May is Mental Health Awareness Month,
and I haven’t written a damn thing about it here. Admittedly, I’m at kind of a crossroads with sharing online—I’m starting to think about what I want out there for future therapy clients to find…and also future possible romantic interests. (Yes, I’ve only really started thinking about the latter 11 years in. No, I have no idea why I’m single.)
Plus, I’m really just trying to make it day by day through this pandemic. I’m incredibly lucky in so many ways, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t hell on my mental health some days.
With all of that said, while I sort through what I’m comfortable sharing these days, I still wanted to pull together some resources in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month. As always, I think it is so important to talk about mental health, but now more than ever—prescriptions of anti-anxiety meds and antidepressants are up dramatically right now as people’s lives fall apart and people deal with the implications of being isolated. I don’t know about you, but when I am in the thick of depression or anxiety, I feel so alone. My goal in writing has always been to make others feel less alone in their struggles.
What follows is a combination of what I’ve written about mental health plus other resources to help you right now.
Anxiety
I would like to say I’m an early adopter to writing about anxiety—I first wrote about panic attacks in 2012, before there was as much openness about mental health on the internet as there is now.
Podcast Ep (remember when I did that?!): How to Deal with Anxiety at Work (with Katherine Schafler, therapist)
How to Overcome Anxiety, Starting Now (Daily Burn)
Depression
Whatever You’re Feeling is OK (this is specifically in regards to our current covid situation but is also universal!)
Not All Objects Are As They Appear: my decision to begin antidepressants
The Workouts I Use in My Mental Health Toolkit
Sharing My #LifeUnfiltered Story
Depression Wanted to Steal My Will to Live: my time in inpatient treatment
What a Friend with Depression Needs to Hear
Ketamine: A Depression Treatment That’s Working: Ketamine was the game-changer for me, and I still get infusions roughly every month. (See also: Former Club Drugs and Puppies)
Grief
I put together a whole page of my grief writing here, and also some other grief resources. Recently, I wrote here about the collective grief we’re all facing right now.
Becoming a Therapist!
If you somehow have missed this, I’m currently in grad school to take what I’ve experienced and use it to help others and become a therapist! It is really overwhelming to think that I still have another 3.5 years before I’ll be a licensed therapist (my heart started racing typing that), but it feels right, and I am so excited.
Other Mental Health Resources
Crisis (also 911!)
