From kindovermatter.com
Dr. Michelle King used to overcome traumatic experiences from her childhood by keeping busy with her medical career as a psychiatrist. When she suffered debilitating injuries from a car accident, however, everything changed. She was forced to retire from her medical practice which allowed those haunting memories to creep back into her life. Without work to keep her busy, she sunk into a depression and suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. Constantly telling herself that she was a failure, the only remedy for Michelle had to come from within herself in the form of self-kindness.
Michelle began by reversing her dysfunctional thoughts by replacing them with more realistic ones and being more proactive with her life. According to Michelle, “Controlling our thoughts and realizing that we can help ourselves are powerful skills.” Sure, there is such a thing as constructive criticism, but beating ourselves up all the time isn’t the answer either. This helps no one.
Another key to relieving Michelle’s depression was engaging in more diverse activities to determine what gave her the most happiness. She tried out different routines, and in the process, figured out which ones worked best for her. The activity also inherently made her feel more in control. The process even helped her dog that she brought along, helping the dog feel more comfortable when visiting an office environment.
Ultimately I chose this story because I usually think about acts of kindness as something a person might do for someone else in particular. I forget that being kind to yourself can be important as well and is not necessarily selfish. Self-kindness helps you battle debilitating thoughts and motivate yourself to action. Naturally, believing that you can do something will increase your chances of succeeding in it. And as Michelle’s story has shown, this is not only beneficial to yourself but to everyone around you as well.
Source: http://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/yourmentalhealth/2014/03/05/overcoming-ptsd-with-self-kindness/
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