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LAURA ADDERLEY

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Mental illness doesn't define who you are but it certainly makes you work at creating YOU.

I've been on a journey for mental health my whole life. I've gotten knocked down and then back up. I've done the work. I have good days and bad. The journey continues - thanks for coming along with me!

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Passenger to Pilot

Passengers vs Pilots. What is the difference? Does it even matter? Well, it does. Here’s the long and short of it: Passengers are...

Perseverance

I have touched on perseverance in any number of blogs, but I haven’t dedicated an entire blog to the concept and I thought I would remedy...

A portrait of courage

Simone Biles. Need I say more?? A portrait of courage. Someone who put their mental health above everything else - even the Olympics!!...

The Importance of Milestones

In case you're wondering, milestones are important. In a lifetime, there are all kinds of milestones, including birth, developmental...

Patience, My friends, patience

"Patience is a tree whose root is very bitter but whose fruit is very sweet." This quote was on a wall hanging in my mother's kitchen...

The Importance of Metaphors

As an English major, I loved metaphors. As a regular, everyday human, not always so much. As it stands, there are a lot of metaphors that...

Advising Others, Advising the Self

For people who suffer from mental illness, how you talk about/treat yourself can be very different from how you relate to and treat...

Expectations: Yours, Mine, and Ours

Expectations are often wrought with difficult emotions, self-imposed assumptions, and presumptions that are hard for anyone and everyone...

What is the role of pride?

“Pride goeth before a fall.” In short, this translates into the danger of resting on one’s laurels. If one is too self-assured, if one...

Should you fake it?

Just my short and sweet commentary on the phrase, “Fake it til you make it.” What does this short but decidedly not simple phrase mean to...

Ever hate yourself?

I hate myself. What is your reaction to that sentence? Do you say, “No way,” or “I used to,” “Somedays,” or, “Every single day, with a...

Teamwork

How would you define teamwork? I think of teamwork as collaborating to seek a common goal (AKA, it takes a village). My therapist and I...

Beastly Observations

The Beast I talk about is real. As real as it gets. It’s nothing to toy with. It’s potentially lethal. It, for lack of a better word,...

What Purpose Does the Beast Serve?

The Beast serves any number of purposes. The one that is probably the most nefarious is the one that can provide an “out.” What do I mean...

Self-Imposed Loneliness

Self-imposed loneliness: a friend suggested this topic, and I couldn’t agree more with her – the loneliness those with mental illness...

New Beginnings

Fall is, by far, my favorite season. I grew up in Michigan, where the leaves turn brilliant colors and fall to the ground in a sea of...

Fear & Phobias

I have written about feeling overwhelmed, but a whole upper echelon of fear exists in a different stratosphere: phobias. I can’t...

Healthy Relationships

So what constitutes a healthy relationship? Well, for starters, it’s not a one-and-done thing – you might think that someone trustworthy...

Toxic Relationships

The first thing about toxic relationships is that everybody has them – people who say they don't are pretty much in denial. Why would...

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ABOUT ME

So, most people start an “About the Author” by dutifully reciting their education credentials. If you're curious about said details, I have an undergraduate degree in English and history as well as a Juris Doctorate, both from the University of Michigan, both in the ’90s.


But the nitty-gritty, important – and dare I say relevant – stats are 100 and 200, 15 and 2.


What??


Let me explain. This blog is (mostly) about suicide resilience, and those numbers mean something to me; they stand for my struggles, my efforts to improve (or at times to salvage) my mental health.

100: The number of times I have been hospitalized.

200: The number of different psychotropic medications I have been prescribed.

15: The number of times I have undergone electroconvulsive therapy sessions (not including the dozens of Transcranial Magnetic Therapy treatments).

2: The number of times I attempted to end my life.


I am no expert in anything but my own experience, and it is my hope that you gain something by reading about my struggles, my failures, and, yes, my successes. Because the Beast that is suicidality must be beaten back, put in its cage – only then can you really start to live.

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