Tag Archives: boundary problems

Setting Boundaries When You Have a Mental Illness

It’s important for everyone to have a healthy set of personal boundaries, but even more important when you suffer from a mental illness. Boundaries take many shapes and forms, such as how you let people speak to you or speaking up if you feel you are being belittled because of your illness. Today, however, I would like to talk about once specific boundary in particular. It is when others use the fact that you have a mental illness to their advantage. Let’s take a look at the case of Megan. Megan suffers from agoraphobia, but like many mental illnesses, the … Continue reading →

Setting Healthy Boundaries for Your Children (3)

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In the previous article in this series we looked at the most common violation of childhood boundaries: that of discussing adult issues such as financial difficulties and marital problems with your child. The other common boundary problem involves the physical boundary violation of childhood sexual abuse. So common is this phenomenon that, by the age of 18, over 70% of females report some level of sexual abuse. This issue is covered in several articles which can be found under the category of Sexual Harassment and Abuse. Today’s article focuses on more subtle boundary violations, in particular the inability by some … Continue reading →

Is Your Support Group Supportive (4)?

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Mental health support groups can be a vital part of recovery and acceptance of many mental illnesses. Most groups are a wonderful source of support and comfort, and knowing that others experience similar symptoms and feelings is a really important part of the recovery process. However, as we discussed in previous articles in this series, there can be negative aspects to these groups, of which all members should be on the alert for. Group saboteurs are common problem people in any group situation, but even more so in a mental health group, due to the sensitive nature of many participants. … Continue reading →

Setting Healthy Boundaries for Your Children (2)

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The most important gift you can give your child is a healthy set of boundaries. It is the ultimate gift of love, even though in setting boundaries, your child will probably tell you that you don’t love them. They may even tell you they hate you. But that is okay. The problem that many parents have in parenting their children is that they try to be friends with their kids. This is not possible. Parents and children are not peers and therefore cannot be true friends. That comes later, when the child matures into an adult and the parent-child relationship … Continue reading →