Category Archives: Mental Health

Bad Day :(

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Bad Day :(

Fair warning to any one reading this: This blog posts contains self harm references – if that makes you uncomfortable, feel free not to read. -Sarah

Lil Red had a bad day yesterday. Like a really bad day. I should have been happy….my brother finally arrived home from Madison, Wisconsin for the holidays and I was with my beau in the evening. That sounds like a perfect day to me! Unfortunately it didn’t play out like that. I was still feeling pretty under the weather yesterday from going through cigarette withdrawals and honestly I was just down right depressed. Not only were the withdrawals making me more upset than usual, but I was also out of my antidepressants for the past week, which are supposed to be taken daily. To go into further detail, it felt like getting thunder stormed on while already being soaking wet. I cut for the first time since I quit over a year ago yesterday night – and believe me I’m not happy about it. I’m not sure what made yesterday the day that I cracked. I’m not sure if it was just the shitty day in itself that I was having or if it was a pile up of stressers from the entire week. Let me say a little bit more about that, but not too much because I don’t really want my business from my work all out on the internet. Long story short, I felt that I was being harassed at my current now previous job because I quit. In the midst of one of my withdrawal crying fits at home I cracked and told my mom about it, and she straight up told me not to go back there anymore…so that’s what I did. Anyways, yesterday should have been a good day, like I said. I was at a get together with the boy and some people who attended our old high school. I really should have thought it through more before I drove over there though because high school wasn’t the best time of my life. Being surrounded by those people again made me feel like such a loser. Here all these kids are, at great colleges and working and being awesome…and here I am – freshly unemployed, attending a not so impressive school, and feeling low as can be. After about a half hour in that misery, I left the gathering with the excuse that my brother just arrived home. I know that I should be thinking more positively about myself, and I am proud of myself for attending a college in general, but it’s so hard to remain in good spirits when you feel like you’re doing absolutely nothing compared to some of the people who are the exact same age as you. So, I get home and I was so happy to see my brother, and my family had a really nice evening together. But even after that I couldn’t shake this overwhelming feeling of worthlessness. I was crying in hysterics in my bedroom and ALL I wanted to do at this point was cut or make myself throw up…since I didn’t have any food in my stomach, cutting was the go to option. I went into the bathroom, locked the door, and did the deed. In that ten minute span, I turned back into the depressed cutter of seven years and counting, which made me feel even worse because it was such a huge step backwards. I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t feel better afterwards though, which really frightens me. I’m really hoping that this is just a minor misstep in the grand scheme of things. And now that I have my antidepressants back to give me an extra little boost in the morning, fingers crossed that my spirits will be lifted.

I’ve been super tore up and upset about this, but I know I can’t be too hard on myself or it’s just going to make things worse. In fact, I feel better already writing about it, and since this is my online journal, why not write it out on this? Now I just need to take a deep breath, shake it off, and keep moving forward.

Thank you so much for letting me vent on here, like I said – I feel better already. Please note that if you feel the need to comment on this and you have nothing nice to say, it will be deleted in a heart beat. You’ve been warned! What are you guys up to today? I think I’m going to go figure skating for the first time since I quit skating competitively about four years ago, so that should be fun!! My family might decorate our Christmas tree tonight too – we’re obviously running pretty late on that!! Have a great Sunday! -Sarah

^^^^ I had to!

Mystery Solved!!!!

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Mystery Solved!!!!

So Lil Red had been feeling under the weather since Sunday. My sister was sick with probably a mild flu and I’m sure that she handed it on to me. #bitter Since Sunday I’ve been absolutely miserable. I’ve been achey, tired, dizzy, hot and cold, nauseous, no appetite, and when I do eat I can’t taste anything. From Sunday till Wednesday I went with the safe assumption that I just have the flu. BUT today my perspective changed when I realized that I haven’t smoked a cigarette since Saturday night. I’m 100% sure that I’m experiencing withdrawal symptoms from not smoking. It all makes so much sense. I googled the symptoms of cigarette withdrawal and it added up perfectly. The website that I was on, http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/withdrawal1.htm shined a light on the reasons why I’ve been feeling completely awful. Every symptom that I’ve been feeling, they seemed to have an answer for. Like dizziness for example was explained by the body getting extra oxygen now that ciggie smoke isn’t being inhaled. Not only have I been feeling physically shitty, but I haven’t been feeling too hot mentally either. This week I’ve been so depressed. I’ve thought extensively about self harm which I haven’t done in over a year now, I’ve been irritable, lonely, and just straight up angry. As I continued to read through the quitsmokingsupport website, I was able to check off all of these emotions one by one on the list of symptoms. I’ll tell you what guys…this fucking sucks. Pardon my French, but seriously. I finally can understand now why people go back to smoking after a week or two of not doing it, because the withdrawal that I’m feeling is absolute torture. This entire week I’ve been bed ridden because it hurts to move. I’ve had crying fits for no reason whatsoever and I’ve been the biggest bitch in the world to my family. Quite frankly, I’m not sure how I’m going to not smoke once I feel good enough to leave the house. Now that I know that I’m feeling sick because of not smoking, it makes me want to go outside and light a cigarette up in the hopes of feeling better. Oh what a tangled web we weave. 😦

Does anyone have any suggestions on what they did to make their withdrawal symptoms more tolerable when they quit smoking? I’ve been taking aspirin through out the day to try and ease the aches and it hasn’t helped at all. I’ve also been drinking a lot of water and eating more than usual. I’ve been feeling SO hungry all the time these past few days, but I still can’t taste anything that I’ve been eating. If you have any tips or home remedies that were helpful to you, please let me know!!

How long did it take for your withdrawal symptoms to end? How long have you been a non smoker for and do you still crave cigarettes now? Please leave me a comment and let’s chat – I need all the help that I can get! Happy Friday! -Sarah

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#Overit

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#Overit

Alright, mama needs a good venting session, so here we go. Within literally TWO days of having my septum pierced asides from the other four nose piercings I have, I’ve already had multiple instances of people being rude to me because of them. There were two examples that really got me down, and one of them actually just happened about five minutes ago. I’ve been feeling really shitty about it, so I need to tell someone about it. So why not tell all of my readers?

Example One: I was at the dentist yesterday and had to get X-rays taken just like any standard dental check up. The X-ray technician asked me to take my earrings out, and I happily obliged. She then asked if I could take my nose piercings out, and I explained to her that my septum was brand new, and my four nose piercings cause me legitimate physical pain when I take them out, so unfortunately I can’t. I was extremely polite and was in no way rude to her. After I told her my facial piercings couldn’t be removed she gave me the dirtiest look I’ve ever received and didn’t talk to me for the rest of the process of getting my X-rays taken. When I wished her holiday greetings she replied with “mhm”. I was appalled. For one: the X-ray technician was at least forty years old or older – does it really make you feel that good to show such hostility to someone twice as young as you? For two: the least you can do when someone wishes you seasons greetings is smile back and say “you too”. Is uttering TWO WORDS really that difficult??? Sorry I’m not sorry that the way I look offends you, but you shouldn’t treat me any different than any of your other patients. This experience happened yesterday morning and it put a tangible damper on the rest of my day.

Example Two: Like I said, this instance happened about five minutes ago when I was running an errand. I was waiting in the customer service line at Marc’s to pick up an item that my mother had left earlier in the day. While I was in line minding my own business, a fifty something year old lady walked past me and said “Woah! Look at those piercings!” The lady standing behind me in line chuckled at this comment. I could feel myself sinking lower and lower. I couldn’t even bring myself to look at her to say anything back. What am I? A fucking member of a freak show? Since when did someone’s personal appearance become a laughing stock to someone? I wouldn’t have gone up to this woman and say
“Woah! Look at those wrinkles!” at her expense, so why would someone not show me that same respect? I honestly thought that I was going to cry.

I am not someone to be gawked at. I am not someone to be laughed at. I am not someone to receive dirty looks while walking around or waiting in line and minding my own business. I am not going to be made to feel like I’m a low life human being for the way that I choose to look. People always think that I’m over reacting or over exaggerating when I talk about how much all of this upsets me. But why shouldn’t it? I’m entitled to my emotions, especially when someone is treating me as less than a human being. I am a good person. I am beautiful. I am not unapproachable because of the way I look.

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I can’t wait for the day that I can walk around in public without being stared or snickered at. But until that day happens, please PLEASE treat everyone with respect. Black, white, purple, polka dot, covered in tattoos, or covered in piercings we are ALL humans who deserve to be treated with dignity.

Alright, rant over. I can’t say that I feel completely better, but this helped. Thanks for reading and listening to my sob story. It’s hard not to feel bad about it though. Have a fantastic Friday and an even better weekend! Spend it with someone you love! -Sarah

No Complaints!

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No Complaints!

I’m so happy to say that I’ve been feeling really good lately! I seriously have no complaints and in the words of the great lyricist of our generation – Lil’ Wayne: “I ain’t got no worries”. (I promise you that that was a joke – even though I do love me some Lil’ Wayne!!) 😉

The good days are finally out numbering the bad ones each week. Two or so months ago the good and bad days were divided pretty evenly through out the week so I never knew what I was going to get each day. Mental health is like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’re going to get. Lame? Ha, sorry 😉 But anyways before I started at my new job at Next and college at Tri-C there would be some days where I would wake up and just feel so bad about myself. I would berate myself for not being in school and for working a shitty retail job in the mall. I would talk down to myself to no end to the point where I would start believing my mean spirited mind. If any of you have read my previous posts, you might know that for a very long time I struggled with bulimia and self mutilation. Even though I’ve been self harm free for over a year now, it was still very easy for me to get the urges to hurt myself. Since I’ve begun on a new journey in life I rarely get those sensations of needing to self harm. I feel good about myself, which is something that I could rarely say before. I feel healthy, attractive, intelligent, and capable. Which is something I haven’t truly felt or believed since I was at least twelve years old, considering my seven year path of destruction began when I was thirteen. I’m feeling the way that I imagined every twenty year old should be feeling. I always pictured people my age to be constantly on the go, always checking in their college planner to see what comes next, and drinking a lot of coffee. Now I’m doing just that – and it’s awesome! I love jet setting around the Akron/Cleveland Ohio area to class, then to work, then to coffee dates with a friend. I LOVE skimming through my planner and filling it with homework assignments, work schedules, and social events. And most importantly, I love this strange feeling of accomplishment I get when I’m driving to Cleveland for school and drinking coffee from a red to go mug. It’s such a small and stupid thing in all reality, but it makes me feel like a college student, therefore it makes me feel good.

The relief I feel to not constantly have urges to self harm in the back of my mind is like having a one million pound weight being lifted off my chest. There’s really no way to describe it other than that. I feel so carefree now, and it feels like it’s been an eternity since I’ve felt that way. The fact that I’m no longer tied down with worries makes me experience all of these good emotions ten fold. Before, when I had a “good” day, I would fear for how I would feel the next day, the day after, and so on and so forth. Having that anxiety even on a good day would suffocate the happy emotions. Now I’m happy and actually feeling it. Not just experiencing a dulled out version of it.

Within these few past months of my new job and college career, I’ve learned that change isn’t a bad thing. I was so afraid of change before. Afraid of what I would do if I wasn’t working at PacSun, since I had been there for four years. But I took a deep breath, jumped into the water and swam off to a new and exciting journey. The water was cold at first, and for a moment I felt like I had forgotten how to swim. But eventually, the water warmed up and I found my flow, and now my life is exactly how I want it to be. Now that I know that change isn’t as scary as I thought, I embrace it wholeheartedly – and for that, I am so thankful.

I hope all of you guys have a terrific Saturday. If you have any questions or concerns, please leave me a comment and let’s chat! -Sarah

Bummed

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Bummed

So I’ve been feeling a little down lately, and it’s really getting to me. The worst part is, is that I’m not really sure why I’m feeling so upset. I mean the only thing I can think of off of the top of my head is feeling a little disappointed about my current job. I just feel like I don’t fit in at the store as much as I’d like to, or as much as I did at PacSun. I’ve only been working there for a little over two weeks though, so I’m trying my hardest to stay positive and shake my slump away. It’s not like I’m saying I want everyone at the store to kiss my feet and tell me how amazing I am, but I would like to be shown the same respect that I try to give to everyone. Has no one heard of the golden rule of treating others the way you’d like to be treated anymore?! It’s just so frustrating when I’m so nice to everyone and I don’t get shown that in return. Even when people are not so nice and welcoming to me I try my best to not reciprocate their meanness. The fact that some people can be so rude and off putting and not even care is so baffling to me. On my worst days where I’m irritable and mopey, I would never EVER put my aggravation on others. My emotions are mine. They’re not meant to be forced onto others so everyone can feel just as shitty as myself. This isn’t me getting on a soap box and saying I’m an amazing person, because I have my flaws, but I’ve never really been in a work environment before where people were mean to me. I’m for the most part very well liked. So I guess it’s throwing me off that I’m getting a major cold shoulder from everyone at the new job. Welcome to the real world, I guess. Ha! I’m just gonna have to grow some tougher skin and keep on truckin. It’s really all I can do now. Who knows, maybe this week will be better. Gotta stay positive! I’m glad that I have a lot of stuff to focus on to keep my mind off of the bummed-out-ness. Today is when I get my entire weeks worth of work for my online classes at Tri-C, so I’ll have a lot to keep me busy this week! On a positive note, school is going fantastic! I’m enjoying myself so much that I’ve already begun considering staying an additional two years to get a Bachelors degree instead of an Associates. I’ve also been playing around with the idea to do one or two one year certificate programs on top of my Associates degree. My high school years sucked, which I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned a million times prior to this. But if there’s one thing that I really did enjoy in high school (and there weren’t many!) it was learning. I loved being in a classroom and listening to the teachers talk, go through Power Points, and hold group discussions. I loved feeling my brain swell with knowledge after a particularly difficult class. My grades didn’t often reflect on my love for learning because I was having such a hard time personally. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that I would describe learning as fun. It feels so good to feel like I’m putting my brain to good use. I decided that next semester, I’d really like to take some classes on the actual college campus as opposed to doing everything online. I’m looking forward to hearing the lectures and interacting with my fellow students. Fingers crossed that I can make some friends in my classes as well! Tri-C is an insanely diverse school, so it will be fun meeting different people from countless different backgrounds. I feel like half of the fun of the college experience is getting to meet everyone! Whenever I think of all of the exciting stuff with school, it helps me feel more positive about some of the not so great things that are happening. Wish me luck this week at work and please send some good vibes my way!

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Happy Monday! And make sure you check in with me either tonight or tomorrow for my review of tonight’s episode of Dancing With the Stars! -Sarah

Extra, Extra! Read all about me!

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Extra, Extra! Read all about me!

Well since it’s my one month blogiversary, I thought it would be fun to drop some Lil Red knowledge on you guys. So here we go. I haven’t lived the most charmed life. My teenage years basically sucked. I had a really hard time struggling with cutting and bulimia for years. I’m very proud to say that I’ve been completely self harm free for over a year now, so that’s really exciting. As awful as my experiences were, they really did help shape me. My near successful suicide attempt made me appreciate life. Quitting cutting and seeing old scars fade made me see my outer beauty. Quitting purging made me feel extremely clear mentally because my thoughts are no longer clouded with worries of gaining weight, and eating, and when’s the next time I can stick my finger down my throat. There’s so many things that helped make my over seven year depression streak possible that I couldn’t imagine listing them all. I don’t plan on listing any either to maintain the privacy of everyone in my life. So sorry you won’t get to know those dirty details 😉 . Once I finally stopped feeling sorry for myself and stopped feeling like I deserved to be punished was when I began healing. That was the day I quit all of my self mutilating cold turkey and never looked back. I live a pretty awesome life now. I have great friends, amazing family, college, and a cool job. Things are looking up.

BUT WAIT! There’s more 😉 Now that we cleared the air of my dark and depressing past, you guys can learn some actual fun facts about me. Such as:

  • I worked at PacSun from the time I was 16 until about two weeks ago. It was a great time….but I’m so glad I don’t work there anymore! Ha!
  • I have a lot of loves in my life – like my deep love for music, red lipstick, Vidal Sassoon’s Runway Red hair dye, and CLOTHES!
  • I have an amazing clothing collection from working retail for four years. I paid for everything I own on my own, which makes my wardrobe very rewarding to me. I have articles of clothing and accessories that dabble in every type of style. From punk, prep, boho, club girl, wannabe model wandering the streets of Akron, Ohio, you name it – I got it.
  • I’m the baby of the family – I have two older brothers, one older sister and my fabulous mom and dad. We also have two dogs, a golden retriever named Gem and an evil Yorkie Shih Tzu mix named Winston. Both are rescue dogs and I love them very much. (Note: Winston is evil because he only likes my sister, so you can’t go near her without him barking and biting. So annoying!)
  • I’ve kept a journal from the time I was twelve, and I love my online journal that is http://www.lifewithlilred.com !!

So there you have it! If you have any questions or concerns – leave me a comment and let’s chat! -Sarah

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Happy one month blogiversary to me!

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Happy one month blogiversary to me!

Today marks my one month blogiversary of http://www.lifewithlilred.com and I am SO happy! Special thanks to all of my readers and followers for going on my blog journey with me! Only one month in and I already feel like I accomplished a lot on my site. I feel like we covered a lot of ground with each other, and that’s very exciting to me! Best believe there’s more to come on lifewithlilred! In other fantastic news, today is my first day at my new job at Next and I am SOOOOO excited!!!!! I’m really hyped to get back to work and meet my new coworkers. These two weeks of unemployment have been fabulous though. In those two weeks I finished everything I needed to attend school at Tri-C on October 20th. I think that’s what I’m particularly proud of. I did everything all by myself with no former knowledge of how to do it. When I was in high school, a lot of teachers didn’t think I was going to graduate, so they never prepared me to go to college. Well ha ha on them because here I am now going to school and paying for it all on my own to boot! Lil Red is on fire! It took me over two years to get myself back to school, but I’m finally doing it – and you know what they say: it’s better late than never. Which ironically is the phrase I used when I would turn in my homework weeks late in high school 😉 . But I promise that won’t be the case in college! I know what I want to do and I’m ready to do it. Working retail for four years has really shown me that I don’t want to do that for the rest of my life. If I didn’t push myself to go to school, I firmly believe I’d still be stuck in the PacSun rut for years to come – and that’s not okay. I’m finally recognizing my own potential to succeed in the world, and it’s an amazing feeling. I feel like I’m blossoming into an actual adult. It’s hard to feel that way when you’re stuck working in the mall 24/7. I have exactly what I want now. A cool part time job and a college education. What could be better?!

In just one month of blogging, I feel like you guys have already experienced a whirl wind of a journey with me. If you read some of my very first posts, I was extremely depressed. Now I feel like the strong emotions I was feeling prior to these past few weeks are way easier to manage. I feel like the concrete block that was strapped onto my chest has finally been released and I can breathe easy. I have the whole world ahead of me now. These next few months are going to be a roller coaster of new experiences, and I’m happy to say that I’m finally ready to put my hands up and enjoy the ride.

Have a fantastic Sunday guys! Wish me luck on my first day of work!! I can’t wait to tell you all about it! -Sarah

lolol

Wowee Wow Wow!

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Wowee Wow Wow!

Over 50 followers?!!!! Thanks guys! This basically sums up how I feel:

Thanks Pharrell. I’m going on my one month bloggiversary on the 12th, and I feel like 53 followers is a very healthy place to be at for only having lifewithlilred up for a month! I’ll tell ya guys, this past month has been an absolute doozy. I was at a pretty hardcore rock bottom when I started my page (which I’ll go into more detail about when the time is right). But now I feel on top of the world with all of the exciting changes that are happening, like my new job and going off to college! I feel like I had a sky rocket moment after things were going so shitty and it was really awesome to feel like things were finally going my way and falling into place. I’ll be honest with you though, my pessimistic side has been poking its ugly head out lately and it’s making me a bit anxious. I have this awful mentality that all of the great stuff that’s been happening is too good to be true. I know that I shouldn’t be thinking that way, but it’s so hard not to. I feel like any day now things are just going to plummet back to rock bottom again. Does anyone have any pointers on how to block out this negativity? If so, pleease leave me a comment! God knows I need it! However, this rising anxiety doesn’t take away from the fact that I’m proud of myself. These new adventures like my job at Next and attending school weren’t just handed to me. I worked hard for both of them, and I did it all by myself. There’s a really great sense of accomplishment to know that I made a game plan and I followed through and made it happen. I wanted a fresh new change of pace and I got it. I should be focusing on that and I should only be feeling positivity right now – but that’s easier said than done, I suppose!

Btw, I’ve been OBSESSED with the song “Pools” by Glass Animals, so make sure you check it out and let me know what ya think!

Does anyone have any tips on how they control their anxiety? What are some positive mantras that you like to tell yourself? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Goodnight! -Sarah

Bedtime Musings

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Bedtime Musings

Hello! First of all, I hope you guys had a fantastic Tuesday. I actually had a great day, so expect a post about my first good day in a long time tomorrow. Second of all, thank you all again so much for the outpouring of likes, follows, and love. It’s much appreciated. I believe in this blog. I believe in myself. I believe that someone is going to read my posts and feel like they can relate to me. It’s so important to me to keep on writing, not only for me, but for someone who might need a smile or laugh for the day. It encourages me so very much to see that people are reading my blog and responding well to my posts. This isn’t an “I’m trying to become a world famous blogger post”. This is my online and real life journal, that I’m finally comfortable enough to share with anyone and everyone. If you would have asked me before to read my hand written journals, I would have laughed in your face and said “no way”. (But with a lot more profanity 😉 ) I’ve grown secure enough in myself and my own feelings that I’m 200% cool with anyone in the world reading lifewithlilred. It’s an awesome feeling. Thank you guys again so much for the love. Have sweet dreams and a happy hump day to you! -Sarah

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The worst backhanded compliment of all time:

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The worst backhanded compliment of all time:

If there’s one “compliment” that I truly HATE getting it’s “you lost weight”. I’m an extremely petite girl, I’m barely over 5’1 and weigh about 112 pounds. However, there’s one problem that I’ve always struggled with. My breast size. I’ve always felt that they were extremely disproportionate to my small frame, and in the summer of 2013 I made the decision to get a breast reduction. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. My plastic surgeon did an incredible job of making my breasts way more proportionate to my body and I was immensely pleased with the results. One of my major problems with my former boobs were how big they made me appear. People usually associate a heavy chested girl with her being heavy in general. But for me, that was so not the case. It feels amazing to be small and appear small all over, without the illusion of extra weight from a huge rack. After my surgery, I’ve had quite a few people who haven’t seen me for a while tell me “you lost so much weight!” and it honestly makes me feel really bad. What? Was I fat before? As a girl who struggles with her body image like CRAZY, hearing those dreaded words uttered is the absolute last thing I need. Just yesterday when I was at work I had someone who I went to high school with tell me “you lost a ton of weight”, and it really just made me feel like shit. I don’t think any one understands that if I could have just cut my boobs off myself years ago that I would have. It’s time to get real, and tell you guys that I struggled with bulimia for a very long time. I haven’t purged in a while, but the mental recovery from the eating disorder is just as hard. Hearing this guy yesterday comment on my weight was enough to put me in a major slump. It’s always hard not to purge when I start feeling extra bad about my body. However, I know that I’m a strong individual, and I’m not gonna ruin all the progress I’ve made over one asshole. This is also me urging all of you to think before you speak. You might think telling someone that it looks like they’ve lost weight might be an awesome compliment to give, but there are people, like myself who struggle with self image more than you know, and might take great offense to that statement. I’m very proud of the way I look now, and I’m not afraid to show that. Here’s my body: I feel beautiful and I’m not ashamed at all anymore. Have a great night guys. Be kind to one another. -Sarah

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