After being diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder years ago, it took me a very long time to find any positives to such a condition. Nowadays, I embrace that I'm designed differently and that having anxiety doesn't mean that I'm broken. Here are some lessons that anxiety taught me. Flexibility If I had a nickname, it would probably be Mr. Routine....[ read more ]
Social media, like anything else we consume, has its pros and cons. Pros: Apps such as Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat allow us to keep up with friends, network, and promote businesses; for example, I use Facebook groups to network with other therapists and to receive referrals for new clients. These apps also help families separated by distance to stay connected....[ read more ]
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Last week, I found myself reflecting back to my earliest memories of mental illness. The first instance that came to mind probably occurred when I was around 11-years-old. My mother was dating the man that would later become her husband. Brian had a son a few years younger than me and I remember my...[ read more ]
Recently, my wife asked me if I had ever heard of PANDAS. Since I hadn’t, I began to do some research on the topic and I thought I’d share some of what I learned with you. PANDAS/PANS PANDAS stands for pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcal infections. As the name suggests, it’s a neurocognitive condition that seems to be...[ read more ]
Today, I want to share about a product I’ve been using to help manage my anxiety disorder. It’s worth noting that I am using this product in addition to other mental health interventions. Bach Rescue Remedy is considered homeopathic, which is alternative medicine. It is all natural, vegan, and gluten-free. Ingredients/ uses My review If you keep up with my...[ read more ]
Let’s take a minute to imagine the inner workings of the anxious mind: fears, an overactive fight-or-flight response, racing thoughts, and much more. As someone living with an anxiety disorder, these are all thoughts, behaviors, and feelings that I experience on an almost daily basis. List making is a skill that I’ve used in my own life to help manage...[ read more ]
This post is about a topic that we’ve all experienced at some point in our lives but maybe didn’t know there was a term for it. What is post-event rumination and how does it occur? Post-event rumination is when a person critiques their social performance following a social event. It involves focusing on what went wrong. Though all humans have engaged...[ read more ]
You find yourself marking ‘Decline with regrets’ on a wedding invitation. Staying home from the office Christmas party. Being terrified at the thought of the wait staff singing “Happy Birthday” to you at a restaurant. And saying things like, “You go in, I’ll wait in the car.” A quick google search defines Social Anxiety as “some amount of fear in...[ read more ]
Though I’ve been writing on the topic of mental health, I enjoy reading other blogs on the topic as well. I’ve seen several that talk about medications prescribed for conditions like depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. For this post, I’d like to share some of my insights about mental health medication both from a personal standpoint (I was diagnosed with...[ read more ]
I’ve been reading a lot of blogs lately on the topic of minimalism. The definition of minimalism may vary from person-to-person. From my understanding, minimalism is focusing on what is most important and useful to you and getting rid of the excess. This can be applied to the amount of stuff you have, the number of commitments you make, what...[ read more ]