Earlier this week, I wrote about some of the new symptoms of anxiety that I’ve been experiencing in the past few months. While it hasn’t been fun to learn how to manage and live with these new symptoms, it’s been another opportunity to work on what I like to call my mental health toolkit. Over the years, I’ve been able to create different coping strategies and methods to manage my mental health, and it’s played a big role in changing the way I view my health.
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Mental Health Can Be Exhausting – And That’s Okay
I try not to think about it too often, but I spend a lot of my time being tired. In fact, I’ve spent so much time being tired that it’s become more of a default setting rather than something I feel. Part of that could be that I don’t rest/sleep as much as I should (which I’ll admit is true), but the biggest reason I’m tired all the time is that I spend my days managing and living with mental health issues. And even though that takes a lot of energy from me (mental and physical) on a daily basis, that’s okay. In my experience, being tired isn’t always a negative thing – in fact, most of the time it’s a reminder of who I am and what I am working toward.
Continue readingAdvice on Pushing Through
I’ve been a bit discouraged this past week. To be fair, I think a lot of people have been. There’s plenty to be discouraged about, and it seems like it’s coming from every part of our world. Back in January, I actually wrote a post about making it through a tough time. That’s right, in January. In the United States. Maybe I should have saved that advice for another time. But when I thought about that post, I realized one of my keys to getting through a tough time is pushing through, but I never elaborated on that idea, so I’d like to build on that today.
Continue readingHitting a Mental Health Wall – and How to Respond
It feels like every few months, I have to write a reminder post of some sort. Sometimes, they’re reminder posts about my own mental health journey – reminding myself that progress is a process, and that when I have a bad mental health day, all of the progress I’ve made isn’t undone (even though it feels like it). Other times I’ll write an encouragement post that’s for anyone who happens to come across it, because we could all use some encouragement now and then. So I’m back today with another reminder post to remind myself (and anyone who reads this) that the physical toll it takes to maintain mental health and fight against the stigma has a breaking point – and that it’s okay to hit that point.
Continue readingWhat’s the Right Level of Anxiety to Feel?
After the events of the past few months, I feel comfortable saying it’s a nervous time right now – to say the least. And rather than tell you why that is, pretending I’m any sort of medical expert (I’ll just point you to the CDC), I want to focus on the anxiety that many of us feel right now surrounding the situation.
Improving On My Post-Vacation Blues
Sometime last year, I wrote about the post-vacation blues. I’d just gotten home from a trip to Texas and even though I go there every year (sometimes more than one), I was particularly down. Fast forward to this week: I once again visited Texas, and when I returned from my trip I felt a little bummed out. There were two key differences here, though. The first difference is that I was in Texas for my twin brother’s bachelor party (!!!), which of course is something I’ve waited my entire life for (being a twin). The second difference is that this time, while I am a little bummed out, it didn’t hit me as hard this week as it did then. And I’d like to expand on that second difference.
Tips For Sleeping With Anxiety
There’s no doubt that there’s a connection between mental health and sleep, especially when it comes to the quality of sleep we get. There’s plenty of advice to dole out about this, so you have to be careful not to look at the problem from the wrong point of view. For instance, if you are anxious and you can’t sleep, there are other ways to fall asleep than getting rid of your anxiety entirely. Even though people will take that route.
Instead, you can manage that anxiety through different tips and techniques to help you sleep better. Yes, limiting screen time and not having caffeine too late in the day are both very important tips, but that could honestly affect everyone. Instead, I’ve found 3 tips that have proven to be helpful to sleep well with anxiety, so I thought I’d share them!
A Little Bit of Crowdsourcing
On this blog, I feel like I’ve done a good job of telling a bit of my story and my experience living with mental illness. It is something I will continue to do, and I’m excited about some of the upcoming content I’m prepping, but I come to you today with a different question in mind. Continue reading
Strategies for Accepting a Compliment
On Tuesday I talked about how difficult it is for me to accept a compliment. Without going into too much detail, let’s just say that the main reason I can’t really accept a compliment is that I don’t think all that highly of myself. However, despite this, I have gotten increasingly better at accepting compliments from people. How do I do it? Well, I’ve come up with a few strategies that help me not get sidetracked when someone has something nice to say. Here are some of my favorites:
Five Things to Do When You Feel Overwhelmed
Let’s face it – at some point, everyone feels overwhelmed. Whether it’s school, your work or another aspect of your life, there are times when we feel like the world is closing in on us and we feel trapped. While it’s more common for some to feel this way than most people, make no mistake – most people you know have felt overwhelmed about their lives at some point.
My Brain's Not Broken 