B.L. Acker
Free
Depression Survivor & Mental Health Advocate Expert
B.L. Acker Quick Facts
- Main Areas
- Depression, Anxiety & PTSD
- Best Sellers
- Unlovable: A Story of Abuse and Depression from Someone Drowning in the Abyss
- Career Focus
- Author, Blogger, Mental Health Advocate
I am a forty-one year old mother of three. I have survived physical, mental, emotional and sexual abuses, a failed marriage and a long engagement imploded by my partner’s repeated infidelities. I have been diagnosed with major depression, ptsd and anxiety disorder. I have many facets and have filled many roles. At different times in my life, I have been a student, a teacher, a mother, a daughter, a fiance, a wife, an artist, an author. Throughout my life, I have been both strong and courageous, weak and afraid. I may be a product of my experiences and choices, but I refuse to let them define me. After years of suffering in silence, I have found my voice.
My first book, Unlovable: A Story of Abuse and Depression from Someone Drowning in the Abyss, is available for purchase in both paperback and e-book versions on Amazon.com. It is also available in paperback at Barnes & Noble. My second book, Unbreakable, is available for purchase in both paperback and e-book versions on Amazon.com.
B.L. Acker Books
Unlovable: A Story of Abuse and Depression from Someone Drowning in the Abyss
https://www.amazon.com/Unlovable-Story-Depression-Someone-Drowning/dp/1533463425?ie=UTF8&keywords=unlovable&qid=1464726681&ref_=sr_1_10&s=books&sr=1-10
Unbreakable: One Woman’s Jou ey to Deconstruct Dysfunction and Her Refusal to be Broken Any Longer
https://www.amazon.com/Unbreakable-B-L-Acker/dp/154639575X/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493834563&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=%22b.+l.+acker%22
Articles by this expert
SelfGrowth articles and saved writing connected to this expert.
Article
A Realistic Way To Look At Mental Illness
Mental illness carries a lot of stigma. People often hide their diagnosis or minimize their symptoms because they are afraid of the judgment that will follow. It seems easier for many to suffer in silence than to have everyone else look at them as broken or crazy, as something to be feared or pitied. Many people would rather struggle every day to function than to become a pariah or a joke.
Recently added
Article
The Purrfect Medicine: Separating The Myths From The Truth About Having An Emotional Support Animal
I have a pair of sugar gliders. They’ve been with me for over six years, since they were eight weeks out of pouch. For those who do not know what sugar gliders are – they are small marsupials that can live twelve to fifteen years and bond closely with their owners. I have brought them many places in their bonding pouch, from stores to museums to farmers markets and parks. They have helped me through many mental and emotional hurdles over the years.
Recently added
Article
Logged In: Video Games & Mental Illness
Video games have become a large part of society today. While once considered a past-time for nerds, in recent years they have become mainstream, incorporating popular culture, movies, tv shows and sports in a way that appeals to the masses. From computers to consoles to games and apps on phones and tablets, video games are now seen as a widely accepted way for people to relax, unwind and pass the time.
Recently added
Article
Fighting for My Mental Health: Battling My Insurance Company for Coverage
I have struggled with depression my entire life. Before I even knew what mental illness was, back in a time when it was the gorilla in the room that nobody talked about, I knew something was different within myself. Off. Wrong. Unlike many people suffering from depression that can pinpoint a specific period in their life that marked the onset of their illness, mine seemed to always be present, lingering and lurking in the shadows for as long as I could remember.
Recently added
Article
The Mental Illness Epidemic
Mental illness is the gorilla in the room that nobody wants to talk about. It is that dirty secret that everyone knows but never openly acknowledges, instead whispering about it in dark corners where others cannot hear. It has become an epidemic of catastrophic proportions, yet it is still regarded with fear because those who have never been there do not understand it and those who are suffering have been beaten down so badly by their inner demons that they often no longer have the will to speak up.
Recently added
Article
Removing Toxins
Everything that is toxic can kill you. Some work quickly, dropping their victims almost immediately. However, not all toxins are fast-acting. Some build up slowly over time. But they are all poisons and, regardless of the speed in which they work, all will eventually kill you. When most people think of toxins, they think of chemical compounds to avoid, which could make you seriously ill or even lead to death. However, the world is full of people and things that can be toxic to us, that can slowly kill parts of us, our hearts, minds and souls.
Recently added
Article
A Long Overdue Letter to Myself
I have been struggling with mental illness my entire life. Just recently, I began writing and speaking out about my struggles with depression, anxiety and ptsd, as well, shouting from the mountaintops to anyone who could hear, hoping not only to help others understand but to battle the stigma attached to mental illness, as well. When I was approached by another author to write a segment for his upcoming book about depression and recovery, naturally, I jumped at the chance.
Recently added
Favorite Quotes & Thoughts from B.L. Acker
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt, This is My Story
"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."
— Christopher Robin to Winnie the Pooh, Pooh's Grand Adventure
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not.”
— Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
“Almost dead yesterday, maybe dead tomorrow, but alive, gloriously alive, today.” - Matrim Cauthon
— Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos
“You must never feel badly about making mistakes ... as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons.”
— Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
— Shel Silverstein
“Freedom is what we do with what is done to us.”
— Jean-Paul Sartre
“To solve a problem, you need to remove the cause, not the symptom.”
— Liezi, Lieh-tzu: A Taoist Guide to Practical Living
“But I also have to say, for the umpty-umpth time, that life isn’t fair. It’s just fairer than death, that’s all.”
— William Goldman, The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
“Everyone must leave something behind when he dies . . . Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die . . . It doesn't matter what you do, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away.”
— Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
Contacting B.L. Acker
B.L. Acker can be reached via email at: ackerbl415@gmail.com
She can also be followed via social media through the links below: