As most of you know, May is mental health month. A month that meant absolutely nothing to me until three years ago when I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. When you have a mental illness it becomes something you just learn to deal with. And it gets fucking rough! No matter how far you think you’ve come or how good you’ve been feeling, your mental illness is always there to varying degrees.
At its worst, my anxiety kept me from doing a lot of really important things like taking care of myself and staying in touch with my friends and family. It’s ruined a lot of relationships and even stopped me from accepting my dream job in NYC five years ago. It sucks, man. It really does. And to be honest, there’s still a lot I’m trying to figure out about my mental health and what my personal road to recovery and acceptance looks like. Here’s a bunch of random stuff I’ve learned over the last few years:
Never underestimate the power of a long walk. During your lunch break, after work, on Sunday mornings. Even if you’re feeling terrible, try to get out of bed and go. I tend to get most of my thinking done while I’m walking aimlessly through the city and it’s helped start a lot of really great writing projects which leads me to...
Remember that thing you were really passionate about when you were a teenager? For me it was writing. After 4 years of college writing classes, I no longer had anyone forcing me to turn in an essay every week and lost touch with something I had been super passionate about. Now I carve out three hours every week to sit down and focus on something I really enjoy doing.
Music may not be able to heal all wounds but it can definitely make you feel like you’re not alone. When my anxiety starts to get bad, I turn to this album by The Front Bottoms and revisit my favorite album by Brand New. The more angst the better, in my opinion.
Meditate. Headspace has been a lifesaver and forces me to pause for 10-15 minutes every day and just be at peace with my thoughts.
Get a good therapist. I don’t know where I’d be without mine.
Assume everyone is doing their best. Seriously, everyone. The friends you haven’t talked to in awhile. The driver who just blew through a red light. The person taking forever in line. We’ve all got our own problems and assuming that everyone is out to get you is only going to make you paranoid and angry and sad. Try to make kindness and patience your default reaction to things that bother you.
Welp, that’s all I got about that. I may not have figured this whole thing out but I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately which is more than I could say 5 years ago. Take some time today (and tomorrow, and next week) to focus on your mental health and to reach out to someone who you know may be struggling with theirs. Your mind and theirs will thank you for it. :)
