Have you ever felt like your stuck, or in a ditch? You've tried to claw your way out, but you keep falling back in. You're waiting or someone to grab your hand and pull you out, or hand you a ladder to make your climb out easier. You're waiting for someone to save you. I've been here so many times. Stuck, alone and afraid. Waiting for a hero to save me. Sometimes I feel like I live in this ditch, but that no one is coming to help. And I know that so many people reading this are in that place right now. That you're worried you're not strong enough. That the climb is too high. The time is too little or the troubles too great. Truth is, there will be bad days. There will be times your ditch seems deeper, your fall greater or your climb more difficult. There will be tears and screams, anger and confusion...but there will also be good days. Days where your ditch isn't so deep, and the climb not so challenging. BUT, the difficult climbs are revealing something I...

They say it takes a month to break or start a habit. Just one month. 4 weeks. 30 days. It doesn't sound like a long time, but a lot can happen in a month. As someone with dermatophagia, I hurt myself a lot. However, it has been one month since I hurt myself in any way. It has been one month since I had a depressive spell. It has been one amazing month for me! In retrospect, it isn't a very long period of time. But it's enough to change your perspective. I started focusing on who I am, instead of the comparative 'who I want to be'. And I found that she's a pretty great person, not perfect, but unique. It took a month for me to find who I really am, what I love and who I not want to be, but have already been. I love what I found, and I can walk with a new found confidence and hope that I have never had before. And I didn't to anything particularly 'fancy'...I just took one month and devoted it to me. I encourage you to take a month. You do not have to ...

My dermatophagia is not something I have spoken about before. It's still something I am coming to terms with. But I know that many people struggle with it and I want to be encouragement that it's possible to overcome. So, what is Dermatophagia? It is an obsessive compulsive disorder that makes one rip their skin apart, namely around the fingers and inside of the mouth. These people (me included) are known as 'wolf biters'. It is also sometimes accompanied by anxiety. I have been highly ashamed of this for years. It's only recently that I discovered that I have a disorder. As I have previously discussed, however, I see this more as something to overcome than live with. I became so obsessed with my hands. I would hide them in any way possible, and refused to shake someone's hand or pass objects to them. I would also use this as a form of self harm (although I fully believe that Dermatophagia is not a self harm disorder!). But I also started praying a lot. I ful...