Subscribe, listen to, and share Happiness Between Tails Podcast on most any platform; from Spotify and Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts and Breaker, to Pocket Casts and RadioPublic and Castbox, plus many more and an RSS feed. The full list of 50+ places is H-E-R-E.
Mental health nurse/author Ashley L. Peterson of MentalHealthAtHome.org blogged out of Vancouver, Canada, and wrote from both a personal perspective as well as that of a medical professional. She was adamant that it’s time we remove the stigma around mental health issues, and that it’s imperative we speak openly. It’s been a year since she passed away from suicide. Here’s part 2 of this tribute to her. She posted candidly about her struggles.
If there’s even the remotest chance that you or anyone you know might be considering suicide, check out Ashley’s site. In addition, googling “suicide prevention” offers many valuable tools.
When it came to self-publishing, she found it wise to stay flexible with her listings at Amazon. On a daily basis, she experimented with keywords, especially in terms of how they worked with setting bids per clicks on ads at the amounts suggested by Amazon.
Here’s why she called herself, “a proud crazy guinea pig lady”…
“Thank Goodness For My Thera-Piggies,” by Ashley L. Peterson of MentalHealthAtHome.org
I am a crazy guinea pig lady. Crazy in more ways than one.
The most obvious, perhaps, is that I have 5 guinea pigs (3 girls and 2 boys), and I treat them like my children.
What may be less obvious is that I’m crazy in a mentally ill sense. I have depression that only partially responds to treatment, so I deal with effects of the illness every single day.
I take medication and do various other things to manage my illness, but my guinea pigs are an important part of my overall wellness.
I live alone, and my illness has made it difficult to be around other people, so I’m on my own a lot of the time – at least in terms of human contact. But I’m never actually alone when I’m at home because I have 5 very active, very vocal munchkins to keep me company.
Routine helps me manage each day, and the piggies thrive on routine. I have a rather odd sleep schedule, which they’ve adapted to quite happily. They know that when I wake up, they get fed, so as soon as they hear me start rustling around in bed, they start wheeking (an onomatopoeic word for their “feed me” noise). It’s a pretty good motivator to get my butt out of bed.
I prefer to practice mindfulness focused outwardly rather than inwardly, and my piggies are a perfect target for that. I can just gaze at them in fascination as my mind just shuts off.
More than anything, though, they need me. They’re very good at making their needs known, and they know that I can be counted on to meet them, no matter how lousy I’m feeling. Because of that, I mean the world to them. It’s definitely mutual.
Each of us is precious. Let’s talk mental health.
Discover more from Happiness Between Tales (and Tails) by da-AL
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Animals are very good for depression and other mental illness too. My sister has a horse and it has changed her life. I cope with stress by writing and baking.
LikeLiked by 2 people
That’s great!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wonderful outlets, Roberta 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
A wonderful read and such cute little animals. Thanks so much for your great share.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welcome 😊😊 😊
LikeLiked by 2 people
ON AFFIRMATIONS
◇ – Diamond Hard – ◇
♡ I Manage My Negativity EveryOne; EveryThing Else Follows so I CHOOSE!!!…
♤ To LIVE by CHOICE RATHER than CHANCE
♤ To MAKE CHANGES as OPPOSED to MAKING EXCUSES
♤ To BE MOTIVATED OVER BEING MANIPULATED
♧ Clubbing – To BE USEFUL RATHER than USED – Clubbing
♤ To EXCEL as OPPOSED to COMPETING
♡ SELF-ESTEEM in PREFERENCE to SELF-PITY
♧ Clubbing – To LISTEN to MY SELF while TAKING on BOARD the RANDOM OPINION of OTHERS – Clubbing
◇ – Diamond Hard – ◇
…◇◇◇…
ON ‘THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE’
So, Security Holistically As a Demand EveryOne; well We:
♡ ARE Born
♤ 3DLive
♧ Die
◇ – Diamond Hard – ◇
I Have RAW EveryOne; RAW is a TLA (Three Letter Acronym) for Having a Radically Altering WorldView Being a Changing Perception of The Before, During and After 🤓 …basically I Was Born without a WorldView then, at about age two or three, My Self Emerged with Plenty of ‘Why 🤔 ?’ Questions and My Parents, Teachers and Other Authority Conditioned Me with ‘Do as you are told or else!!!’; so My Parental WorldView created a Lot of Misery for Me over the years 😕 …then Something Wonderful happened 😊 ; it’s Crystal Clear Clarity that I Remembered and Realised that there is NO!!! Authority in My 3DLife but Me 😀 …it was Me, once again, with The Clear THINKING!!! of a Child but NoOne to Bully and ‘Discipline’ Me in to Things that I Didn’t Wanna Do; so I Have Returned to The Purity of My Childlike State, therefore, the ‘Unpleasant’ Things like ‘Rejection’ ARE, once again, Water Off A Ducks Back and Processed Pretty Quickly to The State of ‘NEXT!!!’ so ‘Succeed’ or ‘Fail’ who gives a fuck (WGAF) 🤔 ? These Links Have Been Invaluable for Me; I Hope They Help You Too 🤗 :
♡ http://www.ericberne.com
♡ http://www.selfishcapitalist.com
♡ http://www.theradiantgroup.com.au
◇ – Diamond Hard – ◇
…◇◇◇…
LikeLiked by 1 person
they are so cute. -katy mae
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes they are! 😍
LikeLiked by 2 people
I agree, katy mae — so glad you visited ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
me too. im katy. you dont know me but i kind of know you. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
So cute!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yeah they’re pretty fabulous!
LikeLiked by 2 people