A lot of my focus for the past few weeks has been on habits. I’ve written about habits before on My Brain’s Not Broken, but every time I revisit the topic I learn something new. Building healthy habits is an essential aspect of my mental health toolkit, but it doesn’t stop there. Maintaining healthy habits is just as important as building them; however, that’s easier said than done. Here are five reminders about building mentally healthy habits that can help keep us as healthy as we can be!
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Forming Healthy Habits Amidst Setbacks
Living with mental illness can make people feel like they’re failing all the time. Moments of progress can feel impossible to recapture after a misstep. We can be very harsh on our failures, and our reactions can exacerbate those failures. Mental health setbacks happen to everyone, but they can be hard to deal with. Despite our failures, we should still strive to build healthy habits and goals to work toward. So, how can we form healthy habits when we feel like we have constant setbacks?
Continue readingA Reminder About Healthy Foundations
Earlier this week, I wrote about how everything we do serves a purpose when it comes to our health and wellness. I focused on physical exercise and my therapy sessions, but it applies to all areas of life. Each activity can serve a different purpose, and each moment can help us in a different way. Today, I want to elaborate further on that point because something else needs to be shared along with it. In the same way everything serves a purpose, there’s not one thing we need to do that will “solve” our mental health. There’s no magical elixir that will solve all our issues. It may sound obvious but it’s often forgotten, which is why that’s the reminder I want to share in this post.
Continue readingEverything Serves A Purpose
I’ve written about it before, but the way different aspects of our health connect is fascinating to me. I often think about the connection between my physical health and mental health. To be honest, the main reason I focus on my physical health is because of the way it helps me manage my mental health. But today, I want to talk about the unique purpose that certain activities have. Everything serves a purpose when it comes to our wellness, and it’s important that we acknowledge that.
Continue readingBreaking Down Mental Health Terms: What is High-Functioning Anxiety?
Up until a few years ago, I hadn’t heard of the term high-functioning anxiety. To me, anxiety was something that got in the way of functioning. It made decisions more difficult and tasks harder to complete. The idea of a high-functioning version of mental health challenges is new to me, so I decided to do some research. Today on the blog, I want to break down high-functioning anxiety, what it looks like and how we can manage it.
Continue readingBalancing Helplessness and Hopefulness
There are many symptoms of depression that are frustrating to deal with. Among them, hopelessness is one of the most difficult ones to manage. Hopelessness is a feeling that can sneak up on us. It can be disguised as so many other ways of feeling, and it can be hard to distinguish between other emotions. But to me, living with depression is a constant balance. On one end is the persistence of helplessness; on the other, the optimism of hopefulness. Life can be a constant back and forth between the two, which is what I want to talk about today.
Continue readingAmbition And Depression
They gon’ love me for my ambition… – Wale
I’ve always had an interesting relationship with the word ambition. As long as I can remember, I’ve been told ambition is something you need. It’s hard to meet and necessary for success. Without ambition, we’re all floating around without a care in the world. I’ve always thought myself to be an ambitious person. I have dreams of what I want to do, what I want my life to look like. But some things get in the way of ambition and today, I want to share about one of those things.
Continue readingReceiving Permission to Feel Tired
I was reflecting on my most recent therapy session when I realized that there was a recurring phrase I was using over and over again. No matter what the topic was or how I felt about it, everything came back to me saying “I’m tired.” Listen – at some point or another, we all get tired. Physically, mentally, emotionally, we are tired and need rest to prepare for what’s next. But the way I was saying it – the tone I was using, the way I thought about it – is what caught my attention, and it’s what I’d like to talk about today.
Continue readingI Am Not My Anxiety
This post comes on a heels of a similar post I wrote recently called “I Am Not My Depression” (you can check it out here!). A big part of my mental health journey is the way I’ve noticed that language has built up the stigma surrounding mental health, which means I’m constantly trying to find ways to break down that stigma. And just like in my recent post, I want to share why instead of saying that I’m more than my anxiety, I explicitly try to reinforce the notion that I am not my anxiety – and here’s why.
Continue readingWhy Do I Always Need to ‘Keep Going’?
There are many ways to combat mental health challenges, and one of them that I’ve been reflecting on recently is motivation. Using motivational techniques has been very helpful when it comes to my mental health. I’ll watch videos, listen to speeches, or find quotes that give me a boost. I want to find things that will give me the energy I need to get through this moment and on to the next. I was doing this recently when I came upon a phrase I’ve seen hundreds of times on the Internet: “keep going.” And I don’t know why, but this time it rubbed me the wrong way. Even though I understand the good intentions of the phrase, I want to challenge it. What does it really mean?
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My Brain's Not Broken 