May is Mental Health Month. On my social media sites, I am doing videos with two pics at at a time with me narrating. Since I can't do videos on here, I will just do captured shots. If you want to to see videos, I'm on most social media sites. ( link in bio) #MentalHealth #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth #MentalIllness
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If you have a mental illness or poor mental health, going on vacation may not be fun for you. The vacation can become a hellcation if you do not do the right things to manage your mental health. Watch this short YouTube video on how to juggle your mental health and have a great time relaxing and enjoying your family and friends. www.youtube.com/live/zSjkIXhKAB0
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As it is Mental Health Awareness Month, I have put together my blogs about what I find it is like to live with Bipolar Disorder. If you have any questions, please just ask.
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Are you on your way to a burnout? We have all been there. One too many plates are spinning in the air with all kinds of stuff we feel we need to do. Here are some tips to get through the burnout.
1. Technology Break – Put down the phone, close the laptop, turn off the desktop or iPad. Sometimes information overload can contribute to the feeling of being overwhelmed. Bad news or good news, it is still info in and nothing going out relieve the stress on your brain.
2. Take time for yourself – I know for parents this is difficult to do with kids and all the demands of parenthood. However, in order to be the best you, you need to take care of yourself.
3. Do something fun – Take a walk with a friend. Set up a coffee or lunch date with a family member. Do something creative. Take a nap. Go on a day trip.
I hope these tips will help when burnout comes sneaking into your life.
1. Breathe in for 4 counts.
2. Hold for 4 counts.
3. Breathe out for 6 counts.
4. Repeat as needed.
The Science Behind This Tip: American Psychological Association on LinkedIn: Quick Ways t...
Katy Perry has struggled with depression. She speaks about this in an interview with ENews! She shares that writing music has helped her through much of it.
“It was more than I had ever faced in my life. I’d had bouts of depression before, but I had been able to avoid falling into the really dark depression by making music.” Katy went on to say, “I was so ashamed about being on medication because I was like...’I wrote ‘Firework.’ But it was one of those things where I’d sprained my brain a little bit.”
I have used music to help with my bipolar depression, too. I listen to all kinds of music from classical music, to the decades of music from the 60’s-2000’s, or Christian music. It all has a way of helping my mental health.
What type of music do you listen to that helps put you in a better mood? Do you listen to Katy Perry’s music to help with your mood? Send me an email and let me know.
References
Katy Perry Tells All: 8 Revelations On Her Mental Health, Or...
Katy Perry has struggled with depression. She speaks about this in an interview with ENews! She shares that writing music has helped her through much of it.
“It was more than I had ever faced in my life. I’d had bouts of depression before, but I had been able to avoid falling into the really dark depression by making music.” Katy went on to say, “I was so ashamed about being on medication because I was like...’I wrote ‘Firework.’ But it was one of those things where I’d sprained my brain a little bit.”
I have used music to help with my bipolar depression, too. I listen to all kinds of music from classical music, to the decades of music from the 60’s-2000’s, or Christian music. It all has a way of helping my mental health.
What type of music do you listen to that helps put you in a better mood? Do you listen to Katy Perry’s music to help with your mood? Send me an email and let me know. lilfeconquering@gmail.com
References
Katy Perry Tells All: 8 Revelations On Her Mental Health, Or...
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Ten years ago this afternoon, I attempted to kill myself for the first time. It was my first of two attempts (October 2017 in case you were wondering).
In many ways it was the worst moment of my life. It was rock bottom. It should have been the last day of my life. Ten years later, in a weird way, I see it as one of the best days of my life for the simple reason that it wasn't my last.
My depression's still a part me, but in a mostly admiring healed state. I've discarded the behaviors that come from it which do not serve me. The work to get to where I am is no small feat.
It's taken a lot of selfcare and Parts Work Therapy. Mental health doesn't take a day off. From 2012-2020, it was another fulltime job for me.
There's been three key pieces to getting to where I am today.
The first and most important has been therapy. Having a safe space to be honest, open, and vulnerable is the foundation of any mental health journey. More over, I needed coping mechanisms and behavior changes developed by a trained and experienced professional who knew my background. I never got on medication, but there were points where I was close.
The second is my relationship with my depression itself. Detangling what needs to be healed, what needs time, and what needs to be removed from my life has been a long progress. My depression, or rather my depressed self, will always be a part of me and my history.
The majority of him is recovered. Parts of him have been removed or moved on from. Marcus Aurelius had a great quote, saying "Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions, not inside."
I empathize with those parts of Depressed Matt. But they were not grounded in reality, healthy, or useful. It took years to identify those pieces and go through that process.
The last key to a decade of recovery has been my community. There was a great scene towards the end of this week's episode of Ted Lass (Season 3, Episode 9, "La Locker Room Aux Folles").
A character reveals something personal, vulnerable, and potentially controversial about themselves. The collective response is one of support, "we don't care," as in "it does not bother us. We don't see you differently. We support you."
Ted interrupts and adds on to the reaction in his own inimitable way, saying "we don't not care. We care very much. We care about who you are and want you must've been going through. From now on, you don't have to go through it all by yourself."
It was one thing for me to tell people I was depressed and planning to end my life. It was another thing for them to "not care" or judge. But really what mattered is nearly every person I've told has supported me and joined my team.
I alive and thriving today because at no point in the last decade have I been alone. I have no reservations talking about it publicly because of that. Furthermore, it's allowed me to "not not care" for every person who's ever confided in me about their mental health, ten years on and counting.
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Sometimes it is important to take a break from your world. Although I enjoy encouraging and educating about mental health, sometimes I need a break from the one thing that constantly reminds me of my mental illness.
In this month that takes time out to focus on mental health, I took my advice and took a break for my own mental health.
I have heard it said there are times to choose the best over the better. The past week, I chose the best, my mental health.
What are you doing today to choose the best, your mental health, over the better – your job, your many plates spinning in the air, your need to do everything for everyone, or fill-in-the-blank?
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