i typed part of chapter 2 of "be a teammate with yourself". here below is my typing. # Chapter 2: Safety Is The Primary Consideration This chapter aims to: 1) Discuss the common challenges in life and suggest some possible solutions 2) Assist readers to devise their own crisis plans and remain safe Safety is the primary issue in the journey of recovery. It is very difficult for a person in danger to manage his/her negative experiences (e.g., anxiety, sadness, panic, helplessness, anger), let alone cope with the symptoms. Ongoing trauma and chronic stress could make the symptoms worse. Therefore, in case you live in a traumatic or stressful environment that is obviously influencing you, it is important for you to consider changing the situation or staying away from it. If you live with a person who repeatedly abuses or hurts you, no matter whether it is physically or emotionally, you need to think about whether you can stop his/her harmful behaviors or you should stay away from him/her. For a little child, since self-protection is not possible, it is necessary for a child to depend on other people (e.g., parents or caretakers). This makes a child easily hurt. While you can't control or prevent what happened in the past, when you grow up, you become more able to protect yourself. It is not easy to change your living situation. It can be a very difficult decision. You may have many considerations to work through. For example, you may think that he/she does not have the intention to hurt you, or that he/she only has some misunderstanding or bad habits. Or, you may not want a relationship breakup because he/she is one of the important persons in your life. Also, what comes to your mind may be: are you financially independent enough to leave the one who hurts you? Can you live without having his/her support? It is totally understandable to have many concerns and worries. However, if you still live in a traumatic or stressful environment, your mood may continue to be affected. You may want to discuss your situation with someone who you can trust, or you can seek help from helping professionals (e.g., social workers, psychologists, medical doctors). You can at least hear what they have to say. They may also provide you with some resources. If there are financial or housing problems that affect your decision, they may also give you some advice. Helping professionals should be more familiar with the local community resources that you may find helpful. In case of immediate risk (e.g., family violence, child abuse), you should also find helping professionals and/or emergency service providers to ensure your own safety and the safety of vulnerable family members at home (e.g., children). Having care and support from family, partners and friends is very important for recovery. If you have support from others, you can discuss your problems with them, and seek help from them, physically or spiritually. For some survivors, however, it may be difficult to have enough care and support from others. We should be grateful when we have someone who is willing to support us. Sometimes your family members or friends may misunderstand your mental health problems, or they may have done something that hurt you. This could be very upsetting for you, but you need to know that not everyone is familiar with mental health and psychology and has enough knowledge. Of course, if this leads to a lot of traumatic and stressful experiences, you need to consider changing the situation or staying away from it, as mentioned above. Otherwise, you may want to have a sincere communication with the persons involved, acknowledge their support, tell them your feelings, and provide some accurate information for them, if possible and if they want it. If this is not very possible, you may need to think about how to avoid conflicts and stress.