mental health awareness

Oh, dear exhausted soul I know you are suffering from a disease
But, trust me you are not alone in this,
I know how hard it is to get up from your bed
When deep inside, you feel like a dead,
I know what it takes you to hold your toothbrush
I know it is becoming hard for you to get away from this rush,
But, as the sun always shines , so will you
Your life is just giving you a clue,
That, one day all of this pain will transform you into something unbreakable and new.

- Prachita

More power and strength to all of the chronic and mental illness warriors! ✨♥️

#ChronicIlless #MentalHealth #Pain
#InvisibleIllness #MentalHealthAwareness

In high school and college, mental illness was not a word that was heard. I’m not exactly sure when my mental illness started. Could it have started in high school? I was so busy doing all my extra-curricular activities and focusing on getting to college that I didn’t have a moment to consider my mental health.

When I got to college, it was such a different world for me. New friends, new experiences, new ebb and flow of everything from classes to sleeping and eating. If I wasn’t in class, I was practicing with a musical ensemble or on one of the instruments I was playing. There was never a time to slow down and think about my mental health.

Now that I know what mental illness is and live with it day in and day out, I want to share my story. I hope that I can be a beacon of light for someone else who struggles, too. Having a mental illness can be so lonely because of the stigma that goes along with it.

I know how stigma can affect someone professionally because I have lost amazing jobs due to my mental illness being revealed.

You may not suffer from a mental illness, but you might know someone who does. You can easily share my posts and my blog with them so they do not feel so lonely.

If you do struggle with a mental illness, do know you are not alone. You do not have to post a blog or even comment on my blogs or posts. Just read them or watch my videos and know that we are in this together.

#MentalHealthAwareness

Personal Story

The other day, my bipolar rollercoaster took me to a place I didn’t want to go. Everything felt like a huge chore. I didn’t want to write, I didn’t want to go shopping, and I didn’t want to read.

Basically I didn’t want to do the things I normally like to do, which is a sign of depression. My depression was so bad that I thought the only thing to relieve it was to end it. Suicide is another symptom of bipolar depression.

I just want to be normal. I want to be able to have a normal job. Be a normal wife. Be a normal woman. Be a normal friend.

Bible Lesson

There is a woman in the Bible who wanted to be normal. She had a bleeding problem that lasted 12 years. She had spent all her money going to doctors to try to fix her medical issue.

Due to her medical problem, she was deemed unclean by the Jewish culture. She was unable to go to the temple and worship. She couldn’t touch people or be touched. She couldn’t get a hug. She was alienated from society, her friends, and her family.

She dreamed of being normal. One day, she heard Jesus was going to be in town. The lady with the 12-year bleeding problem thought to herself, if only I could get close enough to touch Him, I could be healed. So she touched Him and she was healed. She was finally normal.

Connection

I reach out to Jesus when I have my rollercoaster moments. With tears pouring out of my eyes, I cried out to Him that I just wanted to be normal. No, I wasn’t healed of my bipolar, but He used my friends to heal me for the moment.

I reached out to a few of my closest friends and they were Jesus through the words of their texts.

My husband was really sweet. He said I am normal in my own way and that’s okay.

Even as I write this script, I can’t help from crying. It is a mixture of wanting to be healed and to be normal. It is also knowing that I am dearly loved by my friends, they accept me who I am, and they don’t want me to be in pain.

I say they were Jesus through their texts, because I believe they were saying just what Jesus would have texted to me, if He had a cell phone.

Action Steps

1. It is okay to not be “normal”, because what is “normal”? Being normal is relative.

2. If you suffer from a mental illness, be sure you are getting the medical help you need.

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3. If you know someone who has a mental illness, be Jesus through a text, a hug, acceptance of where your friend or family member is right now. You have no idea what your words or your hug or just going out for coffee can do to help someone with a mental illness from spiraling out of control or even self-harm.

Reference

Luke 8:43-48

#Bipolar #MentalHealthAwareness

In 1938, Harvard began a study which over the course of the duration of the research included over 700 participants. Through many interviews and observations over time, the results have discovered there are certain characteristics that make someone happier and healthier.

Many people believe the key ingredients for happiness are career achievement, material success, exercise, or diet. However, the most consistent characteristic over the nearly 100 years of research was “positive relationships with family, friends, and community”. The study determined positive relationships increase happiness as well as keeps us healthier and live longer.

One of the researchers found the participants who had strong support systems in place were less susceptible to mental deterioration as they aged. As we know, connecting with others boosts mood.

The researchers discovered genetics still played an important role in longevity, but it was less so as determined by satisfying relationships in midlife. Other factors contributing to happiness and better health were physical activity, staying away from alcohol abuse and smoking, having coping techniques to handle life’s ups and downs, as well as a healthy weight.

Below is a guide to cultivate proper relationships that will contribute to your overall health and happiness.

1. Learning and growing.

2. Emotional closeness and trust.

3. Romantic intimacy.

4. Fun and relaxation.

5. Smile intentionally and often.

6. Express gratitude and appreciation.

Your Action Plan

1. What can you do to increase your happiness and overall health?

2. Try to work on improving one of the six guides listed above.

3. Check out the link to the reference to find more guides to cultivate proper relationships.

Reference

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/some-assembly-required/20230...

#Health #Happiness #MentalHealthAwareness

Do you have some people in your life that are a bit “too much” to be around? They maybe a friend who demands a lot of attention. It could be a co-worker who has one drama after another. We used to say “that person has so many issues, they need a magazine rack.” LOL! Maybe your family member is jealous of your new apartment, your new smart phone, your new boyfriend, your new fill-in-the-blank.

I have someone in my life who is “too much”. During the first 5 or 10 minutes of the phone conversation, I feel as if I have been hit by a Mack truck. This person just talks about one thing after another, so fast and furious that I do not even know if she is taking breaths. I have even told her to breathe just to give my ears a chance to rest.

Boundaries

Boundaries are important in relationships. They define where you end and the other person begins. Sometimes people cross those boundaries. When that happens, sometimes it opens us up to triggers that could send our mental illness into a downward spiral.

I have heard the term “energy vampires” for people who suck the very life out of you which initiates poor mental health triggers. The examples of people above are energy vampires. They are the types of people who make you feel like you need a recovery nap after being with them.

Setting up appropriate boundaries with these people will keep you from experiencing triggers and keep your mental illness from spiraling out of control. The boundaries I have erected around myself to protect my fragile mental health from being sabotaged from the person I mentioned, keeps me sane.

What types of boundaries do you have in your life to protect your mental illness or mental health from energy vampires?

Call to Action

1. Assertive Communication. Reminding the energy vampire that you are part of the conversation too by reiterating something you said earlier and saying you didn’t want it to be missed.

2. Asking for Space. It is okay to ask for space if you are doing life together like at the office. You can politely say their huge personality is a bit much to handle at the moment and you need a break.

3. Say No. It is okay to say no. Let me say that again, it is okay to say no. You are not a door mat for someone to walk over or to take advantage of.

Your Stories

#If you have any ways you handle these energy vampires, please email me at lifeconquering@gmail.com or simply put your ideas in the comments.

References

www.boundariesbooks.com

“What Is an ‘Energy Vampire’ and How to Protect Yourself”

#boundaries #MentalHealth #MentalHealthAwareness

I know without a doubt someone reading this post may battle with anxiety. I would like to share with you my story and how, with determination, I say “Not today anxiety!”

Anxiety has been a life-long antagonist of mine. Growing up in an alcoholic and rage-oholic home, anxiety gripped me with fear and apprehension every afternoon on the school bus taking me back to the uncertainty of my childhood home.

My personal experiences have shown the immense affect nature and nurture have on a human being. Due to the daily battle year after year during the most precious and fragile time of brain development, I have grown into an adult with severe GAD which stands for generalized anxiety disorder. With the proper treatment, I have learned to cope with GAD.

I would like to share a few things that have helped me cope with my anxiety:

1. Realize that the anxiety is trying to steal your joy. Don’t let anything or anyone steal that joy. You deserve to feel and live a life without fear.

2. Anxiety loves to use lies to tighten its grip on our lives. Kick anxiety to the curb. Say to the anxiety with tremendous resolve: “Thank you, anxiety, I’ll keep that in mind, but it’s not relevant right now.”

3. Believe and listen to the REAL truth. “for God did not give us a spirit of anxiety, but of power, of love, and of self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7.

GAD will be a battle for me the rest of my life. However, I have and will continue to develop methods of managing my anxiety so I can live a rich life of joy and peace.

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Resource on Anxiety

www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders

#Anxiety #MentalHealthAwareness #GAD

This is exactly what I, and countless others, do everyday - we put up a ‘public persona’ to hide what we’re truly going through. We pretend that we aren’t: in #AGONY or #depressed or #exhausted or #anxious . We pretend because we are #scared of how others would treat us if they really know what we were going through. The thing is though, by pretending we are something we’re not, we are giving ourselves more #Stress but also denying someone the opportunity to help us deal with the things that are really going on in our lives.
#itsokaynottobeokay #itsoktoneedhelp #ChronicIllness #chronicillnessawareness #ChronicPain #chronicpainawareness #mentalhealthmatters #MentalHealth #MensMentalHealth #CollegeMentalHealth #MentalHealthAwareness #Disability #IntellectualDisability #DevelopmentalDisability #InvisibleDisability #disabilityawareness #invisibleillnessawareness #FunctionalNeurologicalDisorder #FND #FNDAwareness #JointHypermobilitySyndrome #ChronicMigraineSyndrome #ChronicVestibularMigraine #HemiplegicMigraine #Migraine #BipolarDepression #ChronicDepression #Depression #ChronicFatigue #Anxiety #SensoryProcessingDisorder #BrainFog #PanicAttacks #PanicDisorder #notalone #BeYourself

Sometimes we forget (myself included) that self care is an important part of keeping ourselves healthy. My therapist often recommends self care and I try my best but in days when the #BipolarDepression gets to me. Or when my anxiety is bad. But what are you doing to make yourself happy? We all deserve to be happy and healthy and heal(if you need to). I’ve been on my healing ❤️‍🩹 journey for a few years now and I am getting better at self care. I don’t struggle with as much guilt. I wish you all happy self care ❤️.

#SexualAbuse #EmotionalAbuse #PTSD #BipolarDisorder #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #Healing #Anxiety #Selflove #Selfcare #MightyTogether #MentalHealthAwareness #EndTheStigma