click here to view –> Be A Friend To Yourself. You may remember our wonderful guest post by PTSD survivor and advocate, Michele Rosenthal. Ms. Rosenthal generously asked me to also post on her blog site. Pretty fun, huh. So here’s the link if you’d like to take a gander over. Thank you so much Ms. […]
Yesterday we asked some pithy questions re: Why Psychiatry? Your responses were received with gratitude and humility. It takes courage to understand our connection with psychiatry considering ongoing stigma. Today we’re reviewing that some and taking it one bit further. When referred to a psychiatrist for medical care, we can feel confused. Why is my […]
Self-Care Tip#228 – If we choose to have someone in our lives, if we choose that it is better for us than not, than take what is good and leave the rest. We’ve all seen them, or been them at some point through life. Those walk-outs. Either choice, leave or stay, takes immense courage to […]
Self-Care Tip #227 – Find out about your bridge between choosing and being chosen by guilt. Guilt. Sometimes we think people who do wrong should feel guilt. But how many of us improve ourselves or others in response to guilt? And because this is a self-care blog (wink), I have tooled around with what it […]
Self-Care Tip #225 – If you can’t choose a better perspective on your own, it might be time to choose it via a medical route. Feeling trapped? Overextended? Used and neglected by others? It might be true. But why do we get in these impossible places? In the Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle, towards […]
Ladies and Gentlemen! It’s time to go to sleep! Wait. Not till you read this. PsychU, a patient education website, has invited me to present on sleep. These are their questions and how I hope to respond. Do you have any recommendations, other interests, directives? Please help me! Smile. 1. Dr. Johnson-Quijada, in what ways is […]
Think of walking in a rainstorm. Your clothes and hair hang heavily. They provide no protection. They offer no remedy. You take a hand towel out of your bag and try to mop up your icy wet face. Wring it out and continue to wipe. This is like choosing to do all the psychosocial efforts […]
I’m about to park in LA for the LAX protest against the immigration ban. Last night my husband and I debated whether to come or not and were both disappointed to realize that we both wanted to be here. I mean, it’s Sunday and we don’t get a lot of down space. We have our […]
Had a great time at, “Seams of Gold.” Great example of how community is friendly to “Me.” Met a wonderful man. Me: Hi! I’m Dr. Quijada! I’m a psychiatrist. Him: I’m Frank. I’m a recovering Alcoholic. Got to love love that kind of company. Thank you to all who participated and volunteered. Found after our […]
I go through this almost every time I see a new patient. I often hear that this is all they really wanted, “To know what my options are and that I’m not choosing something way out there.” First off, most treatments for psychiatric brain illnesses are not done with intention to cure, but rather to […]
He takes care of me. Marrying for security is like bombing for peace. It was not too long after saying this when Amy told me she had been served divorce papers. She had been seeing me for several years. In that time, we had worked through her most recent episode of major depressive disorders and […]
The room is dark, shades drawn for hours. Sandra stays unwashed in her blanket. Around her are gathering piles of laundry and stale air. Pictures have fallen over in their frames. Sandra hears her daughter, “Mommy, please get up now. Let’s get up Mommy. I want you to get up.” Sandra’s body feels like a […]
Kaily, a friend of our blog community, wrote this in reference to our 2012 NAMI Walk Orange County. I thought you’d enjoy an update and connection. Hey All, Just want to encourage an all out effort at fundraising as we near the walk day. We are more than half-way to meeting our team goal of […]
Abused (Photo credit: Andrea Marutti) Forgive to Get Friendly With Yourself – October 18, 2010 You Are Enough. – November 30, 2010 Leave Space in Your Beliefs to Grow – December 28, 2010 Celebrate Your Imperfections – January 11, 2011 No Matter Why, Where, or What Happens, Self-Care Starts and Ends With Me – January 16, 2011 “He’s Never Hit […]
1. The bedroom is only for sleep and for sex. If you aren’t having sex than all you get to do is sleep. No food, no phone, no TV. Only sleep. The bedroom is a sanctuary for sleep. Your subconscious is way to powerful to toy with. When you go to bed you want it to be […]
Guest Post, by Wendy Young, LMSW, BCD In the unlikely event of an emergency, put on your own oxygen mask first. It’s a saying that’s standard for air-travel and has become a common cliché for life in general. Taking care of ourselves is often associated with getting more sleep, eating less of the wrong kinds of […]
Many have been hurt by medications. There are those life ending treatments. There are accidents. It doesn’t matter what remote or near number in the chance-line the side effect has to the victim or the survivors. They happened and they happen. If you are a survivor of something like this, if your child died or […]
A seriously cool veteran was cruising Old Town today on his Harley with about fifty American flags affixed in mysterious ways to his bike and person. I cannot figure how, but those flags were not going anywhere he was not. I had forgotten today is Veterans Day, even though my kids were all home, off from […]
Much of self-care is about taking accountability for our choices. Choices come in deliberately – “Oh my! I’m old already! It’s time to have a baby!” Or not deliberately – “Oh my! He’s hot! Whoops! I’m having a baby!” Both choices brought a baby. Both choices accountable by Me. In interpersonal exchanges this is ever […]
I should feel happy. In Mona’s efforts to process what it meant for her to claim her emotional freedom, she tripped over this, I should feel happy. I almost tripped too, with, “No you shouldn’t!” But wouldn’t that have been weird? Freedom to feel how we feel is not the same as picking and choosing […]
