I’m starting to feel joy again. What an amazing feeling. I remember telling my therapist shortly before my mom passed that one of my goals was to be able to truly feel laughter and joy again. I spoke about how life felt less joyful, and moments of laughter felt almost out of body, and that I wasn’t actually experiencing them …
Be Prepared for Your Bad Days
Lately, I’ve been doing really well. With therapy and medication, I’ve been able to cope with my mental illness and properly take care of myself. This week, though, my therapist reminded me to be prepared for when things might take a turn. When we’re in a good headspace, it can be difficult to think about how we’ll continue to take …
You Hold Power Over Your Own Thoughts
This week in therapy, my therapist said something that really stuck with me. She told me, “You have dominion over your own thoughts and actions.” We were talking about negative thinking and intrusive thoughts, specifically in reference to one particular incident that happened a few months ago. In the past, I’ve talked about separating what your mental illness is saying …
Rebuilding Myself
In the face of loss I am rebuilding myself. Y’all, it’s been a while. Over a month since I last blogged. Over a month since I’ve really been engaged on social media for my speaking page. I needed this break. I still feel like I could take a longer break, but I think I am going to come back a …
Accept Forgiveness from Yourself
CW: self-harm, suicidal thoughts Mental illness is so complex and volatile. One minute, you might feel great, and the next, you might feel like the world is crashing down around you. During my senior year of college, as many of you know, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. While that diagnosis terrified me, it finally gave a name to what …
Mauri Shares Her #WarriorWednesday Story
This week for #WarriorWednesday, Mauri Hogan, a 24-year-old psychology doctoral student at Adler University in Chicago, shared her mental health journey. See what she has to say below, and be sure to listen to this week’s podcast on Saturday to hear more about her story and her experiences! As a clinical psychology doctoral student with a history of anxiety, PTSD, …
Don’t Doubt Yourself
This week, we went axe throwing as a staff. It was so much fun, and it also taught me something about myself. I’m a hesitater. I never realized how nervous I get when I’m trying something new, especially if I’ve already convinced myself I won’t be good at it. When our coach was teaching us how to throw the axes, …
Let Yourself Feel Your Feelings
It’s not always easy to confront your emotions and let yourself process them. For so long, mental illness has been stigmatized in our society, but as we learn more and continue talking about it, that stigma is starting to fade. Even in the past decade, I’ve noticed a decrease in the stigma around mental illness. When I was in high …
It’s Okay if You Don’t Have the Same Energy Around Things You Used to Love to Do
It’s okay if you don’t have the same energy around the things you used to. This is a message I keep trying to remind myself. I’ve mentioned this before and I’ll mention it now, my motivation levels are so low, writing these blogs is so hard to do these days. Let’s not even mention the speaking engagement I had last …
Chastity Shares Her #iAM1N5 Journey…
This week for Warrior Wednesday, Chastity Haxton, a retired college athlete, cheerleading coach, graduate student, friend, and mental health advocate shared her #IAM1N5 story of living with generalized anxiety disorder, depression and PTSD. She talks about how being a competitive athlete impacted her mental illnesses causing her to struggle with eating disorders and Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Follow along to see …