Tag: anxiety

It’s Ok To Laugh At Yourself

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When it comes to humor, we tend to shy away from many more serious topics. But comedians for years have been breaking those barriers, and some have even shown that you can joke about serious hings in a way that isn’t offensive. One topic that many people, including myself, would have never thought could ever fit into humor is mental health. Many comedians have been using their own experiences with mental health as a way to shed some light on it and make fun of themselves as well. One comedian that did this was Pete Davidson on SNL.

 

 

In this particular comedy sketch, he talks about Kevin Love who had posted about his mental health issues. During his whole sketch, Pete tried to shed some light on mental illness as a whole, and did it in a way that is respectful and tasteful. He also has another video on SNL of him talking about how he was recently diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, and did a skit on that as well. Pete Davidson is known for his comedy on SNL, and is also known for his comedy skits regarding mental health. he makes fun of himself while also letting the audience know hat it is still a problem that needs to be taken seriously. But what makes these sketches so funny is the fact that he’s able to take a serious situation and laugh about it which is something many people forget.

Another comedian who touches on this issue of mental illness is John Oliver on his Last Week Tonight show.

 

 

In this sketch he talks about how people don’t want to talk about mental illness, and when they do they get it wrong. He first brings up the issue about how every time there’s a school shooting they blame mental illness on it. He also brings up the point that people assume that mental illness consists of “nut jobs” as was shown in the Dr. Phil clip he showed, when in reality most people with mental health issues are not nut jobs and are actually pretty normal. He brings up serious issues and sheds light on them and throws jokes in here and there, making the weight of this topic much lighter. He takes a serious topic and makes it tastefully funny while also spreading awareness which I really liked.

In general, people don’t like to joke about anything that may wind up being offensive, but both of these videos prove that you can spread awareness on serious topics like mental health, and still be funny and make jokes about it. Many people with mental illness, including myself, just want to get through every day in one piece. An to see people actually care, or people with mental illness shedding light on it and are able to make fun of themselves about it makes me feel better. i lets me know that not only am i not alone, but that it’s ok to laugh about it. Pete Davidson even mentions i the video that he likes that he’s able to joke and talk about his mental illness, and doing so helps him cope with it himself and he doesn’t have to hide it anymore. So I say, as long as it’s tasteful, joke away! There’s no harm in laughing at yourself sometimes.

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How Photography Has Helped Me With Mental Illness

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I’ve learned over the years that photography has become more than just a hobby for me. It became something that has basically saved my life in many ways. Everyone has hobbies, that one thing that they are good at and that they love. everyone with a mental illness finds things that they love, and yes they are hobbies, but in most cases these hobbies help them to cope with their mental health issues. Photography has done this for me in many ways, and has helped me to cope with my anxiety and depression. When i get upset, and if I have time I grab my camera and go outside, and just take photos. Most of my great works come from when my anxiety and depression are at it’s peak believe it or not. But that’s my story, that’s how I cope, and the result from tragedy for me is beauty in my photos.

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I got into photography when I was a Sophomore in high school, I loved it so much that when I went to Holyoke Community College it became my major, and got my Associates degree in it when I graduated. I didn’t realize that photography was a deeper thing for me until I went through a self-induced tragedy in my mental health journey that this became my therapy. Shortly after this incident, I felt the urge to just go out and take photos for some reason, and I realized then that this was not just a hobby.

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I also take photos that relate to mental health. What I mean by that is when I take a landscape photo, you will see the emotion in it, I will have darker colors if I’m feeling at my worst with my mental health, and more sun on my good days. The photo above is a metaphor I used one day when i took it to describe how my mental illnesses fog my brain up and the light on top and the dark on the bottom represents my ups and downs. The wet leaves represent when I am sad, but also how there is beauty inside you even on your darkest days, because the leaves look beautiful with the beads of water all over them. I didn’t realize I did that at the time of taking this. But that’s the metaphor I can get from this particular photograph.

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I took many photography classes at HCC, considering that that was m major, and these classes strangely helped me with my mental illnesses as well. The photo above was taken during class, the woman was one of my classmates. i remember vividly that i was sad that day, I can’t really remember why. But when our class went into the studio my sadness went away almost immediately. When i took my black and white film classes hose were also therapeutic for me, and I realized after I was done taking those classes how much they had actually helped me with my mental illnesses as well. Whenever I was in the dark room I was at my happiest, and oddly enough, the fumes from the chemicals we had to use to develop the photos calmed me down as well. I didn’t realize the significance of it at the time, and it’s astonishing how something as simple as photography can help me so much.

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I read some articles about this, and apparently it’s a real thing. People use photography as a way to help them with their mental well-being. they use subject matter that is fitting to their mental health, and it helps them to cope with their problems. In one particular article, a man who was a picture editor for The Times, does workshops and photographic tours to help people with their mental health issues. To know that this is an actual thing makes me feel better and that I’m not alone. This article gave me more insight on the photography community, and how it, in many ways, is a great tool in helping with mental illness, and I’m living proof of that because I do it myself. Here’s a link to the article if you want to read it. photography and mental health

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I didn’t realize all these years that I wasn’t just taking photos as a hobby, but that I was doing it to cope with my mental health. I didn’t realize that my subject matter correlated with my mental health, or that some of the photos had hidden metaphors. Reading the articles, and really evaluating my work has helped me to to put the pieces together and understand how important photography actually is to me. It has always been a passion of mine, and to know that my passion is helping me with my well-being has really shaped me in so many ways and makes me who I am today. An being able to share my work with the world, and having them interpret my photos in their way is so humbling. Knowing I’m not alone makes this experience even better.

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Fandoms and Mental Health

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Fandoms are a fun way to meet other people who share the same interests in different movies, TV shows and music. They are part of a community that makes content, and praises these fan-based content that makes others feel like they are right at home. it’s comforting, it’s entertaining, and in most cases it is life saving. Certain fandoms come together and help one another, And more often than not, they share their deep feeling towards this content, or band. But what really helps fandoms come together is when these bands or artists reach out to these fans.

if you have a twitter account, you see on a daily bases that certain artists respond to tweets that fans send out, and reach out to them when they tell them how much they love them, or when they just want their favorite artists to just encourage them. Most of the time these artists will reach out to you (chances can be slim because hey get 1 million notifications every day, but it does happen). When artists do this it really makes the fans feel important, and makes them feel better if they are depressed. You see this kind of thing more often with underground, or Warped Tour bands, but either way it’s still pretty cool.

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Fandoms can be a mix of different emotions, but when you find the right one you just know. One fandom I was a part of for 4 years (if you could even call it a fandom) this fandom was of a band called Crown The Empire. If you’ve never hear of them, they are a rock band, they aren’t huge and mainly played at Warped Tour and of course their own tours. Bu this community was super encouraging and a lot of their fans have mental health problems, their fans help each other out an constantly encourage each other. Crown The Empire’s music can get pretty deep, so a lot of people with anxiety and depression can relate to it. Being a part of this fandom has helped me out a lot, mainly from just reading tweets between fans, and it’s a pretty humbling thing to se in this community.

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Very often fans will reach out to an individual band member and tell them persona;;y how their music has saved their lives, and how without them they wouldn’t be here. They almost always reply and make sure that that fan is being heard, and I find that to be an amazing thing. This fandom and band ha helped me as well, and has saved my life in the past. Their music and the way they carry themselves on social media is nothing but encouraging and loving. Basically, without their fans they wouldn’t have come as far as they did, and they constantly make that known. But to be part of a fandom that cares about the well-being of their fans, and fellow fans that care about the well-being of each other is an amazing thing to witness.

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I can’t find specific tweets on google from the band, or from fans, but over the summer there was a girl floating around twitter doing sign language to songs from Black Veil Brides, Bullet For My Valentine, A day To Remember, and of course Crown The Empire, along with many other bands. There was one girl who hated what she was doing and constantly bullied her on twitter and asked her to stop signing to Crown The Empires songs because she “sucks” that shes ugly, and that everyone thinks her content is stupid. One of the ab members was getting sick of seeing this girl tear one of their fans down over something shes clearly very good at, and that the band loves to see. This band member basically told her that if she keeps on bullying this girl she might as well not be their fan anymore, he also said “if you have a problem with her, then you have a problem with us”. Seeing him say that really makes me proud to be a fan of this band. To stand up for a fan and tell this bully, in nicer terms, that what she’s doing is awful, and that they don’t want fan like that is amazing. Most bands ignore this drama for different reasons, but Crown The Empire sticks up for their fans completely. It’s something that’s very great to see.

Being part of his fandom, a fandom that is super encouraging and where the band sticks up for their fans and shows gratitude, helping them when they need love is an amazing thing to see. Just reading these tweets back and fourth puts my anxiety at ease. These fandoms save peoples lives and really help them to cope with mental illness in most cases. Fandoms are the foundation to fans lives, a community that is fun and helpful all in one. It’s something that really gets you i this state of mind that fandoms are a good thing, and perhaps life saving as well.

The Story So Far: My Music Therapy

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Music does wonders for your mind and well being, just put on a song and your brain drifts off into the music. its relaxing, like reading a good book. You have this sense of calm and ecstasy as your favorite song plays on the radio. Music makes you feel good, it makes you smile (or maybe cry? Who knows) but it sparks emotion nonetheless. And for some there’s always that one band, singer or song that pus you in the mindset you long to be in all the time, and that band for me is The Story So Far.

As someone with mental health issues I’m always trying to find new things to calm me down when I have a depressed episode or a panic attack, The Story So Far is that band for me, every time I listen to them their lyrics calm me down. Their choice of words in each song and their lyrical content is very strong, so strong it leads me to believe that the lead singer, Parker Cannon, might have some mental health issues of his won, which is probably explains why I relate so much with the lyrics he uses. One song off of his second album called The glass, has a simple subject, it was about someone he loved, but the way he explains his pain, and what he went through has a string feeling to it that I find to be very relate-able because what he describes is how i feel most days with my anxiety which gives me this sense of relief. Listen for yourself.

 

Another song that is very deep for me is Placeholder, off of their first album. In this song, the lead singer brings up some deep emotions that he is feeling, he talks about someone who has hurt him, but I’ve always interpreted this song as a strong feeling of sorrow and feeling as though he can’t really cope with whatever he’s going through, and that’s why this song resonates so deeply with me, some of the lyrics he chooses are so deep and honest;y, this would be the soundtrack to how I feel about my mental health. Listen to the song and you will understand why i say that.

 

last but not least, the third song that resonates so deeply with me is The Things I Can’t Change, it’s another song off of their second album, and another song that has lyrics I can interpret in a different way to help me make sense if it myself. This is a song that I put on when I am feeling down, stressed, overwhelmed, or just to remind myself that I can’t change my metal illness. Like the song title says, I can’t dwell on the things I can’t change and this song is a reminder of that and why i had to put this on my list. Listen for yourself to see why.

 

In a nutshell, every single song from The Story So Far has helped me. many times I just put all 4 of their albums on shuffle and just listen to them till the shuffle ends and I’ve heard every song. I chose these three because they have significance to me and these songs have helped me through some of my toughest times in my life. It sounds cliche but this band has saved my life on many occasions due to their strong lyrical content. It gives me an idea that Parker himself could be dealing with some mental health issues, and most of these songs raise questions to me, which is why I feel I relate to his lyrics as much a I do. i can relate with his emotions, and how he interprets everything. This band plays a huge role in my metal health journey, and has helped me in more ways than I could ever explain.

Losing Your Mind A Little?

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Being in college is already hard enough, you have assignments that overlap each other that need to all get done simultaneously, some of us work on top of a full time school schedule, our sleep gets out of whack and we slowly lose our minds as the semester progresses. But imagine having mental; health issues on top of that, specifically anxiety and depression. Not only are you stressed about school, but you have to battle depression episodes and random panic attacks on top of it. These road blocks as I like to call them, really get in the way and hinder our abilities to “give it your all”.

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As a college student its a given that you will indeed be stressed, but when you have severe anxiety even the littlest assignments can send you into a full on panic attack. I’m going to use myself as an example, part of my anxiety is overthinking things before they even happen, I work myself up and send myself into a mental frenzy then I usually realize it wasn’t that bad and feel silly. When school gets into the mix, I freak out about an assignment the day it is assigned and overthink when and how I’m going to get it done and give myself a mental screen shot of my work schedule to figure it out. It’s extremely unhealthy and it has made me sick a couple of times but that’s the harsh reality of anxiety, it kicks in and there’s nothing you can do about it.

I’ve spoken to co-workers about this before, some are Westfield State students as well. they’ve all mutually agreed that mental health and school are a tough mix to deal with. One co-worker in particular, Bridgett agreed with me when I said that when my depression kicks in it makes it extremely hard to do school work. she told me that she ha had days where she is not mentally able to get some of her school work done, she manages to get it done on time in the end but crams till two nights before or even the night before. i personally get these all the time, I have severe anxiety and my depression creeps it’s way in once in  blue moon. But when my depression kicks in my brain mentally clocks out and i just can’t get anything done. I also have panic disorder on top of anxiety, so that means I randomly get panic attacks. I’d literally be sitting on my bed reading a book and a panic attack will come on. Sometimes I’ll be writing a paper for class, working on my online class, or whatever else for school. I’d be perfectly fine one minute, then boom a panic attack comes and I have to stop everything till it goes away. This personally effects me school wise, because it causes me to procrastinate my work till a later time which makes me believe, if I’m struggling with anxiety/panic disorder and it’s effecting someof my school stuff, then someone else must be too.

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One thing I want to make clear is, if you in any way suffer from the same things I do, just know you’re not a failure. Dealing with school and anxiety is not a fun thing at all, especially with panic disorder like I have, bu one thing I’ve had to teach myself is this does not make me a bad student, and it does not make me a failure. One thing I’ve learned is not to fight it, i will get a panic attack no matter what i do, so i need to just take a break, let it pass, and then go back to it when I’m ready. It’s easier said than done though. It is the hardest thing when you know you have a 5 page paper due in 4 days, but your brain has mentally clocked out and you’re stuck in the never ending pool of anxiety and despair up until you actually start it. People who don’t suffer from mental illness will not understand the true difficulty of having mental health issues and going to school. granted, everyone gets stressed out with school, but it is 100 times worse when you have anxiety and depression. Both of these mental illnesses take so much out f you.

One thing I do to try to prevent falling behind in class and then having my panic attacks get in the way even more, is o do my school work when I feel fine. When I get home from class and have some down time before work I just get bits and pieces done. I’ve found that since i do get random panic attacks, that if i hold my work off it just makes the whole situation worse, so I plan it around those, which sounds silly but it has been working this semester so far. I listen to music or take a 10 minute walk and come back refreshed. it is so important to find things that calm you down when things like this happen. You won’t get anything done otherwise, believe me I’ve been there.

When it comes to depression it can get a bit sticky since depression can be more intense depending. This is the mental illness that doesn’t let me get out of bed and the one that hits me the hardest and at the most inconvenient times. I try to stay positive and do what i need to get done, calm myself down with music, or even play music while doing my homework. Since I don’t know when my depression will creep up, these remedies help to keep my mind in check. I’ve had times when I procrastinated assignments and hen I had a really bad depression episode that caused me to almost fail a really important assignment. So knowing patterns of your illnesses and working around them will definitely help.

You can’t get rid of your mental illnesses, and not every day is a walk in the park. i still have my moments where i procrastinate work or my anxiety creeps up and causes me to do school work the night before, or my online class the day it’s due. It is so hard, and most people don’t realize how tough it is for college students with mental health issues, so just now that you are jot a alone, and that you are doing the best you can. Not everyone is going to be on their A game ever day, believe me because I’m not always on it either. but that’s just how our brains work. Doing well starts with how you view yourself. If you’re proud of the effort you’re making it will make a difference. Just know that nothing is wrong with you, and that you can change it, just try the best you can every day. That’s really all you can do.

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Self-Help 101

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Mental health is a struggle, and lets be honest, it’s easy to hide in your bed for the day and just be a hermit. Some days you won’t want to interact with anyone, and you know what? That’s ok. But unfortunately, for some people it becomes a serious problem that leads to worse outcomes. We all know the harm that mental health can do to our minds and our well-being when we don’t do anything about it. But what if I told you that you can? That you can train your brain into thinking that you’re alright? I know, this sounds taboo and you’re probably thinking, “what is this crazy lady talking about?” But I am going somewhere with this. There’s a technique that therapists tell their mental health patients to do, and that is called self care. Self care is exactly how it sounds, you’re taking care of yourself and your well-being.

I have done my own research on the topic of mental health throughout the years, considering that I have two mental illnesses, and came across many aricles about self care, and one of them was an article written by Nami, a non-profit mental health organization. They have a program in Agawam, MA, and they have many fundraisers in the area and different events to raise money. The money goes towards raising awareness for mental health, and their programs offer help and guidance tot heir members. This article gives you some self care techniques, but I’m also going to share my own as well.

Self care is so important for your well-being as a mental health sufferer, your brain goes on overdrive most days, and then slows down into depression the next. It is crucial for you to be able to control that, and there is a way. It’s not easy by any means, and not every day is going to be rainbows and butterflies, but it’s a start. The first self care technique I’m going to share comes from the Nami article, and this technique is called Radical Acceptance. Radical acceptance is “completely and totally accepting something from the depths of your soul, with your heart and your mind.” Basically, you can’t change a situation with the snap of a finger, and you especially can’t get rid of your mental health issues no matter how many medications you take. But you can accept it for what it is, so instead of trying to get rid of your mental illness, embrace it. All of that energy spent on getting rid of it could be spent accepting yourself for who you are. That is the first step. I have started doing this myself and it has helped in ways that I can’t even begin to explain. Accepting who you are, and accepting your condition is so important. Nothing is wrong with you, so trying to get rid of it is pointless. Just embrace it and others will notice it too.

My friend has anxiety just like me, and she’s actually the one who told me about this technique that actually helps. It’s so simple and anyone can do it, it’s deep breathing. It sounds silly, but the next time you feel extremely anxious, or feel like you’re about to get a panic attach just breathe. Breathe in for 5 seconds, hold the breath for 30 seconds, and breathe out for 7 seconds. The Nami article also brings this up and calls this he “5 3 7” breathing. This technique has stopped many panic attacks from coming on, especially when i’m a work. It’s so simple and is actually very effective. We all forget to take a breather, but it literally helps with anxiety. The next technique also comes from the Nami article, and one that I actually use myself on a day to day basis, or at least I try to This technique is called Opposite-to-emotion thinking. Everyone has heard that if you smile no matter how you feel it will change your mood drastically, and most people don’t believe that it is true. But this technique means just that, to act the opposite of how you feel, the article brings up the example of feeling upset and wanting to isolate, and the opposite to that would be to surround yourself with people. I myself have felt the urge to isolate myself but decided to hang out with friends instead an it is usually the best thing I choose. When your upset the last thing you want to do is make it worse by isolating yourself, or crawling in your bed. Smiling when you’re sad, and going out and doing something when you don’t feel like it drastically changes your mood. I do it all the time, when I’m sad I just act happy and my brain adapts to that emotion if I do it enough, try it sometime it really works.

Another big technique is emotion awareness, being aware of how you’re feeling is very important. The longer you live in denial, the harder it will be to take care of it. Basically, letting yourself be anxious for a few minute, or letting yourself let out a bit of anger is alright. Just calm down afterwards, meditate, take a breather and move on. You can’t get rid of mental illness, but to take control of it, and not denying your emotions is a start. Sometimes I let my anxiety out, sometimes I have to let a panic attack take it’s course and then I listen to music or read a book and I calm down, or when my depression kicks in I just let out a cry for a few minutes then I calm down with some music again. Music and reading are the two big calmer’s for me when either of my metal illnesses kick in. Nothing is wrong with letting out emotions, but finding something you love to occupy your time on your bad days is so important.

before I got into reading self help articles and books, I came up with my own self care techniques that have helped me tremendously. One of them is just writing in a journal, letting out everything I’m feeling and not limiting myself to what i say ha worked wonders over the years. I also go for walks with some music to clear my head. Another thing I do, if I have a day off fro school and work I will take a day to myself and relax, watch Netflix all day, or read a book and lay in my bed and just let myself sulk for one day. I call that my mental health day, it’s just a day I take to myself to just relax. It’s actually very helpful for me and helps me to refresh and go back to work after a day off, or go back to school the next day if it was a weekend. My mental health days help me to recharge, and it’s super important.

Finding something you love, and coming up with your own ways to get by with mental health is crucial for your well-being. You don’t have to follow all of the techniques I’ve said, but if you find your one techniques that help you, that is ok. As a mental health sufferer it is super important to have self care techniques in line, as someone who uses most of these techniques I will tell you that they really do work. Don’t be ashamed of who you are, don’t hold in your feelings, but don’t let them take over your life either, that’s when these techniques come in handy. You are your own worst critic, so take care of yourself, accept yourself, and love yourself even your flaws and you will notice a difference in your life. But remember it all starts with you.

It’s A Mental Health Thing

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Hello, my name is Cecelia Manning. Welcome to my blog. Mental health has become the topic of interest the past few years. What used to be “taboo” and something that was never talked about, is now shining it’s light. More and more people are opening up, sharing their stories, and just giving mental health the recognition that it truly needs. people all over the world are showing support for mental health sufferers, making it a bit easier to open up. Times are changing, and people are starting to open their eyes to the world of mental illness.

I want to focus the attention on mental health as a whole. I want to spread awareness for how truly gut-wrenching it can be, but in a way that is tasteful and eye opening. I want to empower fellow mental health sufferers, I want to inspire people, I want to show that being a little crazy in the head is ok. I want people to read my posts and embrace their mental illnesses. I want people to know that carrying these weights should not be a burden, and that since this will never leave your body completely, how to just breath, how to be proud of who you are because everyone deserves happiness.

This publication will not be a woe is me page, I will not post ‘depressing” stuff, even though the topic itself is a tough pill to swallow. I don’t wan to be like every other mental health blog that posts statistics and blah blah blah. I want it to be different from the rest, and it will be different.

the simple fact that I suffer from severe anxiety and depression and am so passionate about awareness of how serious both can be, and based on my experiences with these mental illnesses is makes this topic so important to me. I don’t want to get too personal here, but I kind of have to right now. I’ve gone through some traumatic experiences with my mental health issues, some including self-harm and suicidal thoughts, and one minor (but still serious) attempt at it. I get random panic attacks, sometimes not triggered by anything. I constantly have heart palpitations because of my anxiety. My depression has it’s ways of creeping up. My experiences with my mental health issues is the main reason why I chose this topic. It is so important to be aware of this, and to educate people on this issue. I do a lot of self care to maintain these mental health issues, and I feel obligated to share these with everyone. Life is not easy for me by any means dealing with anxiety and depression, but if I can change someone else’s life through my posts then I know I’m doing something right. I’m so passionate about this topic and changing the world through my blog, and to help people understand mental health more. I want to help others that suffer too and let them know they aren’t alone and shouldn’t be ashamed.

What inspires me the most about my topic is that so many people suffer from mental illness, and I know that I will reach someone through my posts. This community already has so much support which is astonishing, and the possibility of me being part of that is what inspires me.

The types of readers I would like to connect with are other people that have mental health issues, people who would like to know more about this topic, and anyone who feels compelled to follow my journey with this topic. I would also like to draw anyone in that wants to be part of the discussion, which is so important. Just being involved and open to the discussion.

I hope when people read my posts that they get a sense of discovery, in themselves and in possibly a new topic. I hope after they read them they feel the passion in my writing, and feel better about themselves as well if they suffer the same issues I’m covering.

over the course of my blog, I wish to inspire everyone that reads my publication. As I stated before, I am very passionate about this topic and have a lot to share. This topic is so important, and everyone should be informed about it, because mental health can be debilitating and dangerous in some cases. So I hope throughout the course of by blog posts that I inspire people and help chance their lives in the process. I’m up for the challenge.