Hey everybody.
Happy Thursday.
And since it's Thursday I'm on twitter.
And I also have a journal topic from Gloria.
Thanks Gloria for sending that out.
So lets get started.
I have three questions.
If any of you are curious how you get your questions answered,
Please post them using the #KatiFAQ
K.A.T.I.F.A.Q
And I will find them.
And I have been chatting with many of you online already.
So lets get going.
First question says,
'Hey Kati, is a teacher the right person to talk to about mental illnesses?'
'Maybe to find a therapist and get things off your chest.'
Now I wanted to talk about this because this got a lot of likes,
Or you know stars or whatever it is you give it on, favourites, on twitter.
And a lot of us I know don't always have an option to see a therapist right away.
We may be under 18 and we're not ready to talk to our parents about it.
And we wonder if our parents may not take us seriously.
Or whatever could possibly happen.
Now, teachers can be a great resource.
They see us the most, often.
And they know us, sometimes better than other people.
And a lot of teachers are very caring and very compassionate about their students.
Now, so I think they are a great resource.
Okay.
But something that we have to keep in mind.
And I just want to make sure that I'm giving you all of the information.
So that none of you share with a teacher,
And then they end up sharing, you know, telling your parents.
Or telling the principal or something.
And you feel, you know, like they violated your trust.
It's because teachers, just like therapists,
Are legally bound to share certain information.
And if they worry that you are, you know, in danger to yourself or others.
Or if you, you know, cannot keep up with school at a certain level,
Because of the mental health issues that you are struggling with.
They are going to talk to someone about it.
Now if that's a concern of yours.
I would honestly just say to the teacher,
You know,
'I really am really grateful for our relationship.'
'And I am thankful that I can communicate with you and talk to you.'
'But I just want to know what are things that you would have to tell about,'
'So that I make sure that I don't get myself in a position,'
'Where I told you something I don't want people to know. And then you're bound to tell.'
Because then they can let you know.
Since I am not a teacher I don't know all of the things that they are bound to do.
But I do know that I have worked in different programs,
Where we work with teachers as well,
Figuring out overall treatment for students and for children that I see.
And I know that they have certain things they have to talk about,
And they have to share just like I do.
So I'd check into that.
But they are a great resource.
They can let you know how to get in to see the school counsellor.
They can let you know,
Maybe there is a psychiatrist or a psychologist,
That comes around to the school every couple of weeks.
And they can, you know, lead you in the direction,
To find the support and the help that you need.
And I think it's great.
The more people that we have to talk to and the more support we have, the better.
Right.
Okay, and if any of you have experience with that.
And you know what they're bound,
Maybe you're a teacher and you know what you're bound to report.
Let us know below.
So that we can all kind of gauge what different countries and different states require.
So that we can be more informed.
Okay, question number two,
'How can I make people care about,'
'Care and understand how I am feeling when I am unsure myself.'
'Frustration is all I feel.'
Now I know a lot of us struggle with this.
Often times feels like emotions come at us at like a hundred miles an hour.
Shoom.
And we don't even know how we feel.
And we don't even know what happened.
But we're really frustrated.
Or really sad.
Or really angry.
Or we're whatever.
But we can't tell people that.
Because we don't know in the moment.
And we may not even realise what we felt until, you know, I don't know, the next day.
Maybe two hours.
Maybe the next week.
It depends on how long we feel like that emotional turmoil lasts.
So DBT workbook is friggen amazing for this.
So that Dialectical Behavioural Therapy workbook that I recommend,
It's on my website in my Amazon widget.
It's amazing for this.
Emotion Regulation.
Distraction Techniques.
Umm, what else.
There is so many things there.
But just do it in order.
And it will definitely help with this.
That's number one.
Number two,
I would encourage you to start colouring.
Using art.
Journalling.
Using music.
To express how you feel.
Write down lyrics that jump out at you.
And that really speak to what's going on inside.
I would look through magazines,
And pick out photos that would really express how you are feeling.
Or maybe you're really great at drawing.
Draw something that expresses.
Try different ways to show how you are feeling.
And I would utilise that information,
To help speak to those that we love and we care about,
Who want to understand what's going on.
And know that it's always okay to say to people,
'I'm feeling so much right now, I'm not even sure what it is.'
'But right now I just feel frustrated that I can't speak this to you.'
That's a great step in the right direction.
We're talking about what's going on.
We might not be able to use our words and our emotion words to identify it.
But then we can say, 'I'm frustrated',
Which is an emotion.
There you go, you're expressing yourself.
And tell them that of all of the things you're going to need from them,
Is just to be patient.
That you may not always know how you feel in the moment.
You may have to think about it later.
And I would encourage each of you,
If you are struggling with this,
At the end of each day,
I'd like you to think back on those feelings that felt really overwhelming that day,
And maybe start jotting some things down.
We will start learning our patterns.
We will start learning how we feel.
What are some emotion words that we can use.
And in that DBT workbook,
I believe it's on page,
And this is crazy that I even know this,
I think it's like page 72.
Is all emotion words.
Like a whole page of emotion words.
So I have used that with a lot of my clients.
And it can be really helpful.
But know that it's very normal, okay.
But it's something that we can slowly work out.
And then slowly learn how to identify emotions.
And to express them.
In a healthy way.
Not feeling that out of control.
Okay.
Question number three,
'Hey Kati, I was wondering what emotion dysregulation is.'
'And if it is a symptom or a disorder.'
Now I want to talk about this,
And I thought it was a perfect move from that,
Question number two to question number three.
Because in most,
Emotion regulation is something that we learn in DBT therapy.
If any of you are wondering what DBT therapy is and you're new to my channel,
Just search on youtube,
'Kati morton DBT'
I have many videos on it.
One specifically where I give you an overview of what it is.
And others where I go into specific emotion regulation,
And distraction techniques and things like that.
Emotion dysregulation is a symptom of another issue.
So, the most common that I work with in my practice,
Because I specialise in Eating Disorders and Self Harm,
And kind of, you know, Anxiety and Depression comes along with that.
And emotion regulation, emotion dysregulation,
Is a very key component to my patients who struggle with Borderline Personality Disorder.
So therefore it's a symptom of BPD.
Emotion dysregulation can also be a symptom of other things.
There is a new,
I forget what they call it now,
It changed in the DSM 5.
I don't use this diagnosis that much to remember,
But it's, it's pretty much like emotion dysregulation,
When children are acting out.
We use it a lot in children diagnosis.
I don't see a ton of kids,
So that's why I'm not really familiar with what it's called.
But it's, it pretty much is a component of that as well.
So to answer this question,
Emotion dysregulation would be a symptom of a disorder.
Now what that disorder that is,
You're going to have to see your therapist or your psychiatrist, psychologist, whoever,
To let them see you, talk to you, figure out what all of your symptoms are.
And see which disorder fits you best.
Okay.
Now the journal topic from Gloria is really,
It's really cute.
It says,
'Mirror mirror on the wall,'
'I always get up after I fall,'
'And whether I run, walk or have to crawl,'
'I'll set my goals and I'll achieve them all.'
I really liked that twist on the mirror mirror on the wall.
At first I was like,
'Oh, it's so, you know, it's so Disney.'
But I thought that was really cute.
And she said,
'I just thought this applied to how hard recovery can be.'
'But also how determined we are to succeed in it.'
And I think that's something that we could post in our room.
We could write on our mirror in a way that we will see it every day.
Something that we can do so we remind ourselves that we will set our goals,
And we will achieve them.
And whether I have to run, walk, crawl, whatever.
I will make it there.
And every day I'm working harder.
I know some days feel like a total loss.
But know that you're not going backwards.
You're stopped,
And we're going to move forwards the next day.
And that's all we can ask of ourselves, right.
To try our best,
And to work our hardest.
I know all of you are stronger than you know.
So just remember that when you're feeling really weak,
Think, 'I know I can do this. Kati says I'm stronger than I know.'
And keep pushing forward.
Because you can do it.
So that is all for today.
I will see you all tomorrow because it's finally Friday.
And next week, I'm going to try to do something different with the videos.
I haven't decided exactly what it is.
But I will definitely put out a short video when I figure out what that's going to be.
Because I'm getting kind of bored of this.
Are you bored?
I'm bored.
I want to just mix it up.
But I don't know how.
So thank you all for all of your ideas of ways that I can shift it,
And change it for this year.
I'm going to take that into consideration.
Sit down.
Do some thinking.
And, you know, figure out what the heck I want to do with it,
To mix it up.
I will still do Monday videos.
I really think that that is a core component of our community.
But, I don't know what it will be next.
So stay tuned.
Love you all.
See you tomorrow.
Bye.
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