As I wrote about earlier this week, it’s been a very interesting road to coming to terms with some of my limitations. Identifying my limitations (whether they’re physical, mental, emotional, etc.) is an important part of growth I’m coming to terms with. But the next step is more challenging: how do I cope with these limitations? How do I manage my feelings around them so they don’t make me upset, annoyed or depressed? I found five things I’m going to start trying in an effort to cope with some of my limitations, and I hope these offer some help to anyone looking to do the same!
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A Look at Mental Health in the LGBTQIA+ Community During Pride Month 2022
For the past few years, I’ve done research surrounding mental health and the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month. I think it’s important to understand what mental health challenges exist for unique communities and groups of people, and these statistics help paint that picture. There is a lot to unpack here, but one thing is clear – there are many, many LGBTQIA+ people, both youth and adults, who are unable to get the mental health care they need and deserve.
Continue readingIntroducing My New Project: Negative Thoughts, Positive Person!
Happy Thursday! Earlier this week, I mentioned I’m cooking up a few new projects as part of my attempt to grow into more of a mental health advocate and activist. One of the biggest reasons I want to get into a different type of space (don’t worry, MBNB isn’t going anywhere!) is that in the years I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve come to understand the power of conversation. The ability to share my story and my experience has been profoundly important to my mental health, and without that space to learn and grow, I wouldn’t be where I am today. That’s why I’m excited to announce that starting next month, I’m going to be sharing some of my broader thoughts and reflections in a new form – an email newsletter I’m calling Negative Thoughts, Positive Person.
Continue readingTrying New Things
When I first started My Brain’s Not Broken, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say. I was a few months into my first full-time job, and I wanted to share what it was like to be an adult who was trying to figure out depression and anxiety while also trying to figure out post-grad life. In the years since, this blog has transformed into a place where I’ve learned so much about mental health and wellness. And that’s why, for the past few months, I’ve been trying to think of ways that I could build this blog as a space that’s bigger than my own mental health journey – and that’s what I want to talk to you about today.
Continue readingCalming the Noise in My Head
I don’t know if there’s something I’ve written about more in the past month than my increased interest in meditation. And while I’m slowly learning what the benefits for me, a very helpful one became clear earlier this week. A huge benefit of reaching a meditative state is that, even though it’s incredibly brief, the noise in my head quiets down. But it wasn’t until it quieted down that I realized just how loud and constant the noise is in my head – and learned, yet again, how anxiety can manifest in people.
Continue readingLooking Inward Instead of Outward
For the past month, I’ve been getting more into meditation as a daily practice. I’m trying to use meditation as something I look forward to during my day-to-day, instead of adding another item to my to-do list that I need to check off. This lets me put less pressure on myself (which is nice), but it also lets me go into those meditations with a bit of a freer mind. And it’s that freer mind I’m grateful for, because that plays a big role in looking inward during meditation – something I’ve really struggled with before.
Continue readingManaging Self-Awareness and Mental Health
Over the years, my relationship with therapy has ebbed and flowed. I’ve gone from being skeptical about it to going twice a week and everywhere in between. The common thread is that I’ve never been with one therapist long enough to making any long-term changes – until now. And now that I’m noticing some things about myself and how mental health affects my life, I’m facing a new challenge. But now that I’m self-aware about these these things, how can I use this information to improve?
Continue readingRecognizing the Limits of Perfectionism – Part Two
Earlier this week, I wrote about recognizing how my perfectionism limits me. This wasn’t a realization I’d ever had before, and even though I’ve talked to people about perfectionism, I was a bit blind to how it showed up in my own life. Now that I’ve become aware, I’ve gotten more interested in perfectionism as a concept and how it pops up in our lives. So, I decided to do a little research into the question: is perfectionism good for us or bad for us?
Continue readingSpring Is Here! Kind Of. Maybe?
As I write this, I am looking out the window to another 50-degree, so-so winter day. But I don’t care because to me, March means one big positive for my mental health – the no-good, rotten, very bad days of winter are almost at an end. And even though spring isn’t “officially” here yet (at least not according to the calendars I looked up), I’m an early adopter of spring because of what it represents and what it can mean for our mental health.
Continue readingModifying My Approach to Therapy
I’ve been to…a decent number of therapists over the years, and though I’ve found short-term success with a few, I’ve never been able to find long-term success. Part of that is the transitions I’ve made in life (high school to college, and then college to post-grad can make that difficult), but part of it is also that I had no long-term goals with therapy. I didn’t always know what I was doing with therapy, but I few years ago I made a goal for myself to create a more sustainable and reliable approach to therapy, and I’m proud to say I’m close to achieving it!
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My Brain's Not Broken 