Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

Please Share My Stuff! You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

Photo Credit

To whom do I owe the first apology? No one’s been crueler than I’ve been to me. ~ Alanis Morissette bit.ly/opy0d

— Daniel K. Foisy (@WisdomalaCarte) February 13, 2012

Standalone Tweets to Ponder

Twitter’s new ability to embed tweets so prettily inspired me to change my format here. Each week I’ll showcase one of my tweets, and several from other contributors. These include everything you need to follow or share. I’m loving Twitter even more now! Next week I will work on a format for embedded tweets with links.
 
 

I grow weary of defending against crap “science” that claims #DID is caused by therapists or clients too stupid to avoid media manipulation. — Sarah Olson (@SarahEOlson2009) February 15, 2012

Meditation practice is how we stop fighting with ourselves, how we stop struggling with circumstances, emotions, or moods.

— Pema Chödrön Quotes (@PemaQuotes) February 17, 2012

“The finest thing in the world is knowing how to belong to oneself.” Michel de Montaigne

— LillyAnn (@LillyAnn) February 16, 2012

“You see everything is about belief, whatever we believe rules our existence, rules our life.” ~ Don Miguel Ruiz

— Elisha Goldstein (@Mindful_Living) February 11, 2012

Linked Tweets

@dylansmoosie TELL and TELL and TELL If you are being sexually abused, you need to choose an adult you trust and @JustTell. Help is here.
[SEO: An educational site for both children and adults. "JustTell was created to educate and empower children and adults around the issue of childhood sexual abuse. On the kids’ pages of the site, we encourage children who are being sexually abused to choose an adult in their life who they trust, and to tell that adult about the abuse." There is information for adults about what to do when a child tells about being abused. Don't assume that your kids, or kids entrusted to you (i.e., you're a teacher), know what to do. Tell them to tell. Be proactive.]

@NAMIMass How to Help Someone with a Mental Illness
[SEO: "I talk to many people who want to help a person with a mental illness. Often the people they want to help are loved ones who have just been diagnosed with a mental illness and those who want to help feel powerless. The 'helpers' have a hard job, but let me just say, we love you for it."

This is the go-to post for anyone wanting a clearer understanding of how to interact with a mentally ill person, and ancillary issues dealing with care-taking. As in the above quote, the post is sprinkled with links to other posts dealing in specifics for those issues. If you're the mentally ill person, give a copy of this, with the links, to your loved ones. It's that important!]

@HealthyPlace Our new anxiety blogger, @JodiAman , starts Wed. Find out more about Jodi here.
[SEO: Jodi's new blog is called Anxiety-Schmanxiety. She is an LCSW, and self-described "former anxiety sufferer". Her first blog post is My Introduction to Anxiety at Age 5.]

@ssanquist 4 Things to Remember When You Can’t Take It Anymore | Bounce Back: Develop Your Resiliency
[SEO: "Ever feel like you can’t take it anymore? There is an essential resiliency skill that will help you not only take it, but bounce back from the really tough emotional times in your life. It has to do with perspective."

@SarahEOlson2009 Practicing Validation
[SEO: "Emotional validation means acknowledging and expressing acceptance of someone’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors as understandable. Sometimes understanding someone else’s thoughts and feelings requires a lot of work because the way they think makes no sense to you." If you're that person seeking validation, this post and others listed in its right sidebar can help you, and the people who care about you, to understand the importance of validation in every day life.]

@thethirdsunrise Recovering From Mental Illness is Exhausting
[SEO: Post examines the phases of mental illness, and how exhausting each one truly is. (The Diagnosis; Side Effects, Complications, From Medication; Life After Diagnosis.) But all of this, put into perspective, shows why recovery is worth the effort.]

@LillyAnn Self Kindness: Seven Habits That Will Help You Live a Happier Life
[SEO: Excellent article. Trauma survivors can benefit from these habits, perhaps even more than others. "Some people tend to focus a little too much on the outside world. They try to help the people there and be of service at the expense of their own lives and mental and physical health. Others tend to focus too much on their own thoughts and what is happening inside of their heads. And so much over-analyzing is done and beliefs that everyone cares more than they do about what you do are formed and strengthened. The solution here is to find a bit more balance."]

@heykim Chocoholics — Sculptor carves room entirely out of Chocolate!
[SEO: Fabulous chocolate carvings and artwork! And then they ate it! Seriously.]

When you are the kind of woman who frustrates evil by your very waking presence — well then — you are onto something

— Mary Kay Evans LCSW (@CarePathways) February 16, 2012

@heykim Whitney — I will always love you
[SEO: This was my favorite song going back to Linda Ronstadt's version. I didn't think it could get any better till I heard Whitney do it. You won't find many songs that so clearly convey -- both musically and lyrically -- the mixed feelings of love, longing, sadness, letting it go, and acceptance all at the same time. Rest in peace, Whitney.]
 

Progress might have been alright once, but it has gone on too long. – Ogden Nash

— Natasha Tracy (@natasha_tracy) February 11, 2012

@SuePeaseBanitt Happy Valentine’s Day Google Doodle: This is utterly adorabibble!

“As soon as anyone starts telling you to be “realistic,” cross that person off your invitation list.” ~ John Eliot

— HealthyPlace (@HealthyPlace) February 15, 2012

@pourmecoffee Insane rope swing
[SEO: Yes, it is! Filmed in Moab, Utah, home of incredible rock formations that people think are great to jump off of. (Well, yes, with a rope. So? Yikes.) At the end of the video you can also view the making of this video.]

@PetaPixel Stunning photos of the northern lights floating over an Icelandic volcano
[SEO: This looks so alien, even with the guy standing in front of the volcano field.]

“We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness.”, Thich Nhat Hanh

— Butch Northwood (@Tamavista) February 14, 2012

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

Please Share My Stuff! You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

Photo Credit

@HealthyPlace “People take different roads
seeking fulfillment and happiness.
Just because they’re not on your road
doesn’t mean they’re lost.” ~ Dalai Lama

Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder

@zebraspolkadots “Awareness is the opposite of avoidance. To break behaviors that help us avoid life is to choose to live in awareness.”

@HealthyPlace “Acceptance and tolerance and forgiveness, those are life-altering lessons.” ~ Jessica Lange

@DrAthenaStaik “We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once.” ~ Calvin Coolidge

@PsychDigest “The bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you fail to make the turn.”

@PemaQuotes “So the challenge is how to develop compassion right along with clear seeing, how to train in lightening up and cheering up…”

@StevenHandel “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” ~ Kurt Vonnegut

Linked Tweets

@SarahEOlson2009 PTSD: Symptoms, Treatment and Self-Help (via helpguide.org)
[SEO: Extensive, well-organized resources for all things related to PTSD. A good place to start if you are new to the diagnosis, or to give loved ones to help them understand more about PTSD. The PTSD index is in the right column; other possibly related topics are in the left column.]

@HealthyPlace Supporting Someone with Bipolar: For Family and Friends
[SEO: This link provides a compendium of articles on Healthy Place pertaining to supporting a person with bipolar, whether by friend, spouse, or other family member. An excellent resource that anyone diagnosed with bipolar should point their loved ones to for support.]

@PsychCentral Healing Together: Why Can’t We Speak About Rape? Finding a Voice
[SEO: Although found in a blog focused on couples, this comprehensive, thoughtful look at rape and its impact is for anyone dealing with it, whether as part of a couple or not. It also can help anyone wishing to better understand rape's devastating effects upon a loved one.]

@SarahEOlson2009 Psychiatric News Alert: Antipsychotics May Cause Diabetes By Thwarting Crucial Pathway
[SEO: "Antipsychotics -- some of the most prescribed medications in the United States -- can interfere with normal metabolism by activating a protein in the transforming growth factor beta pathway.... Moreover, antipsychotics known to cause obesity and diabetes were found to activate this pathway, whereas antipsychotics that are not known to raise risk of obesity and diabetes did not."

When TV commercials rattle off potential side effects of specific drugs, pay attention to "may raise blood sugar" or "may cause weight gain". If I were not already an overweight diabetic (in which case, those drugs will never be offered to me), I'd never want to take on the risk of becoming one via these drugs. Be your own best advocate. Know what you are being prescribed, and what the risks are. Discuss it with your doctor.]

@LillyAnn The Pause Upon Which All Else Relies (via @zen_habits)
[SEO: "When we fail, it’s because we act on urges without thinking, without realizing it. ... What if instead we learned to pause after each urge? What if we stopped, looked at that urge, paid close attention to what it feels like inside our bodies, but didn’t act? The urge would no longer control us. We would be able to make conscious choices that might be healthier for us, help us be happier. If we can pause, we create space. Space to breathe, to think, to be without acting."]

@PTSDandYOU We Are Failing Our Veterans With PTSD: The Life and Death of Sonny Mazon (via @HuffingtonPost)
[SEO: "He didn't get the help that he needed to heal the pain of his memories from Afghanistan, and as he withdrew from his friends and family he descended into an abyss of sadness. His relationship with his girlfriend had always been problematic, but it became violent. He hurt her badly in a fit of rage, was arrested for domestic abuse, and chose to end his life. We shouldn't whitewash over the violence of his actions, but the context of his life story does help us to see his crime in a different light."

These issues -- increasing suicides, substance abuse, potential for domestic abuse -- are not going away any time soon. It is in everyone's best interests that the U.S. Government do far more than it currently is to provide timely effective treatment -- without the stigma attached -- to our service members.]

@kbellbarnett Gawker Confessions of a Therapist: Are psychologists allowed to publish their clients’ secrets? (via @slate)
[SEO: "Can your shrink spill your secrets? Yes, if your identity is concealed." Article discusses ethics involved and potential violations, and the difference between ethics required of a "therapist" vs. a "psychologist". Long before my personal story was published in my book, I expressly gave my therapist permission to discuss my case in whatever format he deemed appropriate. If this is an issue for you, discuss it with your clinician.]

@Mindful_Living Getting Unstuck from Automatic Negative Thinking
[SEO: "Simply the knowledge that your thoughts are more inclined toward the negative primes your mind to begin to question these thoughts as they come. For example, in a moment you find your mind swirling on negative details you may start to also have a thought arise, 'my mind has a bias toward the negative.' This thought pops you into a mindful space, a moment of clarity and choice that I call The Now Effect."

"In this space you will have the awareness to ask the question 'Is this thought true? What evidence do I have for this thought? Is there another way I can see this situation?' This opens the door to see opportunities and possibilities you never knew existed."]

@natasha_tracy Acceptance of Bipolar [or any Mental] Disorder is a Process
[SEO: (While the original post is aimed at bipolar diagnosis, its author also tweeted the post using the more generic "mental disorder" descriptor. Anyone recently diagnosed with any mental disorder can benefit from this post.) "The diagnosis of a mental illness is a loss. No, it’s not the loss of your mind, but it’s a loss. It’s a loss of your understanding of who you are. It’s a loss of how you see yourself. It’s a loss of control. It’s a loss of many things depending on the impact of your personal illness. And losses beget grief. Or losses beget grieving, and grieving is a process."]

@pourmecoffee Class Act. Tiquan Underwood, cut by Patriots night before Super Bowl, tweets this
[SEO: Yo Giselle! Take a note or two.]

@natasha_tracy “Start every day off with a smile and get it over with.” ~ W. C. Fields

@ashwinsanghi 10 Breathtaking Viewing Platforms Worldwide
[SEO: If that Grand Canyon horse-shoe observation deck had been available when I was a kid, we wouldn't have had to form a human chain latching onto my Mom who was holding my Dad's belt as he hung over the edge for that "one of a kind" picture! Whatever, these viewing platforms are mostly not for the faint of heart. (Some still may require a human chain!)]

@HealthyPlace “In the book of life, the answers aren’t in the back.” ~ Charlie Brown

@Alyssa_Milano The cutest art-making otter you’ll see all day
[SEO: "Savage" is an art exhibition for a good cause, and includes a slide show of the artwork!]

@AncientProverbs “As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.” ~ Socrates

@goodthingz Ice Skating the Famous Canals of Amsterdam (via @twistedsifter)
[SEO: It hasn't been much of a winter (in Boston, anyway) so this is offered to anyone missing ice. (But Boston may be getting some snow tomorrow!)]

@AncientProverbs “Every path has its puddle.” ~ English proverb

@iAppleLearner The 20 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World
[SEO: These bookstores are destinations in themselves. Just gorgeous!]

@WisdomalaCarte “Teachers open the doors, but you must enter by yourself.” ~ Chinese proverb

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

Please Share My Stuff! You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

Photo Credit

@Tamavista “Think you’re escaping
and run into yourself.
Longest way round is
the shortest way home.” ~ James Joyce

Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder

@StevenHandel “There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” ~ Zora Neale Hurston

@PsychDigest “The person you were always meant to become is waiting for you just on the other side of the things you fear.” ~ Tom Wright

@WisdomalaCarte “The only real person you need to know is you.” ~ Alice Cooper

@PsychCentral “Speak thy thoughts, declare the truth thou hast, that all may share; Be bold, proclaim it everywhere: They only live who dare.” ~ Voltaire

@iamwun “We cannot be present and run our story-line at the same time.” ~ Pema Chodron

@soulseedz “From the perspective of responsibility, it’s always your move.”

Linked Tweets

@VA_PTSD_Info Returning home and coping with combat stress. Learn about issues facing returning troops. Hosted by Tom Brokaw.
[SEO:"These videos aim to help promote wellness in this returning group of veterans and to prevent chronic mental health issues resulting from combat and other war-zone stress. It is available both as a video for veterans, active duty service members and their families, as well as a version with provider perspectives." At site, see link to either download the video or a transcript in .PDF format.]

@BobbiEmel Giving Up vs. Giving In: Is There A Difference? | Bounce Back: Develop Your Resiliency
[SEO: "Herein lies the common misunderstanding: letting go is not so much about giving up as it is about giving in. It’s not about just standing by, doing nothing, as your house goes into foreclosure. But it is about giving in to the reality of your current situation and letting go of judgments and expectations you might have about the outcome. ... The trick is to be able to work toward your goals or out of a difficult situation without being completely locked into just one result being acceptable."

@OneLifeTherapy If "Eternity Is Now" Then What Will You Do With It?
[SEO: "There’s a saying that you might have heard floating around a bit like that: 'Eternity is now.' If it’s true, then what will you do with this gift of now that’s somehow, miraculously, inexplicably, landed in your lap? This now. And this one." Post discusses various therapies (existential, gestalt, mindfulness) that focus on the "now", and asks what you will do with your moment of "now", right now.]

@HealthyPlace Life Before and After the Diagnosis of Mental Illness
[SEO: "The person you were before, the person you are working to become, is still the same person, but accepting that it takes work to become well, to believe that you will, allows you to both merge your past and present. To become a whole person. A person defined by both times in your life."]

@ssanquist 6 Ways to Stay Resilient in Stress (via Beyond Blue)
[SEO: "It’s an awful lot easier to stay resilient, even if you have a severe mood disorder, when you’re not encased in stress. When you have all that cortisol—the backstabber hormone—mucking around in all of your biological organs, staying sane is about as easy as getting off a chair lift for the first time, or so it feels.]

@SarahEOlson2009 Write Your Heart Out | The Gentle Self
[SEO: Post gives many reasons why writing/telling/sharing your story is valuable. This is just one of them: "Putting thoughts into words and words on paper has a meditative quality to it: Writing creates awareness of who we are and why we do certain things. It’s a way to explore and analyze the self, and we learn more about what drives us and what we want from life."]

@Kkellbarnett “They Are A Part Of Who I Am”: A Reader’s Experience with Meds
[SEO: Post describes comments made by a reader answering specific questions about the when and why of starting/finishing psychiatric meds, and how the reader felt about using them, in terms of necessity, stigma, and outcomes. The reader has a very balanced viewpoint regarding a hot topic. The title is a bit misleading in that the meds which helped her to become who "she is" are part of her past. She states that she is no longer on psychiatric meds, with her psychiatrist's blessings.]

@HealingToolKit Unbreakable Blog Helps Rape Victims Heal [through art]
[SEO: Sometimes a seemingly small idea resonates so strongly as to create a movement. "Grace Brown, a freshman photography student at New York's School of Visual Arts, started her Tumblr blog, Project Unbreakable, in October, after a friend shared a story of sex abuse. Brown came up with the idea to photograph victims holding posters with quotes from their own attacks, featuring words said to them by their attackers." Participants feel more empowered and can take back control over those words that have haunted them.]

@ssanquist Coping With A Stressful Situation: Manage Your Emotions
[SEO: "Whether you’re dealing with an emotional bully (see previous post about adult bullies) or other difficult situation, one of the first steps is to comfort yourself and manage your emotions. The part of the brain that is responsible for decision-making and planning cannot function as well when you are filled with emotion. Acting on emotions without the thoughtfulness of the logical part of the brain usually means trouble." Post describes the "What Skills" and "How Skills" of mindfulness practice.]

@WisdomalaCarte “Reality has always had too many heads.” ~ Bob Dylan

@AmazingPics Woah! Milky Way Above the Himalayas — Stunning photography

@soulseedz “Maybe the universe cares but has a great poker face.”

@pourmecoffee Rabbit Super Bowl just completed
[SEO: Oh my. People actually train rabbits to jump hurdles!]

@HealthyPlace “There is one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one’s life — reciprocity.” ~ Confucius

@ashwinsanghi Amazing Works of Art You Need a Microscope to Appreciate
[SEO: Sculptures in the eye of a needle, on the tip of a pencil, in cutaway leaf art? The tiniest origami you will ever see? All of this stuff is stunningly good.]

@pourmecoffee “If we all stipulate right now that Madonna is old, we can save Twitter approximately 100 bazillion tweets on Sunday.”

@visityourself “Epiphanies happen by accident, but meditation makes us ‘accident prone.’”

@Splinteredones Silas’ cross-training program has helped him lose 4% of his body weight this month!
[SEO: A special happy birthday wish to @Splinteredones!]

@beingzen “For poets, words are noises that have musical reverence.. “

@pourmecoffee Gorgeous, surreal photo of rivers in desert that look exactly like trees

@AncientProverbs “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” ~ Confucius

We have amazing writers amongst us who give insight and hope to anyone struggling with dissociation, or to their loved ones. It’s a brain trust, and I treasure it. When I find new blogs, I usually update the Dissociation Blog Showcase (DBS) on Sunday evenings.

I owe each of these bloggers a huge apology for the delay in getting their blogs listed and announced. Regardless of the reasons, the delay has taken far too long. I can only promise to do better in the future, and thank each of you for your considerable patience.

Tonight I’ve added the following new blogs:

Silenced No Longer

Singing over the bones & rising from the ashes

The Vacant Skeleton

Please use the DBS link above to access these blogs, and check out the entire directory of (approximately) 200 dissociation-related blogs! As always, be careful and stay safe. Many of these blogs do not provide trigger warnings, nor are they obligated to do so.

If you, or someone you know, experiences dissociation and blog about it, write to me with the URL at sarah.e.olsonATgmailDOTcom . I review each blog before adding it to the Showcase.

Thanks so much for the feedback and well-wishes for this project!

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

Please Share My Stuff! You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

Photo Credit

@WisdomalaCarte “Your current safe boundaries
were once unknown frontiers.” ~ Anonymous

Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder

@LillyAnn “You cannot save people. You can only love them.” ~ Anaïs Nin

@Tamavista “It is in retrospect that we realize the brevity of life. Knowing this, take a moment each day to live in the present.” ~ Kitamori

@Carlolight “The way you look at things is the most powerful force in shaping your life. In a vital sense, perception is reality.” ~ John O’Donohue

@WisdomalaCarte “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” ~ A Course in Miracles

@HealthyPlace “To free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves — there lies the great, singular power of self-respect.”

@800273TALK “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” ~ John Wooden

Linked Tweets

@SafetyStar What’s Your Excuse [to not discuss child sexual abuse with your children]? “My Body Belongs to Me” (video about the book)
[SEO: This short but essential book provides a bridge by which parents can talk with their young children about a subject most parents would prefer having a root canal instead. If your children don't clearly understand about good touch/bad touch, they are vulnerable.]

@drludygreen Stunning article by actor Patrick Stewart on domestic violence.
[SEO: "As a child I witnessed [my father's] repeated violence against my mother, and the terror and misery he caused was such that, if I felt I could have succeeded, I would have killed him. If my mother had attempted it, I would have held him down. For those who struggle to comprehend these feelings in a child, imagine living in an environment of emotional unpredictability, danger and humiliation week after week, year after year, from the age of seven. My childish instinct was to protect my mother, but the man hurting her was my father, whom I respected, admired and feared.”]

@SoulHealr Learn about the connection between Depression, Trauma, and PTSD, as well as strategies for coping with them.
[SEO: This extensive resource offered by the National Center for PTSD pertains to both veterans and the general public. Be sure to peruse the links in the left column for other PTSD-related topics which can help anyone suffering with PTSD, regardless of the cause.]

@800273TALK Find a therapist with this tool from @psychtoday. If you need to talk to someone right now, call 1-800-273-8255.
[SEO: This therapist directory will show you results for psychiatrists (and psychotherapists), group therapy, treatment centers, or all of them. Both the therapist directory and the crisis 800 number are applicable in the US; the therapist directory also has listings in Canada.]

@ssanquist Dr. Deb: January is Stalking Awareness Month (via @Deborahserani)
[SEO: Information regarding research, statistics, and what to do if you are being stalked. Protect yourself, and be your own best advocate.]

@goodthingz 10 Life-Changing Facts About Anger (via @aflourishinglif)
[SEO: Good, useful considerations and strategies for looking at anger and its role in your life differently. Constructively. Perhaps even beneficially. Lots to think on if anger is an issue for you.]

@HealthyPlace In Recovering From Mental Illness, Patience is a Virtue
[SEO: It took 38+ years for me to fully understand the role of mental illness in my life, and then I wanted it done and over with yesterday. (Actually, I still do.) This post discusses why patience must be a factor in your mental wellness plan. "Work to understand that being patient, learning how to be patient, aids in your recovery."]

@pourmecoffee “Before the Internet, people could only poison their close family and friends with toxic cynicism in real time.”

@heykim Oops! Everyday items invented by mistake: Call it dumb luck or a miracle.
[SEO: Lots of medical things were oopsies, as were PlayDoh and Silly Putty. Who knew?]

@Quotes4Writers “You write out of your subconscious hauntings.” ~ Susan Cooper

@Flipbooks The 50 Best Websites Of 2011 (via TIME)
[SEO: Truly something for everyone here. Categories are: Music & Video; Families & Kids; Sports; News & Info; Financial & Productivity; Shopping & Travel; Health & Fitness; Social Media; Games; and Education.]

@natasha_tracy Man cannot live by cheesecake alone -> myth

@heykim Spectacular Northern Lights display over Norway (video)
[SEO: Just gorgeous.]

@AncientProverbs “To be uncertain is to be uncomfortable, but to be certain is to be ridiculous.” ~ Chinese Proverbs

@ashwinsanghi 15 Most Creative Fences
[SEO: Pencil fences seem to be a trend, but I like the rainbow fences best!]

@SarahEOlson2009 “I love this Billy Joel lyric: ‘You may be right. I may be crazy. But it just might be a lunatic you’re looking for.’ Goodnight Twitter!

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

Please Share My Stuff! You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

Photo Credit

@healingtrauma “Rowing harder
doesn’t help if the boat is headed
in the wrong direction.” ~ Kenichi Ohmae

Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder

@WisdomalaCarte “An intention is a quality of consciousness that you bring to an action.” ~ Gary Zukav

@ArrInspirations “The only way to change the future is by inhabiting the present moment.” ~ Jon Kabat Zinn

@soulseedz “One of the reasons we struggle with endings is because we engage in mortal combat with time.”

@GabeBerman “Spirituality, then, is nothing more than giving up your resistance to what is.” ~ Annemarie Postma

@back2incomplete “When you deal with people, always consider whether you are spreading light and love, or whether you are limiting it.”

@DrAthenaStaik “Your presence in heart and mind is one of the most precious gifts of love you can give.”

Linked Tweets

Depression in the News

@SarahEOlson2009 [Low] Vitamin D Levels Linked to Depression Risk
[SEO: If you don't get out into the sun much, or drink milk, vitamin D supplements are not expensive. Doctors seldom test for vitamin D levels; ask your doctor to include that test in the next batch of basic blood tests you're given. And always ask your doctor before starting any kind of supplement. There may be contraindications from prescription meds you take.]

@SarahEOlson2009 Treatment Integration for Depression, Diabetes Increases Success for Both
[SEO: People with diabetes are at higher risk of becoming depressed, and people who are depressed have a higher risk of becoming diabetic. "In the end, 60.9 percent of subjects who received the integrated approach [of treating diabetes and depression as correlated, with a special program aimed at education and compliance] had improved blood sugar levels, compared to only 35.7 percent of patients who received only the usual primary care. Also, patients in the integrated care group were more likely to show fewer depression symptoms in comparison with patients in the usual care group (58.7 percent vs. 30.7 percent, respectively).”]

The Rest of the Best

@AshleyJudd More on why we must prevent child abuse: “You can modify behavior, but you can’t rewire disrupted brain circuits.”
[SEO: "'Toxic stress', or adversity, in early childhood can lead to a lifetime of mental and physical problems -- including disruption of the body’s metabolism or brain development -- and pediatricians should take a leading role in providing care that addresses the problem...." Includes several links to articles which discuss the research behind this conclusion.]

@NAMIMass Do you know the signs that you or someone you know are in an abusive relationship?
[SEO: "Noticing and acknowledging the warning signs and symptoms of domestic violence and abuse is the first step to ending it. No one should live in fear of the person they love." A comprehensive resource, this post includes signs of being in an abusive relationship; the relationship of financial or economic abuse to emotional abuse; tactics used by abusers; the cycle of violence in domestic abuse; and what to do if you or someone you know is caught in this situation.]

@MentalHealthV Picking a therapist
[SEO: If you are looking for a therapist, it's not as easy as picking a name out of the phone book. Be your own best advocate. It's in your interests to make an informed choice. This article provides an excellent primer in how to ensure that you find the right therapist for you.]

@DCoEPage Yoga: an alternative therapy for wounded warriors with PTSD (via @WarriorCare)
[SEO: Yoga: also not just for veterans. Yoga has been used for years in trauma care, regardless of what caused it. "Bessel A. van der Kolk, M.D., a PTSD author, clinician, researcher and teacher since the 1970s, asserts that therapists treating psychological trauma need to work with the body as well as the mind. He states that yoga may provide a safe and gentle means of becoming reacquainted with the body and allowing people to confront their internal sensations."]

@Mindful_Living Mindfulness Over Mood: The Now Effect and Your Mental Health
[SEO: "Every moment of our lives our brains are rapidly taking in information and making snap judgments, interpretations and decisions based on what we see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. Depending on how we’re feeling we’ll interpret it differently."

"Even though we believe our thoughts represent reality, the truth is, our thoughts are not facts. A lot of us live without an awareness of this, operating mostly from a state of auto-pilot, sleepwalking through life. The good news is we can train our minds to become more aware of this automaticity, get perspective and tune into what really matters."]

@Vdkeck Mental Illness as a Disability (via @Natasha_tracy)
[SEO: A thoughtful analysis of why mental illness can be considered a disability, and why resistance to the label may be misplaced. "I don’t have anything against people with a disability. Why would I? Being disabled means nothing about the individual, it simply indicates their situation. It would be like being against people with siblings. It would just be silly."

"Nevertheless, when considering my own bipolar disorder, I bristled against the word 'disability.' I know; this is hypocritical of me and a double standard. It’s OK for someone else to be disabled but not me? I’m embarrassed to even think it."]