By Brianna Riddlebarger
Medications can be a wonderfully helpful tool for mental health, sleep, and cognition. So can supplements and many other holistic medical interventions. But, medications have limits.
By Brianna Riddlebarger
Mania and psychosis typically respond well to medication intervention - either by targeting it altogether or by reducing intensity of symptoms so that they are easier to manage. Getting help early on is important, but it’s also important to know a few other things when you are watching your loved one in a manic or psychotic state.
Motherhood is a complex mixture of wonderful, exhausting, and terrifying. Nothing will make you feel more whole yet also very powerless. From conception, pregnancy, labor and delivery, toddler stages, school age, teenage phases, college transitions, to the duration of your child's life, the worry never stops.
You get home from work. You cook dinner. You eat your dinner on the couch while watching your favorite show. You promised yourself you’d only watch one episode, but what’s the harm in watching one more? Next thing you know, you wake up at 1 AM on the couch, still in your work clothes and totally disoriented.
Studies show that daily routine has many benefits for our mental health. Routine can sound boring, but efficient and effective use of time actually creates space in our day to do more of the activities that we consider fun. We talk about routine a lot—and for good reason. It is one of the most important things we can do for our mental health.
Whether you realize it or not, you have expectations of yourself and others in your life - at home, at work, in your extended family, from your friends, and even from strangers! For example, when you’re changing lanes while driving, you expect someone to either slow down or speed up so you can merge.
While there's definitely helpful tools and advice for healthy parenting, there are some very basic principles to establish first. Before you dig into any details on reinforcements, discipline, gentle parenting, setting boundaries, etc, there are some basics that can be extremely helpful in creating a safe and healing environment for your whole family.