Mental health
fromPsychology Today
6 days agoTools for Emotional Regulation When Life Hurts
Chronic stress causes systemic dysregulation; inability to shut off the stress response harms mood, cognition, immunity, and social connection.
It's been seven years since we were with my family on Christmas Day. Two of those years we were hunkered down at home with a newborn/about to give birth. The other five years we have spent with my husband's family. My father-in-law has been terminally ill for 12 years, and it's a miracle that he has lived this long. We've truly thought that every year has been his last Christmas, but this year, I really think it's his last.
Now I'm afraid I'll lose anyone at any time. I have OCD and all my rituals are focused around keeping my mom, sister, husband and current cats safe and alive. I text my mom constantly, and if she doesn't answer for a few hours, I panic. I've started crying and hyperventilating if she didn't send her usual I'm OK morning text by the time she always does; I'm ready to drive to her apartment, prepared to find her body.