From Touch-Starved to Touch-Afraid: The lasting impact of touch deprivation
Growing up without affection can shape the way we seek and avoid love. On my thirteenth birthday my mother drove me to a mental hospital in Chicago. She claimed she couldn’t ‘handle’ me anymore. That was confusing to me because I had been ‘handling’ myself and my...
The Overlap of ADHD and PTSD: Why the Brain Works Overtime
Understanding Increased Vulnerability and Symptoms: Beyond the Diagnosis and Survival Instincts During all those years before I finally got the right diagnosis of PTSD and AuDHD, chronic failure was a painful part of my life, both privately and at work. I...
Christmas in July – Redecorating My Heart for a Season of Healing
This project began with a piece of wood. In 2 days, I will send my two teen sons off to summer camp for a week. I will have the entire place to myself for 6 nights. I have decided to use the time to revamp my Christmas ornaments, which are an amalgam of inherited...
Behaviors Caused By Trauma
You Can’t Run Away From Your Own Head Human beings are like an iceberg. We go through life sharing only the pieces of ourselves that we want people to see. But there’s so much more going on inside. Isaac Newton’s third law states that: “for every action (force)...
Feelings Aren’t Insects
Just when I thought I couldn’t feel any worse, my mom’s accusatory words cut into my soul like shrapnel. Her words embedded themselves in my heart and mind: “You don’t know how to be happy.” Sometimes she delivered the extended version, her lip curled in...Follow, Like, & Share!
