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Shelbee Says…”Losing a pet is like losing a family member.”
“Dear Shelbee, Our dog has recently become very ill and we have to put him down soon as he is suffering a lot. I cannot write much as I am suffering a lot as well. I consider him to be a son to me. I understand he is not human but I have had him since he was a baby. He is now a little more than 2 years old and I love him more than everything. I am trying to make his last days as happy as possible. What else can I do?…I have lost grandfathers and also a friend to cancer, but this loss is unbearable. Some people…
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Shelbee Says…Recognizing the Dangers of Spring Mania
Recognizing the Dangers of Spring Mania *Originally printed in the Spring Issue of Resilientista Magazine. Did you know that approximately 51 million people worldwide suffer from Bipolar Disorder? With a population that large, surely almost everyone knows someone with a Bipolar diagnosis. If you do not suffer personally, it could be a co-worker, a relative, a friend, or even your spouse. Living with Bipolar Disorder, whether you suffer from it yourself or someone close to you does, presents a unique set of challenges with the changing of the seasons. Many people, even those not afflicted with an official diagnosis of mental illness, are familiar with seasonal affective disorder, a change…
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Shelbee Says…”Do the Work”
“Dear Shelbee, I had been talking to a counselor about various issues in my life but I had to stop going because I was tired of the constant questioning of everything I do and feel. Everything wrong in my life is not all my fault. I get that I am responsible for my own behaviors, but there are other people to blame as well. What is the purpose of counseling if all it does it place blame on me? Nothing gets fixed that way. -Not to Blame” Dear Not to Blame, Life issues are not really a matter of blame at all. Life issues are just that…issues that we all…
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Shelbee Says…”A certain amount of selfishness is really just self-care.”
“Dear Shelbee, I want to go out with my friends more and laugh and have fun to get away from my young kids for a bit and unwind and relax. But I also know that my husband and I need more date nights. However, at this point I feel way more inclined to want to hang out with my girlfriends than with my husband. How do I find a balance between family time, me time, husband time, and girlfriend time without the guilt? -Feeling Selfish” Dear Feeling Selfish, Finding the perfect balance between all of life’s obligations and responsibilities is one of the greatest struggles we all face. So, first,…
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Shelbee Says… “Communication is the responsibility of both parties.”
“Dear Shelbee, my spouse and I seem to communicate better through text messaging than through face to face conversations. It seems that face to face conversations always end up in an argument, but when texting we can reveal our true thoughts and feelings more easily and express our frustrations without getting snippy with each other. How can we transition to smoother face to face conversations without arguing?” -I’d Rather Be Texting Dear Rather Be Texting, Communication is a rather tricky concept when you really think about it. The way we communicate with one another as humans is distinctly unique from the way communication happens among any other animal species on…
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Shelbee Asked…How Do We Deal with the Aftermath of School Shootings?
For the first post in my Shelbee Says…series, I actually asked the question myself. I posed it to my friends at BetterHelp because it is an issue that has been weighing on my mind and my heart lately and I knew I wanted to address it on my blog. However, it is topic that I am not all that well versed in and wanted the professionals to tackle it for me. My question was this…“How do we deal with the aftermath of all of the school shootings that have been happening recently?” I have very young school aged children and frankly this madness scares the hell out of me. While…
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Introducing Shelbee Says…
My brain has been running on overdrive lately trying to decide which direction I want to go with my blog. When I started blogging nearly 3 years ago, it provided a platform where I could combine two seemingly unrelated topics…fashion and mental health. As I wrote more and more posts, I began realizing that these two topics are not all that unrelated after all, with fashion, style, and self-care being a huge part of my recovery from a decade long battle with Bipolar Disorder. Then recently, I partnered with an amazing company that offers affordable online counseling services. This partnership, along with some recent conversations with friends and family, really…
