Every day in my work I meet people who are in the throes of mental health crisis. I meet people who are struggling with crippling anxiety, profound depression, substance use disorders, eating disorders and trauma. I meet people struggling with suicidal thoughts. People come to our offices seeking help, searching for a way out of their misery. I am reminded of the courage, the bravery it takes simply to say, “I cannot do this alone. I need help.”

All too often it seems, people living with mental illness feel that living with these diseases is a sign of weakness and that asking for help somehow makes them lesser people. This could not be farther from the truth. It takes more courage to ask for help than it does to suffer in silence. It takes more strength to take that first step on your journey toward wellness than it does to stay stuck in mental illness.

So often, people living with mental illness become comfortably uncomfortable with their disease. They become used to living with the symptoms of depression and anxiety; they become used to living with their substance of choice. People become so used to their illness that even the thought of living a different way and embracing a new and better life can be more paralyzing than staying stuck in their sickness. Change can be scary and requires courage.

One of the reasons people do not seek help is because they do not believe anyone wants to hear about their concerns. There are people out there who do want to help you work through your problems and help you create for yourself a better life. Can you find the courage to ask for help? Can you find your strong, your brave and reach out for assistance? You do not have to do this alone.

With everything going on in the world, it can be easy to let things get to you and bring you down. What to do in times when the world seems to be crashing in on itself and you are bombarded with constant negativity? Practicing self-care can help navigate these difficult times.

What is self-care? It is taking the time to take care of yourself and your needs. Here are some things to try:

• Get Enough Sleep
• Maintain Proper Nutrition
• Exercise Regularly
• Maintain Social Support
• Find Hobbies You Enjoy
• Pamper Yourself

Self-care is not selfish. You need time to take care of yourself when the going gets tough. Even 15 minutes of listening to your favorite music or reading a favorite book can help you balance your life with all that is happening in the world.

If you begin to feel overwhelmed and believe you need more than self-care, reach out. There are people who can help you work through your feelings about what is happening in the world. If you begin to feel like it’s all just too much and you want to exit this world, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800.273.TALK or text the Crisis Text Line at 741 741.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So often in my work, I meet people living with profound depression and crippling anxiety. One of the things I frequently hear in people living with these diseases is negative self-talk. What would happen if instead of beating ourselves up for living with mental illness, substance use, trauma or eating disorders, we started speaking kindly to ourselves? What would happen if we simply loved ourselves?

What if instead of berating ourselves for being stricken with mental illness, we reminded ourselves how strong we are? What if instead of saying nasty things to ourselves about dealing with anxiety, we reminded ourselves that we are warriors? What if instead of berating ourselves for living with substance use disorders, we reminded ourselves that we live with a disease? What if instead of saying we will be happy when we lose 10 pounds, we tell ourselves that we deserve to be happy right now exactly as we are? What if instead of blaming ourselves for being the victim of trauma, we reminded ourselves that we are stronger than we think?

There are scores of positive things we could say to ourselves on a daily basis to turn our thinking around. It may sound silly, but we can practice saying kind and loving things to ourselves when we are getting ready for the day. Just look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that you are lovable. There are other things you can say to yourself. Some are below:

• I am beautiful.

• I am smart.

• I am blessed with talents that I love.

• I deserve to achieve my dreams.

• I am worthy of love and belonging.

• I am worthy of respect simply for being human.

• I am strong.

• I am a fighter.

• My features are beautiful.

• I believe in my abilities.

• I am unstoppable.

The more you say these things to yourself, the more you will come to believe them. When you have belittled yourself with negative self-talk for years, changing your vernacular to positive self-talk can feel foreign and forced. Practice saying kind things to yourself and you will start to see that wonderful person that you truly are. More likely than not, no one is more cruel to you than you. Is it not time to start treating yourself with the kindness you afford others? Do you not deserve your own love?

Every so often in my work, I meet someone struggling with an eating disorder. Eating disorders are more common than most people think and according to some statistics, about 30 million people of all ages and genders live with eating disorders in the United States.

I am one of those people. I have lived with anorexia nervosa for 36 years. People say things to me such as, “Can’t you just eat something?” or “Just stop doing that.” It is not that easy. Anorexia gets inside you and lives there. I do not remember what it is like to live without anorexia. I cannot remember what my life was like before I started counting calories. I cannot remember what it was like to not look at my body and hate it. I cannot remember what it is like to think that if I eat, how long do I have to exercise tomorrow to burn off what I just ate? I do not remember what it is like to think that people looking at me think I am fat.

Eating disorders are complex mental illnesses that are difficult to treat. Some people believe eating disorders are simply about having a bad body image or wanting to be thin. There is more to eating disorders than just that. Some statistics indicate that every 62 minutes, at least one person dies as a direct result from an eating disorder. In fact, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.

Anorexia is not the only eating disorder people live with. While I have struggled with it, others live with bulimia or binge eating disorder. Most eating disorders thrive on isolation. People living with eating disorders often feel alone in their illness. It is this isolation that can lead one living with an eating disorder to consider suicide.

Living with an eating disorder is not a choice. Anorexia becomes you. Bulimia becomes you. Binge eating becomes you. But, as with other mental illnesses, there is help available. Many mental health counselors specialize in treating eating disorders and more and more treatment facilities are working with patients living with eating disorders. If you or someone you know is living with an eating disorder, reach out. Your local hospital may be able to recommend an agency or therapist for treatment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, each year 45,000 Americans die by suicide. Some statistics show that one person dies by suicide every 12 seconds and a suicide attempt is made every 28 seconds.

We may not always be able to stop someone from trying to kill themselves, but knowing the signs of suicidal thoughts and behaviors can help. Some of them are:

September is suicide awareness month. Sometimes feeling suicidal is less about wanting to die than it is about wanting the emotional or physical pain one is in to end. So often, suicide is about not knowing how to make that pain stop.

So often, those who are suicidal feel like a burden on their friends and loved ones. It is our jobs as friends and loved ones to reassure the person who is considering suicide that they are not a burden on us. It is our job to reassure them that they are loved and worthy of belonging because more often than not, the person who is feeling suicidal feels alone in his pain.

So often, people who are feeling suicidal believe that their friends and loved ones would be better off without them. People who are suicidal believe that by killing themselves, they are doing their loved ones a favor by dying. We must tell them that they are not a burden to us, we must tell them we love and need them in our lives. We must tell them that our lives would never, could never, be the same without them in it.

Suicide is not about being selfish. Suicide is about making the pain one is in stop. There is help for people who are feeling suicidal. If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800.273.TALK. Anyone who is feeling suicidal also can go to any hospital emergency room and receive help. There are people who care. There are people who want to help. You are not alone. You never are alone.