- “In response to threat and injury, animals, including humans, execute biologically based, non-conscious action patterns that prepare them to meet the threat and defend themselves. The very structure of trauma, including activation, dissociation and freezing are based on the evolution of survival behaviors. When threatened or injured, all animals draw from a “library” of possible responses. We orient, dodge, duck, stiffen, brace, retract, fight, flee, freeze, collapse, etc. All of these coordinated responses are somatically based- they are things that the body does to protect and defend itself. It is when these orienting and defending responses are overwhelmed that we see trauma.The bodies of traumatized people portray “snapshots” of their unsuccessful attempts to defend themselves in the face of threat and injury. Trauma is a highly activated incomplete biological response to threat, frozen in time. For example, when we prepare to fight or to flee, muscles throughout our entire body are tensed in specific patterns of high energy readiness. When we are unable to complete the appropriate actions, we fail to discharge the tremendous energy generated by our survival preparations. This energy becomes fixed in specific patterns of neuromuscular readiness. The person then stays in a state of acute and then chronic arousal and dysfunction in the central nervous system. Traumatized people are not suffering from a disease in the normal sense of the word- they have become stuck in an aroused state. It is difficult if not impossible to function normally under these circumstances.” ― Peter A. Levine
- “You aren’t doing “nothing” when you choose to put your well-being first. In fact, this is the key to having everything.” ― Brittany Burgunder
- “Self-awareness is daily natural self-help.” ― Sam Owen, Anxiety Free: How to Trust Yourself and Feel Calm
- “There is nothing sane, merciful, heroic, devout, redemptive, wise, holy, loving, peaceful, joyous, righteous, gracious, remotely spiritual, or worthy of praise where mass murder is concerned. We have been in this world long enough to know that by now and to understand that nonviolent conflict resolution informed by mutual compassion is the far better option.” ― Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays
- If you want to create a depressed population, I couldn’t think of a better way than our modern society: 24/7 news cycle, addiction to social media, inflammatory foods, no sun, sedentary lifestyle. It’s not a coincidence that mental health issues are on the rise. @ketoaurelius
- “Whatever your role in the world of depression, know that your smile could be the last smile someone sees, your words can be the last they hear, your touch could be the last they feel; make it memorable. There are so many broken, lost, angry, bitter, sad, and suicidal people in the world. It can be the person standing behind you in the queue who had a miscarriage, the person you walk by in the mall who lost her husband, the person at the traffic light who lost his job, or the colleague who lost their zest for life for no apparent reason. Just be nice. Your niceness could be the boost that adds minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years to people’s lives. Something that requires almost no effort, can forever enrich someone else’s life in unimaginable ways.” ― K.J. Redelinghuys, Unfiltered: Grappling with Mental Illness
- “Sugar is for the body as narcissism is for the soul. Both pleasures kill.” ― Robin Sacredfire
- Mental illness can happen to anyone. If you or someone you know is struggling please seek professional help. Lifestyle behaviors like sleep and exercise can help. But sometimes you also need therapy or medication. You can get better and thrive. Brad Stulberg
- “Just because it had happened before didn’t mean it wasn’t serious. It didn’t mean he didn’t need them.” ― Rainbow Rowell, Fangirl
- “Emotions influence every action we take. So the more we are aware of our feelings, the more we gain conscious control over our lives.” ― Jessica Moore
- Strong mental health is the ultimate status signal and luxury. Cannot be bought, only individually developed and practiced, and very very few people have it. Alexander J.A Cortes
- “Recovery is full of ups and downs.There is no such thing as a linear life.But you can always turn your setbacks into setups to come back stronger.” ― Brittany Burgunder
- “Fantasy and daydreams are like internet. They enrich your life but if you’re using them as an escape from painful ‘reality’, they can suck you into a dark spiral path.” ― Shunya
- Self-forgiveness can heal you. Andrew Zaffina
- Just as we teach about physical hygiene in the interest of good health, we now need to teach about mental or emotional hygiene too. 14th Dalai Lama
- “Sometimes we don’t understand and all we can do is try to make it better.” ― Emma Eggleston, Escape
- We may be happy enough with little if little is what we have come to expect, and we may be miserable with much when we have been taught to desire everything. Alain de Botton (Status Anxiety)
- Start prioritizing your mental health instead of adjusting to toxic spaces. Thema Bryant-Davis
- I have learned now that while those who speak about one’s miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more. C.S. Lewis
- “The sight of somebody meditating needs to become commonplace.” ― Neil Hayes, A View From A Lake: Buddha, Mind and Future
- “Do not force your mind to get rid of random thoughts, because your brain is simply not capable of doing so. Instead, when you sit to practise meditation, let the thoughts come and go, just don’t serve them tea. Over time, that background noise inside your head would disappear.” ― Abhijit Naskar, I Am The Thread: My Mission
- “Take a deep breath and read. It’ll calm you.” ― Robert Dunbar
- May your heart heal. May you know how lovable you are. May the laughter return to your mouth, the music return to your voice, and the dance return to your feet. Thema Bryant-Davis
- At the root of this dilemma is the way we view mental health in this country. Whether an illness affects your heart, your let or your brain, it’s still an illness, and there should be no distinction. Michelle Obama
- “Meditation is massage for the mind.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
- “Perception is reality to the one in the experience.” ― Danielle Bernock, Emerging With Wings: A True Story of Lies, Pain, And The LOVE that Heals
- “You can’t be beaten by something you laugh at.” ― Jonathan Harnisch, Freak
- “Setting boundaries brings division, honoring boundaries brings unity.” ― Ashta-Deb, Life Happens to Us: A True Story
- He that won’t be counsell’d, can’t be help’d. Benjamin Franklin
- “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.” ― Paul Romer