PTSD doesn’t only affect the person suffering with it.
I hope this video helps those of you who are close to someone who suffers with PTSD.
PTSD can affect partners as well as close family members, or flatmates.
There is the possibity of secondary traumatisation.
Love Athina ♥
© All blog posts and images are owned by me and Courage Coaching. Please don’t use without consent and only re-blog if you would like to use the information on here.
This is my 2nd video from my Q & A video series. My followers, viewers & subscribers ask the questions and I answer to the best of my knowledge with a video.
I really hope that this video is useful to those of you who suffer from insomnia in general and I hope it also provides a little more insight for those of you who have specific PTSD related Insomnia.
PTSD related insomnia is a very tough symptom to tackle and is usually managed with a combination of anti-depressants, the short term use of sedatives and talking therapy( all under the watchful eye of a psychotherapist or psychiatrist).
Love Athina ♥
© All blog posts and images are owned by me and Courage Coaching. Please don’t use without consent and only re-blog if you would like to use the information on here.
Nobody told you when you were a child that life could feel so tough sometimes.
Nobody told you that life could drain the joy right out of you, just when you thought things were getting better.
Life is a crazy rollercoaster and you have to ride it out, no matter what it throws at you.
It might be that your boss criticizes you, no matter how much extra work you put in.
It might be that your partner who once made you smile, now only seems to point out all your flaws.
Your family might be hopeless at supporting you and instead always tells you when you have let them down.
Your looks fall short of what is considered beautiful, your body has piled on the pounds and your health is deteriorating.
Your money problems never seem to end and you are surrounded by angry, hateful and impatient people.
Everywhere you seem to look, there are people pointing out what is wrong with you.
Your career isn’t where it is supposed to be. You still aren’t married and people think there is something wrong with you for not wanting to have kids.
Even people with the best self-esteem, can end up feeling horrible.
Everywhere you look, people are pointing out that you are a failure..
Outer criticism ends up becoming inner criticism. That inner criticism ends up taking hold of your daily life and you can’t seem to silence that nasty little voice inside you that tells you, you have failed.
You might have once been a reasonably confident person and now you are nowhere near that.
Do you find yourself being haunted by this inner voice of failure? Do you find yourself needing to apologise for things that are out of your control?
Are you sorry that you couldn’t do better at work? Then you failed
Are you sorry that you couldn’t lose weight? Then you failed
Are you sorry that your partner left you? Then you failed
Are you sorry that you are too sick to support your family? Then you failed
Are you sorry that you are struggling with the housework? Then you failed
Are you sorry that everything is too stressful? Then you failed
These negative thoughts are very harmful, even though you may not think so. When you internalise self-doubt your body absorbs it. Your muscles tense and you can actually become physically ill from it. If you allow others negativity to affect how you see yourself, then this might become a vicious cycle.
Have you ever noticed that when an abusive spouse, parent or boss criticizes you, you get nervous and are more likely to make more mistakes? The more difficult the people around you, the more on edge you feel and the more clumsy you may become. This was definetely the case with me for many years…
It is crucial to be aware of how destructive it can be to give your control away to others. If you constantly accept that you are a failure, because you judge yourself through others’ eyes, then you will eventually freeze. You will stop trying, you will stop living..
So how do you change this? How do you manage to keep the negativity that surrounds you away?
First of all, remember this! You are NOT A FAILURE!
You are not a failure because you failed your driving test.
You are not a failure because your relationship ended.
You are not a failure because you lost your job.
You are not a failure because you don’t want kids.
You are not a failure because others think you are.
Making mistakes in life is NORMAL. Making mistakes in life doesn’t mean that you are a failure. A mistake is just a mistake! This doesn’t make you anything less than wonderful.
Mistakes help you learn and at least you were brave enough to take on new opportunities.
Every time you catch yourself telling yourself that you are a failure, then say the word ‘STOP’. You are not a failure..
Remind yourself of all the good things you have done and that you are proud of. Even the tiniest things can mean so much! Don’t let others define you. Nothing matters more than the opinion YOU HAVE of yourself.
Never apologise for not being good enough because you are a valuable and worthy person. No matter how much others judge you, don’t let their voice drown out your own.
YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE!
Love Athina ♥
© All blog posts and images are owned by me and Courage Coaching. Please don’t use without consent and only re-blog if you would like to use the information on here.
Happy Monday dear followers & friends,
I have been busy making & editing youtube videos for the last few days, as towards the end of the month I will be very busy studying. I am trying to do videos on topics that people have emailed me about and today’s video is based on a question from a YouTube Subscriber.
Dealing with negative emotions is something everyone can relate to and is something that nobody wants to face in this life. Unfortunately, every single one of us has constant experience with negative or uncomfortable emotions.
I have already written a blog post about the main point I make in the video below: https://couragecoaching.wordpress.com/2016/08/04/the-importance-of-feeling-our-feelings/
In the video I talk about the importance of dealing with negative emotions in the healthiest way.
This healthiest way, is something that has already helped many people who have had coaching and psychotherapy and I am offering it in this video for free.
I really hope it is helpful and makes sense. If you think it might help others, please re-blog or share it on social media.
Love Athina ♥
© All blog posts and images are owned by me and Courage Coaching. Please don’t use without consent and only re-blog if you would like to use the information on here.
How many of you find it easy to admit to your weaknesses? How often do you struggle with admitting a weakness to a friend or partner or even to yourself?
Do you ever feel a sting when a close person in your life points out a weakness that you weren’t aware you had? Or maybe it is just that person’s opinion but not your own? It’s tough knowing sometimes, whether we actually have that weakness that this person is pointing out to us..Is the sting we feel trying to tell us that maybe it is actually true?!
What one person considers a weakness doesn’t mean that the other person thinks so too..
For example, I may think that it is a weakness for someone to expect me to be perfect, when I am actually completely comfortable being less than perfect. It is not my problem this other person needs perfection from those around him, including me. I personally find the need to be perfect exhausting, therefore I am more happy to give everything my best shot and even if it doesn’t turn out amazingly, at least I tried.
Another point worth mentioning, is the difficulty some of us may have when it comes to admitting fault or weakness, because we actually fear what others think of us. If we are actually perfectionists by nature and set ourselves high standards all the time, then to admit that we have actually failed at something is out of the question. It is in this very case, I believe, that we need to work more on ourselves. Our own thoughts and the way we see the world, can either make our life more fulfilling or severely limiting. Some of us also may find criticism excruciatinly painful, because deep down we know we are flawed, wrong or not good enough. This may be because of negative programming in our childhood or from pressure to always show our best and most socially acceptable side.
Accepting and embracing our weaknesses, increases our awareness of where we might be limiting ourselves.
If someone has harmed us and this has impacted us in a destructive way, then this is slightly different. We have a right to be angry and put the blame where it belongs (in the case of murder,domestic abuse, child abuse etc). Working through grief about the unfotunate things that happen to us in life, is necessary for healing. Despite this though, we are still in charge of how we deal with whatever life has dealt us. It is always up to us to work hard at making changes in the areas we suffer with the most.We can either be a victim and sit back and point fingers at everyone else or we can take responsibility and take small steps to creating opportunities from our challenges.
Love Athina ♥
© All blog posts and images are owned by me and Courage Coaching. Please don’t use without consent and only re-blog if you would like to use the information on here.
Love Athina ♥
© All blog posts and images are owned by me and Courage Coaching. Please don’t use without consent and only re-blog if you would like to use the information on here.
Hello fellow bloggers & friends,
I hope you had a good weekend and have started your week with hope in your heart. I have been unusually busy over the last week, as hubby has been on holiday from work. My mornings have been completely transformed from work & ‘me’ time, to long breakfasts and lots of ‘us’ time. We just celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary on Saturday and took a mini break away in the wonderful town of Braunschweig. An escape from the usual routine we are well accustomed to, is so incredibly refreshing and enriching.
Although hubby is still on holiday this week as well, I want to make sure I keep up my blogging and Youtube Videos, even if at a lesser frequency.
I have finally managed to set up my new webcam and got the sound on the microphone to the level it should be at. I can safely say that the quality of my Youtube videos will finally be at an acceptable level.Hoorah 🙂
Although I started off my video today thinking it would only be a very short trial one (to test out my new webcam), it ended up being a long one!
The video is about emotional flashbacks once again and how to manage them.
The video below is the 2nd one I have posted on this topic, as I have received a few more requests to talk more about this difficult area of CPTSD.
Love Athina ♥
Ps: I finally received my full & approved ‘Certificate in Coaching’ today after completing the written assignment and waiting a long 12 weeks for the course tutors to correct it.
Unfortunately, they forgot to add my married name in brackets as I had originally requested but despite this, I am very very pleased 🙂
© All blog posts and images are owned by me and Courage Coaching. Please don’t use without consent and only re-blog if you would like to use the information on here.
I know there are so many of you battling your demons every day..It takes guts..It takes courage to fight the war inside your head..
This post is for all of you who are struggling..One breath at a time is so important when the world is feeling especially cruel..
This blogging community supports so many people with mental illness…
So Reblog this post and support each other..
Love Athina ♥
Just a quick post about something that matters as equally as physical health.
We all live with mental health and mental illness can touch all of us at least once in our lifetime.So how openly do we talk about it and how easily do we feel uncomfortable mentioning our struggles to a co-worker, family member or friend?
I have encountered so many of the below unhelpful phrases from ignorant individuals, so for this reason, I will keep spreading awareness of the importance of validating someone’s struggles with their mental health.
‘Don’t dwell on the past’
‘Aren’t you over it by now?’
‘Can’t you just try and be more happy?’
‘Stop focusing on the negative’
‘Strong people just get on with it’
‘Stop being a hypochondriac’
‘Stop being so self-centered’
‘Just snap out of it!’
‘You are just looking for attention’
Look after yourselves ♥
Love Athina ♥
© All blog posts and images are owned by me and Courage Coaching. Please don’t use without consent and only re-blog if you would like to use the information on here.
I wanted to write a quick post on the topic of recovery. I have embraced and accepted my own journey of recovery but not without many difficult years of wanting to see big changes, too soon..
I know there are a lot of you battling with the struggles of mental health daily and wishing that you could achieve more.
I also know how disheartened you must feel when you don’t seem to reach your destination of being ”recovered”…This is where the problem lies..Recovery isn’t a destination..it is an ongoing, changing process with ups and downs..
Recovery doesn’t mean you will reach a day where you are recovered completely.What it DOES mean is that you will reach a point in your life where every struggle is much smaller and you will be able to feel better on more days than usual. If you suffered child abuse or neglect, you will most likely have ongoing mental health issues but this doesn’t mean you will suffer in the same way, as you grieve and progress in your healing. If you are a recovering alcoholic or drug addict, you will also know how much of a challenge it is to stop yourself from returning to the one thing that was able to numb you in the past..You are aware that your recovery from the drug of your choice will always be a constant in your life.
Before you are too harsh on yourself and have huge expectations on where you think you should be in your recovery, just remind yourself that everything is unfolding exactly as it should..that there are many small positive shifts happening in your mental health and that no matter how awful the tears, flashbacks, triggers, depression and anxiety are, that there are better days to come..Remind yourself of this when you are particularly low!
If you are recovering from any mental health issues, then this post is for you.
Be self-compassionate, give yourself a pat on the back and keep moving forward in your journey of recovery..Keep looking for resources that may help you along your journey, seek out a therapist or coach who is experienced and validating and keep all abusive & toxic people away from your life.
Love Athina ♥
© All blog posts and images are owned by me and Courage Coaching. Please don’t use without consent and only re-blog if you would like to use the information on here.
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