I’m switching my antidepressants to help with my anxiety. Three out of seven days a week, I have panic attacks. I’m not sure that people who don’t struggle with anxiety or experience panic attacks actually know what they are or what they feel like. It’s different for everyone, but for everyone that experiences them, it is hell.
Continue reading “Anxiety Has Taken My Energy, Focus, And Happiness, But It Hasn’t Taken My Life”
I’m a chronic journaler. I have been since I was old enough to form articulate sentences. I keep a journal at home, a journal at my office, and a note on my phone for journaling when I don’t have a notebook with me. I’ve gone through four notebooks in three years. They are full of my thoughts, my fears, my vulnerabilities. I continue to journal, and I like to reflect on my past journals.
Continue reading “I Journal Because It Shows Me How Far I’ve Come”
Self-care is such a cliche phrase. I know what first comes to mind for some people: bubble baths and face masks. Wine and a cat. Getting a massage. Those are all great tactics, but that’s not what self-care is. Those are outputs of self-care. Self-care is taking care of yourself mentally, emotionally, and physically. Sometimes it means doing what you really don’t want to do, like eating kale or going to the doctor, and sometimes, yes, it means bubble baths and wine. But the overall concept of self-care is — and this is complex, so pay attention — to take care of yourself inside and out. What an idea!
Continue reading “Self-Care Is A Necessity, Not A Luxury”
Finding a therapist is often the hardest part about therapy itself. I have been in therapy before I came to NYC. I went a few times in high school. I had my breakthrough about my depression in college and had a great therapist from the school’s therapy center. When I graduated and moved back to my hometown, I had a therapist I didn’t really like. Each of these therapists had journeys to find them. Some more difficult than others.
Continue reading “Finding A Therapist Sucks, But I Promise It’s Worth It”
What’s in your mental health toolbox?
I am no handyman, by any means. I literally used Taskrabbit to get someone to hang my shelves (it was a hard exterior wall, okay!). I have a pink toolkit somewhere that I haven’t used since college. We have a toolbox in my apartment now and we call it “Stanley.” Like, it’s not a toolbox. It’s Stanley. “Can you hand me Stanley?” We’re weird, I know this.
Continue reading “You Have A Mental Health Toolbox, Even If You Don’t Know What It Is”
When I started on my mental health journey, I didn’t follow a ton of self-love and body-posi accounts on social media. My feed mostly consisted of friends, people I no longer talked to from my town or college, and celebrities, including every Kardashian. It also consisted of fitspo accounts and workout accounts to get me ~motivated~ and ready to shred my abs (aka hate myself and my body more).
Continue reading “16 Accounts To Follow On Insta For Happier Scrolling”
I went through traumatic events, but I’m not saint. I bottled up my emotions and only took them out in the form of anger.
Continue reading “I’m Not A Mental Health Saint, So Please Don’t Assume I Am”
I’m sitting in my bed in my tiny, but cozy, apartment in New York City. I live with my best friends and we have an adorable (yet vicious) cat together. I have a job I’m passionate about, a boss that cares about my well-being, and a friend group that supports me through everything. I have an overly-growing collection of books, candles, and plants, and I have mastered making my tea just how I like it.
Continue reading “I’m Grateful For My Trauma Because It Gave Me My Strength”
I have had this uncomfortable struggle with loving and appreciating my body since I was going through puberty. It’s only been very recent that I’ve learned to love this body. By very recent, I would say probably in the past few months.
Continue reading “Losing Weight Or Changing Who You Are Starts With Accepting Yourself As You Are”
It has taken me a long time to open up about my depression. Even when I decided to write about it, I still put it off for months. I know that this is a generic blog post about mental health, but writing this is cathartic, and I know that by putting this out there, I may be able to help someone else.
Continue reading “The Truth About My Depression”
Stigma Breakers 