Mental Illness Isn’t Your Fault: Let Go of Self-Blame

• Mental Illness Isn’t Your Fault: Let Go of Self-Blame
• From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs
• Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans
• How I Overcame Social Anxiety and Fear of Rejection
• Positivity Quote for Life with Mental Illness

Mental illness can be difficult to live with. It creates a lot of challenges and interferes in how people think, feel, and act. As if mental illness weren’t hard enough, it has an effect that is particularly cruel. Mental illness can make people incredibly hard on themselves. Self-blame and guilt are common mental illness sidekicks. Part of healing involves knowing—and believing—that you are not to blame for your illness. Mental illness isn’t your fault.

Comments such as, “I’m worthless,” “I’m stupid and disorganized,” and “I give myself migraines because I worry so much,” are tragic. They’re tragic because they’re untrue. Mental illness is something you experience. It isn’t who you are, and you didn’t do anything to cause it. Nor do you cause your symptoms to flare. Mental illness is complex with multiple causes. Genetics can play a part, as can functioning of and chemical activity within the brain and nervous system. Sometimes, things happen to people that rewire the brain and lead to ongoing symptoms. Your actions do not cause mental illness or its symptoms.

To help yourself let go of self-blame, catch your critical thoughts and immediately remind yourself, “This is something I live with. I didn’t cause this.” Keep your statement simple and firm to help it stick. When you replace self-blame with this simple fact, you will begin to believe in your inherent worth.

Recommended Video

Articles Related Ending Self-Blame

• What Causes Mental Illness? Genetics, Environment, Risk Factors
• Mental Illness Myths and the Damage They Cause
• Stop Self-Stigma? It’s Difficult to Do, But You Can
• How to Deal with Self-Stigmatizing Negative Thoughts
• The Self-Blame Game and Forgiveness
• Don’t Abuse Yourself with Self-Blame—Abuse Is Not Your Fault
• Help! Anxiety Says Everything Is My Fault
• PTSD and Forgiving Yourself, Letting Go of Self-Blame
• A Guide to Overcoming Self-Stigma

Today's Question: In what ways are self-blame and guilt part of your mental health experience? We invite you to participate by sharing your thoughts, experiences, and knowledge on the HealthyPlace Facebook page.

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From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

On all our blogs, your comments and observations are welcomed.

• Challenging Your Anxious Thoughts
• How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Other People
• I Can't Handle My Child's ADHD
• Let's Talk About Quasi-Eating Disorder Recovery
• 4 Tips to Get to Work, Feel Steady Despite Anxiety Attacks
• How to Prevent Depression from Becoming Your Work Identity
• I'm Not Changing Antipsychotics for Schizoaffective Disorder
• What's the Point of Self-Harm Recovery Jewelry?
• How to Tackle Anxiety-Induced Procrastination
• How Depression Can Cause Vaccine Refusal
• Addressing Destructive Behaviors Linked to Mental Illness
• Learning to Accept a Loved One's Coping Mechanisms
• Early Maladaptive Schemas and Self-Harm Causes
• Let's Talk About the Benefits of Impulsivity
• 5 Ways to Support Someone with a Mental Illness
• How I Deal with Flight Anxiety
• Is It Normal to Feel Anxious as COVID-19 Rules Change?
• How to Help When You Witness Verbal Abuse
• Setting Goals When You Have Anhedonia and Depression
• Keeping Emotional Boundaries as a Highly Sensitive Person

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.

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From HealthyPlace YouTube Channel

Social anxiety is partly the fear of being rejected by others. It's an uncomfortable way to live. But Juliana over came social anxiety and her fear. Watch and learn how she did it.

Subscribe to the HealthyPlace YouTube channel

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Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans

Here are the top 3 mental health articles HealthyPlace Facebook fans are recommending you read:

1. Healthy Relationships and Mental Illness
2. Physical and Mental Health After a COVID-19 Diagnosis
3. Listening to Music as a Self-Harm Distraction

If you're not already, I hope you'll like us on Facebook too. There are a lot of wonderful, supportive people there.

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Positivity Quote for Life with Mental Illness

“Instead of saying ‘I’m damaged. I’m broken. I have trust issues’ say ‘I’m healing. I’m rediscovering myself. I’m starting over.”

Read more quotes about positivity when living with mental illness.

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That's it for now. If you know of anyone who can benefit from this newsletter or the HealthyPlace.com site, I hope you'll pass this onto them. You can also share the newsletter on any social network you belong to by clicking the links below. For updates throughout the week, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, subscribe to our YouTube channel, or follow us on Instagram.

Thank you,
Deborah

Community Partner Team
HealthyPlace.com - America's Mental Health Channel
"When you're at HealthyPlace.com, you're never alone."
http://www.healthyplace.com