Bible, anxiety, panic attack remedy

It’s been a while since I did a news day and that’s because it’s been rather slow. I had to actively search for mental or emotional health news today, nothing much going on. Kinda strange!

Depression Pushes Middle-Aged Workers to Retire - In many cases, depression is a deciding factor for men and women considering retirement, according to new research. Middle-aged men who suffer with symptoms of depression are more likely to retire early, while retirement-age women often take the leap even if their depressive symptoms are mild.

Mental Health Bill OK’d in Senate - The Senate passed legislation last night that would require equal health insurance coverage for mental and physical illnesses when policies cover both. The bill, passed by unanimous consent, moves advocates one step closer in their quest for mental health parity. “This new legislation will bring dramatic new help to millions of Americans who today are denied needed mental health care and treatment,” said Senator Edward Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts. (AP) (That is the entire “article”.)

Soldiers Getting Brain Tests Before Deployment - Before they leave for Iraq, thousands of troops with the 101st Airborne Division line up at laptop computers to take a test: basic math, matching numbers and symbols, and identifying patterns. They press a button quickly to measure response time. It’s all part of a fledgling Army program that records how soldiers’ brains work when healthy, giving doctors baseline data to help diagnose and treat the soldiers if they suffer a traumatic brain injury — the signature injury of the Iraq war.

Little-Known Purging Disorder Is Often Missed - An Iowa researcher is studying a little-known eating disorder that some doctors may miss: purging disorder. Though similar to women with bulimia, patients who fit this description don’t binge-eat. Yet they feel compelled to purge, usually by vomiting, even after eating only a small or normal amount of food, said Pamela Keel, the University of Iowa researcher who led a study on the subject.

Elderly Are At Highest Risk for Suicide - Not long after 72-year-old Anne Beale Golsan had retired on disability from her job as a librarian, she put a stack of paid bills out for the mail, hung up a freshly pressed outfit and taped a note to the front of the house. “Don’t come in by yourself. Get somebody to come with you. Sorry, Love Beale.”

Sick? Lonely? Genes Tell the Tale - Lonely people are more likely to get sick and die young, and researchers said on Thursday they may have found out why — their immune systems are haywire. They used a “gene chip” to look at the DNA of isolated people and found that people who described themselves as chronically lonely have distinct patterns of genetic activity, almost all of it involving the immune system.

mental & emotional health, mental health news, retirement, middle-age depression, Senate, soldiers, brain tests, Iraq War, purging disorder, eating disorders, elderly suicide, suicide risk, lonely

Over at Kerrie’s blog yesterday I was fascinated by an article linking depression, women, migraines and childhood abuse. Instead of writing a half-formed in-awe post about it, I’m linking you to HER blog since she does an amazing job re-formatting and emphasizing pivotal points within the article. This is prompting me to do more research on the subject as I find the connection and the idea of “serotonin dysfunction” absolutely fascinating.

So yeah, go read the blog! (And leave Kerrie a comment, I’m sure she loves ‘em like I do!)

Oh, and I drew a name last night! The winner of the contest will be featured (with his/her permission) tomorrow!!

mental & emotional health, migraines, depression, childhood abuse, women, contest, book winner, Daily Headache

I had my first real, full-blown panic attack this afternoon. It had to do with school, financial aid, and not receiving the correct amount THREE WEEKS before school starts. I started having tunnel vision, my hands got incredibly shaky, I started breathing very shallowly and I felt like I was going to pass out. I was crying, my tongue swelled, my nose started running, and I felt the entire room spinning. My good friend Jenn talked me through most of it and then I called my mom to tell her about it. I asked her to cosign a loan (so now not all of school is free) and she was more than willing, reminding me that she “had to have co-signers until we were 30!” when I told her I felt weird asking her to do so.

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There are two main ways depression and anxiety are treated during pregnancy; psychotherapy and antidepressant medication. If you need to, contact your physician or your nurse (or even your doula) to see if they have a psychotherapy recommendation. (I’m sure that they’ll have great words of advice for you.) Your psychotherapy may involve a dose of anti-depressants, which their use during pregnancy is not completely without risk, research provided by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (at their 53rd Annual meeting in San Diego) showed that there may be more problems in not treating depression & anxiety during pregnancy.

*Women with major depression are more likely to give birth early (at an average of 35.6 weeks … compared to 39.4 weeks).
*Depressed mothers may give birth to babies with more cortisol (stress hormone) in their cord blood; although the difference is not “statistically significant.” (They mentioned that a larger sampling of babies is necessary to determine this meaning.)
*Depressed mothers may give birth to babies with lower motor-maturity than non-depressed mothers.

There are, however risks to taking SSRI’s (Prozac, Zoloft, Luvox, Paxil, Celexa & Lexapro), they have been mostly considered safe. A study published in Feburary 2006 in an issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found realized that nearly 1/3 of newborns whose mothers took antidepressants during pregnancy gave birth to babies who dealt with “neonatal abstinence syndrome.” This leads to high-pitched crying, tremors, disturbed sleep, gastrointestinal problems and an abnormal increase in muscle tone (hypertonicity). No child has shown to need medical intervention during this syndrome, but it is uncomfortable.

Even with this in mind, you must remember that women who stop their anti-depressant medications are more likely to relapse into depression; and a mother’s stress hormones may contribute to a risk to the developing fetus.

A story I read from the Med Pages forum almost scared me into the idea of always taking my antidepressants; even while pregnant: “Susan (not her real name), a member of our forum community, was determined to do everything possible to ensure her baby’s well-being. She ate right, exercised, didn’t drink or smoke, never missed a doctor’s appointment, and stopped taking her antidepressants “just in case they might hurt the baby”. During the seventh month of her pregnancy she began to think that maybe her husband and baby would be better off without her. At that time, she says, “My thoughts made perfect sense. I felt I was a burden to my husband because of my depression and that my baby would be better off being raised by someone without my problems.” Her plan, she says, was to wait until the baby was born and then commit suicide. After the baby was born and she had resumed taking Prozac, she said, “I was amazed that I could have thought such things and actually believed that they made sense.”" Antidepressants may have helped Susan through her sucidal thoughts (but everyone is different; remember!)

Please, if you’re feeling depressed, speak to someone. Even if you’re not pregnant!

mental and emotional health, pregnancy, depression while pregnant, anxiety while pregnant, antidepressants, medication compliance, suicide

Most times when people talk about pregnancy, they speak of the great joys, the physical pain and the anticipation of becoming a mother; however, the fact that at least one in ten women (10%) live with depression during pregnancy.

It used to be that health care providers believed that pregnancy hormones were a protection against depression; this meant that women were more vulnerable immediately after birth when their hormone levels plummeted. However, research has shown that the rapid change in hormones at the beginning of pregnancy can trigger a such a change in brain chemistry that it can lead to depression. These hormonal changes can make a woman feel even more anxious about her pregnancy and this anxiety can and should be treated.

Unfortunately, this pregnancy-induced depression & anxiety can go undiagnosed because women may chalk their feelings up to the belief that “every” woman gets moody during pregnancy. If you are pregnant and even slightly feel that your depression is more than what it “normally” is for you, please don’t be shy and speak up. Tell someone who cares, or call your physician. There are medications and treatments that are safe for pregnant women. Your physical health is affected by your mental health (I wrote a post about this a while back, remember?) and so being treated for your depression & anxiety during pregnancy is one of the smartest actions you can take.

Tuesday; Treatments for depression & anxiety during pregnancy.

As of this year, I have been living with depression for ten years. I’ve been dealing with feelings of worthlessness, social withdrawal, and at my worst, suicidal tendencies for a decade now. I am 25-years-old and have lived with this illness since I was 15; it is a part of me, and while I am more than just depressed, it is a huge part of who I am. However, lately I’ve noticed that things are changing for me.

Lately I’ve noticed that I’ve been feeling HAPPY more often than not.
~little things make me happy; being invited to a movie-night with my friends, getting a phone call from my best friend, laughing with my mom about our mutual love for Willie Nelson

Lately I’ve noticed that I am smiling all the time.
~during my entire hike over the weekend I was smiling, putting on my sunhat to sit in the super-hot Oregon weather made me smile, seeing that there is a new episode of A&E’s Intervention onDemand made me smile (although I will probably eventually cry from it)

Lately I’ve noticed that I’ve been enjoying my life!
~my work thoroughly pleases me, I’m really looking forward toschool starting in September, even my neighbor’s incessant hammering (remodeling) isn’t bothering me like it used to, reading has become an absolute pleasure for me again instead of just an escape

Lately I’ve noticed that while I have my depressed moments, they are becoming fewer and farther between.
~even while so upset about the finality of my relationship with Mr.E., it took me 40 hours to move past it and realize that I’m worth more than that, I had a panic attack early last week and it was the first one that I can remember having in months and months

Lately I’ve noticed that my coping methods when I am depressed have changed.
~instead of feeling the need to escape (by reading, having a beer or two, not answering the phone/hiding), I’ve reached out when I’ve felt depressed. I’ve made it known to friends when I’m feeling down and I have been asking for help. This is a huge change for me.

Lately I’ve been weirded out that this stuff is changing. I don’t quite know what to do with myself; so instead of thinking about it too much, I’m sitting back and enjoying it!!

Hi, my name is Sarah; I smile a lot lately.

mental and emotional health, depression, anxiety, Accutane, depression causes, happy, healing, healthy, smiling, enjoying life, coping methods, relationships, dating

Tonight I felt like giving up … just throwing in a towel and moving home with my parents and just hiding in their spare bedroom for a while. I don’t really want to get into why, but it has been a tough last two hours. Things will get better, and I know that, but right now I just want to sit in a hole and cry.

I remember a poem that my mom (who talked me through my tears tonight) used to have on a magnet on the fridge when I was growing up. I had to look it up to share it with you all.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Don’t Quit
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road your trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and its turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When they might have won, had they stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victors cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when your hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

This poem reminds me of standing in front of the fridge as a little kid and made me feel a bit better. I know I can’t just give up and that I must persevere through this muck. I must remember to keep my chin up, think about the positive things in my life (my loving parents, my friends, my fun co-workers/bosses, my education, the fact that I get to continue my education) instead. I will make it through this. I promise you and I promise myself.

I’ve been tagged by Neel so now I get to have a mid-week me on Monday! It’ll be a Monday-Meme day or something!
-Pass your friends a note by leaving a comment.
-Visit them by hitting their site.
-Show them love with a link to their entry.

So here goes: Seven Things You (Probably) Don’t Know About Me
1. Most of my in-person/in-real-life/see-everyday friends don’t know about this blog. Some of them don’t know that I deal with so many mental illness issues and because I work really hard to keep myself 100% put together in front of them 100% of the time, so I don’t want all of them seeing the real me. Yes, this means that you, my faithful blog readers, get to see the real me.

2. I detest being called by diminutive names by people who I’m not close to. I’m okay with nicknames from my friends, from my family, and even if I’m close to a guy I’m dating, but I hate being called “sweetheart” by the grocery store clerk. I’m not her sweetheart and I never will be; I don’t call you honey-buns, you don’t need to demean me and call me sweetheart! (I’ve been told I’d never cut it in the South because of this!)

3. The sound of ocean waves puts me in a melancholy & contemplative mood. I love the ocean, I love the water, I love the salt, I love the sand, I love the fact that I’m standing on the edge of a continent when I’m at the ocean, and it always makes me think. I didn’t see the ocean for the first time until I was 12 (I played on glaciers in AK when I lived there, but didn’t count that as the ocean) and ever since then I’ve been entranced by the feelings the ocean gives me. The ocean makes me want to write. Even just writing about the ocean makes me want to write.

4. A year ago I lived with such strong social anxiety I couldn’t make friends. I couldn’t keep friends because I wouldn’t leave the house to hang out with them, I wouldn’t call them back, I wouldn’t even write them back with emails because I was that anxious about making the “right” impression on people. I have grown so much in the past year that I have no problem making new friends, calling people back, attending concerts (I saw Willie Nelson on Saturday night and that was AMAZING!) and thoroughly enjoying myself while I do so.

5. I love to cook, but hate cooking for only myself. I make mean chicken or ground turkey enchiladas and I’ve never had anyone complain about them. I love to bake (especially sourdough and banana bread) and take pride in people complimenting my culinary abilities. Because I don’t like to cook for myself, I don’t cook hardly enough anymore though. Eating the same thing day after day can drive me crazy so leftovers (which I do love) aren’t always fun for myself. I need to learn to FREEZE stuff and then just reheat it a week later when I’m ready for it again.

6. Vacuuming is my absolute favorite chore. There is something relaxing about the back and forth motion of the electric sucking machine. Everyone I tell this to stares at me funny and I always laugh. I hate to clean the bathroom* (don’t really know why) but I do love to suck dirt from the carpets with my trusty Shark!

7. I think I have a mineral deficiency. I have recently realized that I am starting to bruise really easily, and have been doing research as to why. One of the things that came up may be that I am eating too many almonds. Almonds apparently have some of the same properties as aspirin and I’ve been eating a lot of them, so that may be part of it. I could also be lacking in Vitamin C (which might very well be the case, too). I’m going to continue doing my research and see what happens.

Now I’m supposed to tag some other people so I’m picking four people I know regularly read me!
1. Amanda at Depression Talk
2. Mad at Mad Haiku (do it in Haiku form and you’ll be even more of my hero!)
3. Mallory at Mallory In The Middle
4. Just Me at Master of Irony (when you have time, sweetheart! *giggles*)

mental and emotional health, meme, 7 things about me, personal, nicknames, pet peeves, grocery shopping, ocean, sounds, waves, writing, melancholy, contemplative, social anxiety, making friends, keeping friends, growing, learning, healing, cooking, recipes, leftovers, mineral deficiency, vitamin C, vitamin K iron, anemia

*that bathroom is NOT mine!