Author Archives: Sean Johnson

The Man In The Mirror

If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change!

The late, exceedingly great, Michael Jackson used these lyrics in his iconic song and they have never been more accurate. A lot of times, we tend to put blame on the world around us for our state of mind. We blame other people and their actions on our state of mind and being. We think and move according to how we feel we have been treated and end up recycling negative energy into the world. This does nothing but spread continued negative energy and discord, which is of course detrimental to our collective mental health.

A mirror is an object that reflects an image. It shows the image in its truest form. No abnormalities or imperfections. Thus when we go in front of one, it reflects us. It reflects YOU. It shows you who you are and allows you to see yourself the way the world sees you. Try talking in the mirror the way you do and see how you look. You may be surprised by what you see. That is why to truly begin to make change in this world, we need to look at ourselves and see what we put into the world. There are many questions you can ask yourself to get an idea of what energy we put into the world:

  • How do I treat other people?
  • How do I respond to other people?
  • How do I take criticism?
  • What do I expect from other people?
  • How do I want to be viewed by other people?

We all want to maintain our individuality in this world and I do not advocate living your life just in accordance to how other people may see you. Nevertheless, I do believe that positive actions beget positive actions. Being kinder to your fellow man goes a long way into making the world a brighter place. For you and for me, and the entire human race. The goal of making the world a better place is a goal we all need to work towards. Being nicer to people doesn’t make you weak. It doesn’t lose you respect. It builds towards more peaceful environments where we can comfortably be our best selves.

Making the world a better place starts with you. It starts with me. We need to look in our metaphysical mirrors and take a look at how we deal with people. How we talk to them. How we greet them. How we stand in the face of disagreement with them. How we respond to them when they need help. How we respond when they need discipline. All of our interactions with other people can be examined and optimized to not only demand respect from our peers, but also to show care and compassion to them as well. We gotta start with the man in the mirror and ask them to change their ways. For the better good and a better world.

Trauma Bonds

Relationships are one of the cornerstones of our society. From friendships, to partnerships, we continue to connect, share experiences, and learn together as individuals. Humans are social creatures, so relationships with other humans are very par for the course. We find things we like in other people and it attracts us to them and makes us want to learn more about them. So we get to know them and we build a bond with them over time. We build a bond from similar experiences and an interest in the other person you just feel. There is no abuse. No misconstrued passion disguising hurtful intent. You should not experience trauma.

“The difference between constructive criticism and destructive criticism is the presence of a personal attack and impossible standards. These so-called ‘critics’ often don’t want to help you improve, they just want to nitpick, pull you down and scapegoat you in any way they can. Abusive narcissists and sociopaths employ a logical fallacy known as ‘moving the goalposts’ in order to ensure that they have every reason to be perpetually dissatisfied with you. This is when, even after you’ve provided all the evidence in the world to validate your argument or taken an action to meet their request, they set up another expectation of you or demand more proof.”— Shahida Arabi

Relationships are the one of the cornerstones of our society. “I’ve just met my soulmate! We share literally all the same interests and the way we met was magical, almost electric!” “I can’t leave him, he’s my everything. He was just mad from work. Barely a scratch!” “He pays all the bills, I can’t afford to leave him. Makeup does wonders, no one will notice!” “I can’t leave, he needs me, he has no one else” A relationship should not be a prison sentence. You do not exist to give someone else a reason to. You should not be obligated to bolster anyone while you serve as collateral. You should not feel trapped in your relationship, rather it should be a source of happiness in your life. You should be free to challenge yourself and pursue what you want in life with a supportive, caring partner. Bonding with someone while dealing with the trauma that they cause you can bring up some very dangerous codependent habits that halt our growth and keep you entitled to the abuser. The bond is powerful despite the abuse and can go on for far longer than we hope to believe.

No one deserves to be abused. Don’t ever let someone believe that they have some power over what you do or how you think. We are all deserving of being treated like we matter in this world, and a trauma bond will have you believe that you deserve no less than imprisonment. The signs of a person trauma bonded can hard to see, as a lot of the abuse can be mental or emotional. Nevertheless, the effects of the abuse can travel far, seeping into the lives of the person who is being abused. Children can be affected too, seeing their parent unfortunately show the wrong version of how to be loved by someone. A person being abused may not even want to admit to the abuse, shaking it off like the examples in the previous paragraph. Without admittance, it because even more difficult to escape the toxic and maybe even life threatening situation.

No one should ever dictate how your life will go and what your place in the world is. No one should ever have the power to make you feel less than you are. The people who gain power from treating people like this need no more power from you. You don’t need to supply their fragile egos with more essence that you should be putting towards yourself and your growth. Someone wants to hear your story and help you become strong enough to not be held down by people not fit for you and your journey. People in the support community, your friends and family, etc. You don’t need to stay in that situation and if you know someone that is in such a situation, please let them know they are not alone. We all deserve a life without the weight of wrongful expectation. We deserve to live without being hit. We deserve to live without being badmouthed by those saying they love us.

A little Reminder……

Reaching peak positive mental health is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Reaching mental clarity is not an overnight thing. It requires you to be ever vigilant (but not hypervigilant!) in regards to your respective triggers and how they can affect how you treat other people. We are all human and we can slip up from time to time. That’s not a bad thing. What is bad is not trying to get back up after a fall. What’s bad is not allowing yourself to be an imperfect being. We were not created to be perfect beings. Humanity is reaching new heights with mental health and we are all apart of it. We are learning how to accept how we are and building better versions of ourselves for tomorrow. This is just a little reminder that you cannot give up.

Hypervigilance

Hypervigilance is a state of increased alertness. If you’re in a state of hypervigilance, you’re extremely sensitive to your surroundings. It can make you feel like you’re alert to any hidden dangers, whether from other people or the environment. Often, though, these dangers are not real. Being in this state of mind can be very exhausting and can disrupt your normal way of life. Constantly being alert and feeling on edge isn’t good at all for positive mental health and steals from more positive aspects of your life. For a lot of people, it is a state of feeling that can’t be helped, having developed from feelings of danger, inadequacy, or a feeling of powerlessness in your situation. Anxiety, and the mental illnesses that can derive from it can make you especially vulnerable to feeling hypervigilant.

Anxiety can cause a multitude of of mental issues for us, with hypervigilance being a big one. Anxiety already makes you fearful, and can sometimes activate a fight or flight response within you. Hypervigilance on top of this can be devastating, as you are always feeling a sense of danger you can’t perceive, thus your fight-or-flight is basically always on. You will live a life of constantly surveying your surroundings, never being able to trust that you are truly safe. You can’t trust what people say out their mouths and you presume the worst to happen in all situations. You may go as far as hallucinating the threats as your mind is tricked into thinking the illusion of danger is real. This can cause and heighten the efffects of schizophrenia, especially the paranoia. This can all get as bad as you starting fights with the simplest provocation in order to get the “upper hand” or bringing a weapon anywhere you go to feel “safe”. You may even avoid public interactions altogether.

I have a lot of experience with hypervigilance. I involuntarily live life surveying my surroundings and I don’t trust people easily. I haven’t had the best experiences with people and it has made me wary of just about everything. I lost my mom suddenly, which has me look at loved ones with more than a watchful eye in case something happens to them. I grew up in neighborhoods that were not the safest, and you needed to be alert and ready in order to survive. I’ve struggled with my self image, which made me feel as though I was never prepared for anything that might happen. I sometimes feel as though mistakes I make or not being able enough will put me in a place of vulnerability, no matter how slight. I feel as though I live my life on go, and it is very draining. I swear my head feels hot as though my brain is always active, even in my sleep. Sometimes I may mishear people when they regard me, automatically assuming they insulted me.

Through therapy, I’ve been able to be more mindful of how I perceive the world around me. Not everyone has it out for me and not every situation will end up a dire struggle for survival. Being able to open up about my fears and insecurities has allowed me to be more comfortable being uncomfortable. I feel less energy being put towards observation and trying to read people’s actions. Once you can understand yourself on a deeper level, you become more confident. Being a naturally observant person, it is hard to throw away old habits (ie: constantly analyzing my surroundings for change), but being more in control of my appropriate reactions really lessens my anxiety in unknown territory.

Hypervigilance is a state of self that can really get in the way of a happy life. You are not some weirdo for always having your eyes darting around. Nevertheless, you don’t have to be a slave to irrational thinking. The world has good people. Some unknown situations may turn out really well! Don’t let past trauma get in the way of you living a life of wonder. And never forget there are people out there willing to listen and help you get through whatever might hold you from your best life.

Facebook/Instagram, Take Accountability!

Social media is a driving force in our society. I have stated such already and no one can contest that idea. There is so much money, networking, and opportunity that can be gained from utilizing social media. Alas, there is a cesspool of negativity that comes from it that effects people of all walks. Young people are especially susceptible to the envy and jealousy that social media can spread. I have noticed that social media sites generally don’t try to lessen the effects, instead granting users freedom to post whatever and stuffing the show offs in your face. For the younger audience, especially younger women, this can foster low self-esteem and a lower sense of self worth due to illogical comparison and coveting what other people have. Instagram and Facebook are two of the bigger sites where the effects of social media can be seen and measured.

The above is a twitter poll where an overwhelming 92.1% of voters voted that social media is unhealthy for teens. 92.1%! This is a big issue that has been having a snowball effect for years. This can be seen clearly with the latest trends (body alteration, filters, the rise in scamming, etc) Most of these trends are unfortunate people artificially changing themselves or their situation to show off to the other people on the platform. This way of thinking and way of living is not the appropriate way to foster positive mental health in our society. According to internal research done by Facebook into their own platform, the site causes body issues in one in three girls who use the site. 32% of girls that use the site said that it made them feel even worse about their already ongoing body issues. This is absolutely alarming and needs to be taken much more seriously. Young people as a whole state that Instagram (and by extension Facebook and other sites) increase their feelings of anxiety and depression. I know that people have a freedom to post what they want and to interpret what they see how they want but nevertheless this is a problem with a increasing ripple effect. As it stands now, succeeding generations of youth will be more and more effected mentally by the “pandemic” that is social media.

I like how Facebook can do internal research and be aware of these findings, yet in our face they want to act like their platform has little effect on the mentality of it’s users. A large number of people blame instagram for feeling “unattractive”, comparing themselves to “instagram models” and celebrities who have done questionable things in the pursuit of success and popularity. This is fuckery at the highest level and its maddening how Facebook just continues to operate without trying to consider the effect it’s having on us. “It’s just business”, right? It won’t be when the suicide rate continues to climb. It won’t be when the public’s majority opinion is that we are not worthy enough compared to fake people.

I have detailed ways to improve mental health and will continue to as long as I draw breath. These companies need to also take accountability and be more transparent about these kinds of findings. Mental health professionals can use the findings to alter practices to help the users of these sites. The general public can use these findings to have a better idea of what is really going on to protect our loved ones and monitor our usage more. Facebook cannot conduct this research and then want to gaslight the world into believing that the effect is miniscule. There is a growing effect on people all over from social media use. If this research is being conducted, there needs to be action taken from the findings. Our collective future depends on it!

Mental Health and Men

This post is going to be a little different from my previous posts. I was trying to educate the masses on the topics of mental health that I myself have come across. Mental health has become a topic that I have really become enamored with, constantly researching topics and coming to understand my place in the spectrum. Society is in a strange place now, with the state of the world and affairs in general. The status quo has taken quite a blow and the standards of the world have morphed over time. I feel this especially in regards to the mental health of men. As a man in this world, I was taught to suppress my more volatile emotions and the condition of my mental health wasn’t really the at the forefront of what should have been important to me. Thankfully, I feel that society has taken strides to make mental health an issue that encompasses everyone.

Men are looked at as the pillars of strength in society. Whether we would like to admit it or not, men are expected to lead, protect, and provide. It’s been that way since time immemorial. Over time and generations, this ideology may have changed or morphed, but the basic idea stays the same. Living as a man in this world, I have no problem with this idea. It’s instinctively built into my mainframe. Nevertheless, there is a mental weight that gets placed on an individual in regards to maintaining a solid frame to withstand the gravity of being the first line of defense in terms of your family/tribe/etc. The role of the pillar can be a role that requires a level of mindfulness to keep up. The man needs to lead, and a good leader has a level of self reflection that allows him to know the needs of his people while considering the best for them regardless. To be a good provider and protector, a man needs to understand a level of empathy for his family and a level of masculinity in order to keep up a powerful shield and sword to defend against threats. I mean, we aren’t cavemen/tribesmen so the physical aspect of protection isn’t as pronounced in our society, but it is still expected to hold this stature of immovability when it comes to threats to our family. These expectations can come with a degree of weight that can cause a man to buckle and thus be seen as weak and unable to do his duty. This is where I feel mental health awareness comes in.

Men’s mental health awareness is a big thing for me, especially in this climate. Men can be strong by working out, eating right, keeping masculine frame, and just exhibiting the traits of masculinity in general. What makes a man truly powerful is all of these things while also dealing with and working through the mental and emotional issues we may have to carry with us day to day. Men can be suffering on the inside with insecurity, emotional instability, fear of the unknown, etc. In my experience, it was difficult for me to admit that I may have been struggling with my growing responsibility in my life. I did not want to be seen as weak. I didn’t (and still really don’t) allow myself to feel 100% of any emotion in order to hold my frame. I could not live with the idea that someone somewhere saw me as being weak and unable to perform my duties. I hold myself to a high standard and want respect. What I failed to realize is that I needed to look not only at my actions and physique, I needed to look within for the clarity and mental fortitude to continue on my journey.Learning about mental health has been an amazing journey. I have chronicled how many different changes I have been through in my posts, and I feel like other men can relate to some of my struggles. We are trying to find our footing in a world that likes to place labels on us. A world that likes to assign roles and demand optimal performance once you are placed in that label. I don’t feel bad about what is expected of me, as it pushes me to greater heights everyday. I am even more motivated to do my best everyday now that I have a greater understanding of how my mind works and what I want to live a fulfilled life. I work to find the root of my emotions. I work to bridge the gap between what the world expects of me and what I expect of myself. Therapy and learning to love myself despite my flaws and weaknesses has allowed me to find a power that I never would have found otherwise. I lived a life where I thought I knew all there was about me, but you learn more about yourself everyday. Sometimes as men, we think straightforward and over logically. This has allowed us to stay vigilant and strong. It drives our decision making and our decisions usually impact much more than us. We stand at the forefront of our families and in gaining a better understanding of what makes us tick, we can find the strength to not only shoulder the needs of our families, but also allow them to strive.

Mental health in men is extremely important and I am glad to see it being taken seriously in so many communities. Our society’s continued growth and improvement depends on it and it also opens the door for mental health exposure for everyone when we take the step to lead others to do the same.

Idealization – Take Off The Rose Tinted Glasses

We are all human and capable of some truly epic marvels. When we are born, our potential is only limited by our imaginations. We can also look at other people and feel as though we see something no one else can see. We can look at someone’s more positive attributes and base our interest and level of concern for that person on these attributes. Now, there isn’t a clear inherent problem with seeing someone in a positive light more than a negative one. It is when you do it in overabundance where things get problematic. This is when you look at an individual through what are called “rose tinted glasses”. Basically, you see them as someone that can do no wrong and make excuses for them. You put them on that pedestal that honestly no human should ever be placed. You see them as perfection.

I need to be as blunt as possible. This is wrong. It is fallacy. Feelings, emotions, thoughts, they can truly blind us when they take us over. We can tend to idealize people for just being nice to us. We idealize because of unresolved childhood trauma. We idealize because we want the image of this perfect person to be reality . We idealize as a defense mechanism to hide from the scary truth. This can lead to placing others above ourselves or forsaking our own ideals for their sake. You give power to their words, beliefs, and values at your own expense. You damn near deify them! No one on this earth is a god. No one. We all have negative aspects of our personality. We need to learn to look at people for what they are in your face, not what you think they might become. Or even worse, how you fantasize them to be.

Idealization prevents growth in a relationship with others. When you idealize, you see no wrong, and thus you don’t confront questionable behavior. You trivialize antagonism and dis-respect. It may not be apparent, but you can stunt others growth by idealizing someone. You keep them from being able to approach their negative aspects in an impartial way by providing them a unconditional worshipper. You need to be able to look at a person impartially and form an opinion of them based on the good and bad of their personality. You must then be able to continue to observe them from a place of not putting them higher than their actions show.

It can be easy to idealize people who we find interest in. We want to believe that they are the wonderful people we hope them to be. And they can be the best version of their authentic self for us. Idealizing them takes that away from them. It takes away who they are from how you perceive them. It takes away from the criticism you can have for them that can allow them to grow and develop. Idealization can also take away from you what makes you who are. By pedestalizing someone, you put aside what you look for and respect just to have that friend or companion. Altogether, you never develop a respectable rapport with the other person, and the relationship is hollow.

We should all try to see the good in others. Humans are very powerful creatures, full of potential ever growing. However, we are not perfect beings and we will never be. Don’t ever look at someone as being infallible. The best connections with people are formed when we can look at a person’s good and bad and make conscious, unbiased conclusions based on their actions and our feelings. You should be able to see them in a non-blinding light and truly connect with them the way they present themselves in reality, not the fantasy you have conjured up.

Self Love – The Best Love

Loving oneself is essential to our continued survival. You must appreciate who you are in this world and the impact you have. You are alive, living and breathing, able to partake in what the world has to offer. People need to take care of their mind, body, and soul on a consistent basis in order to be their best self. Anything less is a disservice to the entity that is you. We are all individual people in this world, thus you bring a uniqueness to existence that you need to learn to appreciate and cultivate. I know the hustle and bustle of everyday life can sometimes get in the way of being able to indulge in “you”. Nevertheless, you need to prioritize loving who you are in order to be the best version of you.

I believe self love to be a staple of mental health awareness. A lot of mental health concerns can be traced back to a lack of self love. Prioritizing other people or interests over your own general self can be second nature to certain types of people. I know myself to be this kind of person. I tend to deeply put myself into other people’s issues and empathize with them deeply. This can lead me to becoming enveloped in their concerns and losing myself to them. Thus I begin to neglect my own pursuits, issues, etc. This can ultimately lead in a sort of atrophy of self if not handled properly, a feeling I have felt multiple times in my life. Being someone who generally wants to please people does not help. I was developing a sense of selflessness that was becoming a serious detriment to my life. My career, my hobbies, my ideals, they all took a backseat to those of others. I still took showers and still kept up my hygiene, but my mind was not focused on myself. I was losing myself. I cared more about others than myself. I needed to look within myself for the spark that proved that I existed. That I mattered to ME.

Self love is a concept that might be obvious to most, but to those that may be suffering from an illness or going through a season of particular difficulty, self love is a foreign concept. Depression can cause us not to keep up with our physical hygiene, for instance. It can also cause us to lose sight of goals and become anxious and pessimistic about the future. Low self esteem (usually coupled with depression) can cause us to not see ourselves in a positive light, therefore leaving us susceptible to doing things that are not in our best interest (binge drinking, reckless driving, etc) Personality disorders can also play a role in our interpretations of self love, as they can vary in regards to how much a person shows self love. Someone with NPD (Narcissistic personality disorder) may have too much self love, to the point they cause others to lose sight of their own self love, while someone with BPD (bipolar personality disorder) may struggle with loving themselves in relation to the quality of their interpersonal relationships. Nevertheless, I feel anyone can learn to prioritize themselves even that little bit that will allow them to grow and continue to improve.

Learning to love oneself and proving to yourself that you matter is amazing. Cutting out the more self harming behavior that I took part in allowed me to have a different view on life. I want to go out and do more. I feel like my voice has greater meaning. I try to take care of myself and be more in tune with how I am feeling. Meditation and self reflection allow me to get in tune with my inner self and really dive deep into my more closed off feelings. Doing the work to cut out negativity in my life has given me more motivation and a zest for it. All of these feelings coming from within me as I begin to love myself more and cultivate the best version of myself I can. Self love is a love that envelops the mind, body, and soul. It’s not just shaving or taking a shower. It is more than buying nice clothes or working out. It is loving yourself down to the core. It’s knowing that you ARE worth it, no matter what anyone tells you. Your opinion matters more to you than the opinion of anyone outside of you. Never forget that.

Getting Work Done on Your Body – You Don’t Need to Alter Yourself!

Body positivity is something that I feel is slowly being drained from our society. We are born with different looks and attributes that distinguish us from each other. We all have different shaped heads, noses, mouths, etc. These features (or lack thereof) have been passed down through generations, from the features our ancestors had, to the climate and environment they lived in and that we live in now. These features are what makes us who we are. Unfortunately, society has made some people feel they need to change parts of themselves in order to fit in more or be seen more. This issue has become more and more prevalent as time goes on. Social media and the celebrities that make body alteration look normal are only adding fuel to this fire and it really breaks my heart.

I feel that, aside from medical issues, no one should feel that they need to alter their bodies. No one is worth showing off to, or trying to compete with. As they say, “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”. That means that we all have different ideas of what is beautiful, sexy, etc. Even what might seem universal might not be always be desired. We use the top percentage of attractive people to dictate how we feel about ourselves and it can be very disheartening and demotivating. Some people may also have BDD (Body Dysmorphic Disorder), which compels them to constantly look at flaws in their appearance. These flaws then become a vehicle of low self-esteem and depression. A combination of all of these things can then make someone feel that they need to physically change the parts to get “fixed”. I truly believe that getting these BBL (Brazilian Butt Lifts) or breast augmentations done is not rooted in positive mental health. We as a society can sometimes prioritize the wrong things and it has a ripple effect on our mental landscape.

Too many people care about the validation that they get from others. It eats away at us inside and makes us doubt ourselves. This can lead to some taking drastic measures in order to be noticed and to get more clout. This becomes an issue when the general consensus is more vain and artificially focused. Social media in particular continues to show “models” and other individuals that showcase what is considered to be the most attractive. A lot of the time, work was done to their bodies in order to get that way. I am in no way knocking those that put in hard work in fitness in order to look attractive. It’s those that showoff a clearly altered body and try to make it seem as though that should be normalized. It should not. No way. I don’t feel as though it should ever be an option, (not counting medical reasons). I think we should all just be okay in the skin we are in. What others think should not factor into how we feel about ourselves.

Everyone has their preferences for features. We all like what we like. Every single person. We cannot let our insecurities get the best of us and make us want to change our bodies. It just makes me feel off knowing people are putting things in their bodies or shifting fat just to be excepted. We need to develop mindsets that can allow us to walk out into the world and be confident in ourselves. Not only confident, but also willing to put in the work it takes to make the best of our natural given features. If someone doesn’t like you for whatever reason (flat butt, flat chest, short, low muscle mass, etc) they can fuck off. They don’t get to live in our mental space rent free. You have a right to be able to live into the skin your in comfortably and without feeling as though you need to live up to society’s standards of attractiveness. Please stop feeling as though you need to conform to society. Please stop causing eventual harm and sickness just to impress people you can’t ask for help in an emergency. We are all better than that.

Anxiety – The Silent Struggle

It is tough when Anxiety decides to rear its ugly head. It creeps up whenever you have to do something that you may not have the utmost confidence in doing. It’s a feeling that makes you uncomfortable and can keep you back from putting in your full effort when doing something. It can also be a feeling that comes in the guise of another emotion (for me, it can be the precursor to anger). Anxiety is the body’s response to stress and can breed apprehension in us. The feeling is uncomfortable and can be downright debilitating both physically and mentally. I feel anxiety is something felt by almost EVERYONE in the world at different levels. The constant questioning of oneself and the lack of confidence brought on by the feeling can be truly devastating.

One of my most potent emotions is anger. Before therapy, I would feel it quite a lot, especially during times of intense stress or expectation. I thought to myself that I might have some serious anger issues and that there was no hope to alleviate my issues. Over the years, I noticed that my anger only came during moments when I was a in situation that I thought I had no control over or the control was lost. I would get mad in situations where I thought I would disappoint those close to me. My low self esteem attacked my sense of self and allowed anxiety to creep in. My anger was the shield that kept my fragile sense of self intact and protected my psyche from the vulnerability of anxiety. As a man, showing anxiousness and hesitation can be seen as weak, so I naturally gravitated to a more “masculine” form of expression. At the heart and pinnacle of my rage was an anxiety filled young man that needed to learn positive expression. A young man that needed to talk, vent, and work through inhibitions and perceived weakness. My anxiety went undiagnosed for years until it was laid out to me in therapy.

I will always sing praises for therapy. It allowed me to attack my anger from a vantage point of empathy. I learned to love myself and have patience for myself when I gave into my “anger”. In learning to actually listen to myself, I heard the voice of low confidence. Through speaking, I was able to dig deep into my past and figure out where the feelings were born from. I was able to learn how anxiety can use scapegoat emotions (anger, sadness, indifference,) to mask itself in us and thus we communicate the wrong thing in high intensity situations. There were plenty of times in my life where I feel like a situation could have gone completely different if I just practiced mindfulness. Instead of taking on more than I could chew, I could have explained my apprehension. Instead of beating myself up over a simple slight, I could have practiced more self love. Instead of acting out in rage, I could have just voiced my opinions and concerns instead. Anxiety has a way of keeping us from really being accepting of our selves and living in fear. Therapy helped me to practice ways to really center myself whenever I would feel anxious thoughts come on.

Anxiety truly is a silent curse. Someone can suffer from it and the world would never know. Sure, anxiety can have some physical symptoms associated with it, but it can be a purely mental struggle for most people. What we may see is the manifestation of our anxiety through other emotions. Thus the anxiety is masked and never truly addressed. Therapy, counseling, meditation, and exercise are just some of the ways that we can tackle anxiety. Therapy allows you to truly voice the feelings and emotions that lead to and stem from your anxiety. Counseling, very much like therapy, can help you to define your triggers so as to properly prepare yourself if they come up. Meditation is a great way to center your mind and come to a point of mental calm that can really help with the thoughts that anxiety brings on. Lastly, exercise can be a great way to get out pent up energy that can lead to the more physically expressive forms of anxiety. As I have said before, these are just some of the ways that we can tackle anxiety.

Anxiety is another one of the misunderstood mental ailments in my opinion. It is not just someone “spazzing out” because they can’t handle a situation. It’s a powerful feeling that can disable otherwise capable people. It can activate survival instincts in extreme cases. Those who suffer from this need to be around people who can empathize with their issues. They need to have the confidence to face themselves and find the root of their anxiety. Anxiety can be a crutch if we let it, but it can be battled. My anxiety kept me up at night, kept me from jobs, kept me from going out. It kept me from life. Therapy brought me to a place where I could accept my anxious thoughts and come out on the other side with more clarity and I know others that suffer from this can also benefit from even just talking to someone. Anxiety hits me deep and I just hope everyone can heal from the pain it can cause.