Minds

No having a community rally in support, like it is supposed to during a crisis, can make a family in mental health crisis feel shamed and stigmatized.

[CN: eating disorders, thinspo] It’s easy to disguise disordered eating when it's become standard to mask a binge as a “cheat meal,” orthorexia as a “lifestyle,” and exercise addiction as “beast mode.”

[CN: sexual assault] No more sex — no touching, fondling… Nada. I was done. I had a new mission: to heal.

This week in Aunt Ginger, we're talking about mental health.

The premise Newman puts forth is that being a perfectionist emanates from a core belief that either one is “not good enough… or that one is ‘unworthy.’” This can develop as a result of “parental criticism or parental indulgence (the latter being constant praise).”

I’m not broken by this therapy failure. Jane wasn't the person to help me at this point of my life. Someone else WILL be.

I know my more-than-average amount of stuff is related to my higher-than-average wealth, which makes me self-conscious — especially as someone who used to have to budget groceries to the dime. I can’t separate my privilege from my possessions, but I also know this isn’t just about that. It’s deeper than that.

I was drowning in stuff, and felt constantly tired — even though I’d made an art out of trading in my old clothes at secondhand stores, minimizing expenses, and sharing apartments with strangers. Something felt fiscally oppressive despite the fact that I’ve never owned a house, a car, or anything larger than my bed.