Encourage Mental Health

Surviving The Holidays Despite Anxiety Jennifer Scott spiritfinder.org   Now that winter is here, so are the traditional holidays. Even if you don’t follow any particular tradition, it’s common to gather together with family, have some big meals, and exchange gifts. For some people, the holidays also mean fights with family, feeling lonely, and being anxious about it all. If you’re hosting, the anxiety can increase as you worry about cooking, cleaning, and finding room for everybody. Thankfully, there are some steps you can take to control your anxiety and enjoy the holidays this year. Just know it’s not you — there are legitimate reasons why people feel more anxious around the holiday season. Image Source: Pixabay Why Anxiety Gets Worse Is there something about family gatherings and the winter holidays that makes anxiety worse? Popular Science says yes, and that’s because you often have expectations . Holiday movies and looking at the past with rose-colored glasses c

Driving home today, I saw a large sticker plastered on the back of a truck that read: LIBERALISM IS A MENTAL DISORDER. To be fair, I'm not sure if the driver was referring to a mental illness or a developmental disability, so I'll address both... since, of course, I want to be politically correct. Both mental illness and developmental disabilities or delays transcend one's political ideology.   When being treated for mental illness, if you can afford it, you meet people of all walks of life. Every socioeconomic status, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and political party is impacted by mental illness. 20% of American adults have a psychiatric disorder, so if you can't think of someone close to you who battles mental illness, then they just aren't telling you. Would you park this truck in a neighborhood that just lost a community member to suicide, or outside a house where a person with anxiety is learning to cope with his mental illness so he can at

September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day, and for so many people around the world, it's a day where they remember a person close to them or their community who lost his or her life to suicide. Some people will reach out with support to someone who has or had suicidal ideation. Some people will reflect back to a time when they were suicidal. All of these scenarios are covered in Project Semicolon: Your Story Isn't Over, described by people who have been touched by suicide. Started by Amy Bleuel, the Semicolon has become a globally recognized symbol for suicide awareness, representing that someone's story could have ended, but he or she decided to keep going. I was excited for the book to finally be published, as I learned last year that a piece I wrote about my journey with mental illness would be included in the book. I explained how I found hope when I found my psychiatric service dog, Joey. Even though my story wasn't about suicide, I submitted it, hoping th

Joey has been my faithful companion and loyal friend since February of 2015. He began training to become my psychiatric service dog to help me lead a more independent and fulfilling life by learning tasks to help me manage my severe anxiety disorder. He would accompany me to stores, restaurants, gas stations, or anywhere else in public that my anxiety had prohibited me from going. He was my date to several events and inspired me to speak openly about my mental illness and educate people about stigma and the use of psychiatric service dogs. On our journey together, we met incredible people and found love and support from our community and from all over the country; I'm beyond thankful. A lot has changed in my life within the past year and a half. After several years of drastic medication changes, my doctors finally found the correct combination. This balance allowed me to develop coping skills and focus on my treatment. I was discharged from the intensive therapy program I had bee

Yesterday I drove an hour north to Troy to attend an overnight Governance Retreat for SUNY Empire State College. I represented my region on the Student Affairs Committee, as the primary representative couldn't make it. I had the most amazing time meeting faculty, staff, and students from all around the state. The experience motivated me to keep working hard in my studies and encouraged me to get more involved in student life. As I drove home today, I reflected on my journey. Last week was the 4 year anniversary of when my family and I realized I had a mental illness. If you’re familiar with my battle with an anxiety disorder, you'd know that going on this trip would've been impossible for me, even just a year ago. I faced serious issues and obstacles during my battle with mental illness, but for me, nothing was as painful as the day I had to withdraw from my senior year of classes at SUNY New Paltz. I was just 30 credits away from my Bachelors degree.  As much as I wanted

In January, I officially became a college student again. For a couple years, I hadn't even considered returning to school to be a realistic goal for myself. By the summer of 2016, I finally felt confident and prepared enough to look into finishing my bachelor's degree. By November, I was accepted to SUNY Empire State College, ready to pursue a degree in Community and Human Services. Now, in the middle of March, I have just begun my second class in the program. One of these classes is Crisis Intervention. For our "icebreaker" post, we were asked to write about a turning point in our lives, a time that we felt nervous or uncertain but resulted in something fantastic. One of the most incredible turning points in my life was when I decided to sign-up for a TMI Project memoir writing workshop; it truly changed my life and changed the way I thought about my journey with mental illness. I wanted to use my blog to publically share what I wrote for my icebreaker discussion

Valentine's Day can bring up many different emotions for people. Some look forward to February 14th and others dread it. Some make romantic plans for the day and others choose not to celebrate it. Throughout the years, I've experienced each of these feelings. Whether or not someone has a mental illness, this time of year can amplify feelings of loneliness or hopelessness. Through the beginning of February, virtually every store has displays or aisles of red decorations, boxes of chocolates, sentimental cards, teddy bears, and various stuffed animals that dance to old love songs when you press a button. It can be overwhelming. Even if someone doesn't agree with the commercialism of the holiday or even the holiday in general, these things can become a reminder that he or she doesn't have a significant other or romantic partner in his or her life. In 2015 and 2016, I was single on Valentine's Day. I was also working on my healing and learning how to cope w