Tag: panic disorder
-
Birthday Eves and World Mental Health Day
On this day 15 years ago there was so much I did not know. I certainly didn’t imagine that our every day would include my child living (thriving) with mental illness. And that means that somewhere out there this evening are other mothers, in other hospitals, waiting for their own baby to join the world…
-
Our Invisible and Unwelcome Family Member
My son is living with anxiety and depression, but the entire family lives with the fallout caused by his anxiety and depression.
-
Holding Space in a Season of Holy Saturdays
Holy Saturday 2019 In the Christian tradition, Holy Saturday is the space between the pain of Jesus being nailed to the cross and the joy that will come with resurrection on Easter. On Holy Saturday we acknowledge that we don’t always know what hope will look like tomorrow. We hold space and we wait. In…
-
Letting Go of the Security Blanket
We are now one week into summer vacation for my kids. Which means we are now one week into being solidly past our elementary school years – a fact I am just beginning to fully acknowledge. It’s not that I am sappy, mushy, and in denial about my kids growing up. Frankly, I enjoy them…
-
Note to self…
Dear Dena, Today started with an email from your son’s therapist that included this…”It seems increasingly urgent that we meet ASAP to collaborate more closely and consider what may be needed for O at this time. He does seem to be deteriorating over the last several months now.” It’s not that you didn’t see that…
-
Look Closer
Ahhh, TimeHop. It’s so great for a smile or a laugh first thing in the morning. It’s also so great at reminding me of the things a picture can’t capture, but remain true and in my memory even so. On this day 3 years ago we went to the LA Time Festival of Books at…
-
Valentine’s Day – Real. Raw. Broken. Beautiful.
So Valentine’s Day. Commercial holiday? Totally. But do I still love any excuse to shower some love on my kids and husband? Totally. Sometimes showering love in real life, doesn’t always look like it does in my head. Today was one of those days. Today showering love looked like me holding my son as he…
-
The Year of Possiblity
I almost didn’t write this blog post. I intended to write it on January 1st…but I was seriously dragging and since I am trying to be better about listening to my body and self-care, I didn’t write it that day. Then I thought I would write it while we were in Mammoth this past week. There…
-
Lessons from a Ghost of Christmas Past
We had a truly great meeting with my son’s psychiatrist yesterday. For the first time in the 18 months he’s been under the care of this doctor, my son actually looked him in the eye while he was speaking. And he smiled. And he laughed. And it was amazing. It’s still not a place he’d…
-
Full Circle
This week, both of my kids are spending their mornings at cooking camp offered by a local cooking school. It’s actually the second time this summer that my daughter has been at the camp. She did a week early in the summer and loved it so much she asked to do another week. Toward the…
We're All A Little Broken 