Guest Post: Technostress & Your Mental Wellbeing

Technology has become an essential part of our lives. We use smartphones and laptops on a daily basis to socialize, work, learn, and entertain ourselves. While technology may make our lives easier and more productive, it can also lead to “technostress,” a type of stress caused by technology.

Stress & Technology: Finding a Healthy Balance

This article will explore the causes and effects of technostress, and provide tips on how to manage it effectively and find a healthy balance with technology. It also includes two free printable handouts for healthy tech habits and stress management.

The Impact of Technology on Daily Life

Internet usage in the United States has grown significantly over the years, with the number of users increasing from 294.53 million in 2019 to 313.6 million in 2022. Over 90% of Americans have access to the Internet today. By 2028, it is estimated that there will be over 340 million Internet users in the US.

Technology has had a profound impact on our lives in terms of communication, information access, education, work, shopping, and entertainment. When used appropriately, technology makes our lives easier. Our smartphones can help us track emails, manage our bank accounts, access the news, and complete a wide range of other tasks.

Technology has revolutionized the way we do things and has become an essential part of our day-to-day activities. However, as a result, many of us are also experiencing technology-related stress.

Technostress: A Modern-Day Epidemic

The term technostress was coined in the 1980s by Craig Brod, an American psychologist, author of Technostress: The Human Cost of the Computer Revolution. Brod originally defined technostress as a disease caused by the inability to cope with new technology.

With the advancement of technology and the invention of new devices, technostress has acquired a new meaning. It is now more broadly defined as any negative impact that the use of tech can have on a person. This can include stress caused by information overload, the constant feeling of needing to be connected, and the difficulty of keeping up with the latest technological advances.

A 2015 study found that Facebook users felt compelled to use the site frequently due to FOMO (fear of missing out) and to maintain their relationships. In 2017, research indicated that the overuse of cell phones led to technostress, with negative consequences for health, work, and personal wellbeing. And in 2019, researchers found that social media users continued to use social platforms despite experiencing technostress, exhibiting excessive and compulsive behaviors, the same way someone with an addiction continues to use despite negative consequences.

What’s more, the COVID-19 pandemic has normalized remote work, which has led to an increase in the use of tech devices at home. A 2022 research study indicated that during the enforced remote work period, the use of technology for both work and personal purposes resulted in technostress.

How to Tell If You’re Experiencing Technostress

Technostress can have a significant impact on a person’s physical, cognitive, and emotional health. While the severity of symptoms will vary from person to person, common signs include:

  • Increased heartrate
  • Cardiovascular and gastrointestinal issues
  • Muscle tension
  • Insomnia
  • Headache
  • Fatigue
  • Eyestrain
  • Skin disorders (i.e., dermatitis, psoriasis)
  • Irritability
  • Depression
  • Apathy
  • Changes in behavior

Technology-induced stress often coexits with other work-related problems, such as “workaholism” and burnout. It can also negatively impact work through decreased motivation and increased absenteeism. In its advanced stages, technostress can cause memory impairment.

Additionally, technostress can cause problems at home. In relationships, it can lead to conflict and disconnection because people with technostress may be irritable, withdrawn, and less likely to engage in social activities.

Technostress & the Importance of Balance

When is the last time you switched your cell phone to “off”? This “always on” culture and the overconsumption of digital media have led to problems such as Internet addiction and issues with work-life balance.

Think of the times when, instead of spending quality time with our loved ones or enjoying a well-deserved break, we’re glued to our phones, checking emails or scrolling mindlessly through our social media feeds. And with the shift to remote working, the line between work and life has blurred, giving our minds less time to rest.

Even kids and teens are significantly exposed to digital technology, which can lead to overstimulation and stress. This highlights the need for a healthy balance when using tech.

4 Strategies for Finding Balance in a Digital Age

To combat technology-induced stress and find a healthy balance, try these techniques: 

1. Digital Detox

Being exposed to too much information can be stressful, especially if you’re using your devices the majority of the time. Taking a break from technology for a few days can help reduce stress and provide other benefits, such as improved sleep and mental health.

Here are a few tips to help you take a break:

  • Identify what you want to detox from: This could be certain devices, apps, websites, or activities. For example, you might want to reduce your use of social media or stop playing games on your phone.
  • Schedule a time away from screens: This could be for a few days, weeks, or even just a few hours each day. If you can’t be away from your devices for work, try to set aside specific times when you won’t use them, such as during lunchtime, after work, and before bed.
  • Turn off notifications: Notifications from your smartphone can distract you from your work, personal time, or sleep. Turning them off can help you focus on other tasks or get the rest you need.
  • Limit app usage: If you find yourself checking certain apps too often and want to break the habit, use your phone’s settings to limit your usage time. 
  • Inform your family and friends: If you decide to do a digital detox, tell your family and friends beforehand so they know to contact you on your preferred channels.

2. Mindfulness & Relaxation Techniques

Many of us spend too much time scrolling mindlessly through our social media feeds, putting off other tasks for later. We do this for many reasons, including procrastination, FOMO, or lack of self-control.

Unfortunately, aimless scrolling can make us feel stressed and anxious, especially if we consume negative or distressing content. Additionally, scrolling for large amounts of time can lead to burnout. Instead, we can choose to be mindful of the media we consume. This means slowing down and being intentional about what we search for.

Young people who are affected by technostress can also utilize stress management techniques to improve their mood. If you have children and teens, ask them to practice these strategies on a regular basis to help center themselves.  

For example, if they are suffering from information overload, they can try guided imagery, a type of meditation where they visualize a peaceful place to calm their minds. They may also benefit from using stress management handouts and worksheets, such as the ones below, to learn how to manage and reduce stress.

Free PDF: 9 Stress Management Techniques
Free PDF: Healthy Tech Habits for Managing Stress

3. Time Management

If you find yourself overusing your devices every day, causing you to neglect other tasks, consider developing your time management skills. Here are some tips:

  • Identify your time usage: Track how much time you spend on each activity, including work, house chores, hobbies, rest, and technology use. You may find that you’re spending too much time on your devices.
  • Set boundaries between work and personal life: This means defining your work hours and reserving time for personal tasks, such as social media use. Avoid checking work emails or messages outside of work hours unless absolutely necessary.
  • Eat the frog: Prioritize the “frog,” the most important or challenging task on your to-do list. Completing this task first will help you avoid procrastination and free up your energy for other tasks.

4. Healthy Tech Habits

Establishing healthy tech habits can help you avoid technostress. You and your family will benefit from these; it’s a good idea to practice them often.

  • Identify tech-free zones: Designate certain areas in your home as “tech-free” spaces, such as the dinner table, bedroom, and bathroom.
  • Set aside technology-free time: Schedule tech-free activities throughout the week, such as playing sports, visiting the park, or spending time with family. This will help you reduce stress and prevent burnout.
  • Avoid bringing your phone to bed: Using your smartphone before bed can disrupt your sleep. Choose relaxing activities leading up to bedtime instead, such as taking a bath, journaling, or drinking lavender tea.

The Rewards of a Balanced Life

When we use technology wisely, it can benefit us in many ways, such as improving communication, providing easy access to information, making shopping convenient, enabling collaborative learning, and creating opportunities for remote work.

Finding a healthy balance when using technology can improve our quality of life and help us avoid physical and mental health problems, such as technology-induced stress. Additionally, being in control of our tech usage can help us achieve work-life balance, giving us more time for family, hobbies, relaxation, and self-care.

The Bottom Line

In conclusion, technology is a powerful tool that can be used to enrich our lives and make them easier. However, it is important to use technology in a healthy and balanced way. The overconsumption of digital media can have negative consequences for our physical and mental health, as well as our relationships and work-life balance.

Finding a healthy balance with technology starts with being mindful of how we use our devices. By following the strategies in this article, we can develop a healthier relationship with technology and use it to enhance our lives, not detract from them. This way, we can enjoy the benefits of technology without letting it control us.


About the Author:

Michael is a licensed clinical social worker with a private therapy practice in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He specializes in helping children and teens with mental health concerns. He is passionate about providing effective and compassionate care. He is an advocate for mental health awareness, and is the founder of Mental Health Center Kids, a website that provides resources and support for parents, teachers, and mental health professionals who care for children and teens.


Guest Post: 25 Creative CE Credit Offerings

25 creative CE credit offerings for counselors, social workers, and other mental health workers who require annual CEUs for licensure.

There are a multitude of ways mental health professionals can earn continuing education (CE) credits on various topics and through different routes to improve their professional abilities, broaden their knowledge, and stay current in the mental health field. That said, some CE credit offerings are more creative and innovative than others.

In this article, we’ll look at a few of these unique and cutting-edge alternative CE credit offerings that are available for the inventive therapist wishing to advance their professional development.


Professional licensing boards for mental health professionals require continuing education credits for license renewal. For example, mental health professionals in California must obtain 36 CE credits every two years to maintain their licenses. LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs all need to earn CEs annually.

Ultimately, CEs allow therapists to provide better care to the individuals they serve. There are a variety of methods and modalities in which professionals can earn these CEs, including online, through conferences, or at multiday workshops. Continuing education helps professionals recognize knowledge gaps as well as learn new skills. What’s more, they can network with others in the field and continue to advance in their career.

25 Creative CE Credit Offerings for Mental Health Professionals

For new and exciting ways for mental health professionals to earn CEs, here are 25 creative and innovative CE credit offerings.

A note from the creator/manager of Mind Remake Project: Please note that many of these CE credit offerings are associated with a cost. For free CE opportunities, visit 75 Free Online Resources for Continuing Education for Mental Health Professionals.

1. The Affirmation Couch

The Affirmative Couch is a committed advocate for the mental health of LGBTQIA+, consensually non-monogamous, and kink communities, working with both groups and individual providers. The organization was founded in response to the paucity of affirmative mental health care providers able to meet the needs of sexuality-, gender-, and/or relationship-expansive communities.

To address this problem, they take a multi-pronged approach: provide continuing education for affirmative psychotherapists, transform more group practices and clinics to become leaders in affirmative mental healthcare, empower beginner affirmative therapists with information, and create visibility of affirmative mental health professionals.

Current CE credit offerings range from $20 (1 CE) to $240 (12 CEs).

Find out more here: Gender-Affirming Therapy Training | LGBTQ Education Courses (affirmativecouch.com)

2. ALLEGRA Learning Solutions

ALLEGRA Learning Solutions designs and develops continuing professional education courses, certificate programs, curricula, classes, and workshops for an interdisciplinary audience, including nurses, health care professionals, and other interested individuals.

With a focus on integrative health, wellness, and a holistic perspective, they are the premier education provider for those who wish to enhance their health care knowledge, skills and abilities. ALLEGRA Learning Solutions believe that individuals have the capacity to heal themselves and that health care providers must deliver care with intention and in partnership so people can tap into their own innate healing abilities.

Currently, course offerings range from $10 (for 1 contact hour) to $40 (for 4 contact hours) with certificate courses ranging from $64 to $272.

Find out more here: Online CE Courses – ALLEGRA Learning Solutions, LLC

3. California Association for Play Therapy

The Mission of the California Association for Play Therapy (CalAPT) is to sustain a community of support for play therapists and to promote an understanding of play therapy and its effective practice through outreach, training and research. They place a special emphasis on diversity and the developmentally appropriate treatment of children’s mental health.

Play therapy is a structured, theoretically-based approach to therapy that builds on the normal communicative and learning processes of children. Play therapy also may be used to promote cognitive development and provide insight about and resolution of inner conflicts or dysfunctional thinking in the child.

The registration fee for a workshop is around $100; CalAPT also provides free CE credit offerings for members.

Find out more here: CalAPT – CA Play Therapy Association (calplaytherapy.org)

4. Center for Council

Center for Council’s Council Training Level One (CT1) offers a thorough introduction to the pedagogy, modalities and forms of council practice and offers 15 CE credits. This workshop is an opportunity to develop your understanding of, fluency with, and capacity to engage in and facilitate council – a dialogic practice of authentic expression and attentive mindful listening – so as to integrate this evidence-based methodology into professional settings and personal practice.

Center for Council offers CT1 workshops throughout the year in the Los Angeles area and intermittently in locations throughout the US and Europe. Early bird registration fees start at $399.

Council Level Two and Level Three trainings are also offered for advanced practitioners who have completed Council Training Level One.

Find out more here: Council Training for Mental Health Professionals – Center for Council

5. Center for Reflective Communities

The Center for Reflective Communities (CRC) provides early intervention and parent training to enhance relationships between children and caregivers, leading to greater school readiness, increased academic achievement, and more productive lives. Their Reflective approach is especially effective in communities with risk factors including poverty, a history of loss or trauma, and other barriers to healthy child development and school readiness.

Currently, the cost for a virtual 12-hour Reflective Parenting Program Level 1: Fundamentals Training is $500.

Find out more here: Center for Reflective Communities

6. Center for Story and Symbol

The Center for Story and Symbol offers continuing education seminars and workshops on the psychology of fairy tales, mythic stories, creativity, movies as mythic imagination, and law and ethics for psychotherapists. CE credit offerings are available for psychologists, marriage & family therapists, teachers, social workers, nurses, and other mental health professionals. Courses meet requirements in most states.

Online interactive courses that provide CEs cost $140 and home study CE courses are $95. (Non-CE courses can be purchased for a lower price.)

Find out more here: Dr. Jonathan Young, Center for Story and Symbol – Continuing Education Workshops, Seminars, Home Study (folkstory.com)

7. Clearly Clinical

Clearly Clinical started out as Elizabeth ‘Beth’ Irias, LMFT’s passion project… she thought online CE credit offerings could use an upgrade. When she was a new therapist at a county-contracted facility, she went online for her CE courses because she didn’t have the money or time off for the in-person stuff. To her dismay, it seemed like the really great educational opportunities were reserved for the therapists with big wallets. Discouraged, she worked with what she had, and read online PDFs to get her CE credits.

As a result, Beth set out to create new online CE credit offerings* for therapists, social workers, psychologists, counselors, and addiction professionals that were affordable, meaningful, diverse, and accessible. “Why not podcasts?,” she thought.

*Several free CE courses available.

Find out more here: Clearly Clinical Podcast Continuing Education

8. Cognitive Leap

Cognitive Leap offers efficient, objective, and fun assessment tools, as well as engaging treatment systems that bring children, families, and clinicians together to support lasting functional improvements. They aim to empower and extend the resource capacities of clinicians and therapists globally, especially in developing nations and communities where high-quality mental healthcare is in limited supply.

Cognitive Leap is committed to developing and providing non-stigmatizing approaches for treating mental health conditions that empower patients by recognizing their strengths and talents while removing their barriers to success.

LeapPlatform is a clinician education and training platform with Cognitive Leap’s APA-certified program in digital treatments administration with CE credit offerings.

Find out more here: Cognitive Leap

9. Culture Ally

The Cultural Foundations Credential (CFC) is a multidimensional learning process through which participants gain the foundational skills, awareness, and practice required for effective intercultural interactions. The principles of cultural humility, intersectionality, antiracism, and social justice inform each aspect of the program and provide structure for this holistic process designed to spark transformational change.

Workshops for organizations start at $2,250 (for up to 50 participants).

Find out more here: Home – Culture Ally

10. Discovery Behavioral Health

Discovery Behavioral Health believes that everyone deserves a happy, rewarding life. That’s why they connect people, professionals, and payors through a seamless network of evidence-based treatment centers in communities nationwide. They believe when access to care is easy, recovery is possible.

Currently, Discovery Behavioral Health does not provide CE credit offerings, but they publish articles on mental health, substance use, and recovery, as well as a treatment locator tool.

Find out more here: Discovery Behavioral Health

11. The Drama Therapy Institute of Los Angeles

The Drama Therapy Institute of Los Angeles is accredited by the National Association for Drama Therapy as a training program for students and clinicians interested in the clinical applications of drama in therapy. It is a recognized and well-respected program at the forefront of drama, narrative, and creative arts therapy training, and offers an NADTA-approved alternative training track towards becoming a Registered Drama Therapist.  

Drama therapy is the skilled and deliberate use of drama and theater to achieve therapeutic goals. It engages the imagination and involves participants intellectually, emotionally, and physically; it provides participants with a safe yet stimulating environment in which they can explore personal and family stories, set goals, uncover and express feelings, resolve problematic patterns, and (when appropriate), achieve catharsis.

Clinicians can register for courses such as Allies in Healing: Narradrama and Narrative Therapy and Dance Movement for Trauma for 1 CE credit offering per course hour.

Find out more here: The Drama Therapy Institute of Los Angeles (dramatherapyinstitutela.com)

12. Elevate You CE

Elevate You CE’s mission is to advance your skills, knowledge, and wellbeing so you can experience fulfillment and longevity in the mental health field. Elevate You CE knows how challenging your work can be and keep your wellbeing in mind when designing courses and coaching services.

Course fees range from $20 (for 1 CE) to $350 (for 12 CEs). A 30-hour Mindfulness Certification program is also offered for $799. Some examples of course offerings include Treating Grief After the Loss of a Pet, A Successful Path to Body Acceptance, and Getting the Shame Out of Substance Misuse.

Find out more here: Continuing Education that Values Clinician Well-Being | Elevate You CE

13. Feeling Good Institute

Feeling Good Institute is on a mission to improve lives. It was born to set the standards, train, organize, and support the therapist community practicing a highly effective form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) called TEAM-CBT.

Developed by Dr. David Burns, TEAM-CBT is eight times more effective than other treatment approaches. Clients see a 30% average reduction in suffering per therapy hour and meaningful improvement within 5 sessions.

In addition to comprehensive training courses, Feeling Good Institute offers free 1-hour webinars that introduce participants to basic CBT skills.

Find out more here: TEAM-CBT Training & Consultation | CBT Therapist Certification (feelinggoodinstitute.com)

14. A Home Within

A Home Within is the only national organization dedicated solely to meeting the emotional needs of foster youth. They envision a world in which every foster child has a relationship with at least one consistent, caring adult. They provide open-ended, individual psychotherapy, free of charge, to current and former foster youth.

While A Home Within does not currently provide CE credit offerings, they publish clinical resources and tools for mental health professionals.

Find out more here: Foster Care Psychological Services From A Home Within

15. Illuminated Education

Illuminated Education provides educational activities designed for people who are interested in issues related to psychology, healing, and other aspects of human thought, feeling, and behavior. The goal is to present up-to-date, thought-provoking content integrating material from psychology and other fields including (but not limited to) mind-body medicine, mindfulness practice, and eastern and shamanic approaches to health and healing.

CEs are offered for reading a journal article or other publication and then passing a test. Fees range from $10 (for 1 CE) to $90 (for 9 CEs).

Find out more here: Illuminated Education – Continuing Education Activities for Mental Health Professionals

16. Institute on Violence, Abuse, and Trauma (IVAT)

The Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma (IVAT) condemns violence and oppression in all its forms. They stand with all who work for equality and peace.

IVAT is a one-stop shop to address and end violence. They host two international summits annually, house three academic journals, maintain several research databases, provide program evaluation, consultation, and a wide array of trainings addressing violence, abuse, and trauma – many of which can be used toward specialty certificates and continuing education, and offer vital professional and clinical services to San Diego County and beyond.

Webinar training fees range from $20-$35 and offer 1-2.5 CEs.

Find out more here: Trainings Offered — IVAT (ivatcenters.org)

17. Natural Processing Trainings

For over three decades, two questions have driven the therapy orientation of Natural Processing Trainings: “How does our nature work, and how can we best work with that nature?” These questions have led them to find ways to work with the potential movement and integration of our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual natures.  

“Natural processing” is the somatically-based, process-oriented therapy that emerged from the integration of multiple approaches to healing and growth.

Course fees range from $40-$375 (for 13.5 CE hours).

Find out more here: Homepage | Natural Processing Trainings

18. Pacific Anxiety Group

The Pacific Anxiety Group was founded by Stanford-trained clinical psychologists with expertise in the treatment of anxiety, stress, and depression.

The Pacific Anxiety Group is dedicated to training the next generation of evidence-based clinicians.  They offer a practicum training program and postdoctoral training/psychological assistantships. PAG is also approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.  

Find out more here: Training — Pacific Anxiety Group

19. Relationship Institute Training

The Relationship Training Institute was established to provide training, consultation, treatment, and research in the field of relationship development and relationship enhancement.

Organizational training opportunities are listed here with upcoming workshops listed here.

Find out more here: The Relationship Training Institute provides workshops on Domestic Violence Prevention, Partner Abuse Assessment and Treatment, and Relationship Development Seminars (rtiprojects.org)

20. Soultenders

Soultenders is committed to making quality mental health services accessible to all by offering licensed mental health providers with their administrative needs so they can focus on their clients and their private practice instead of the paperwork.

Soultenders provides CE credit offerings that go further than meeting the requirement standard and also meet the professional needs of therapists. They offer CEs for social workers, psychologists, counselors, and MFTs. (Registration required to enroll in courses.)

Find out more here: Continuing Education Center – Soultenders

21. Spiritual Competency Academy

The Spiritual Competency Academy offers mental health professionals a selection of over 30 unique online courses that provide the skills and knowledge to become more spiritually competent. Their foundational curriculum starts with a course on how to conduct an evidence-based and spiritually sensitive spiritual assessment. Other courses cover a wide variety of topics including self-compassion, mindfulness, and forgiveness.

All courses are free to enroll in (after registering for a free account); CEs are offered for a fee (averaging around $10 per credit hour).

Find out more here: Spiritual Competency Academy

22. Stand InBalance

After experiencing the powerful and profound changes that can occur through partnership with horses, Stand InBalance founder Dr. Val transitioned from her private practice in Santa Monica to developing the Stand InBalance Ranch.

Stand InBalance is proud to offer innovative CE courses for psychologists, LMFTs, LCSWs, and addiction treatment counselors. Their small group CE workshops and retreats provide a combination of didactic and experiential learning designed to enhance clinical skills, and bring more joy and resonance to your life and practice.

Examples of CE courses offered for mental health professionals include Intro to Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, Growth & Learning Workshop, Countertransference and Restorative Experience Workshop, and Moving from Resistance to Resonance.

Find out more here: For Therapists & Healing Professionals – Stand InBalance

23. Two Chairs

Two Chairs believes that high-quality care starts with taking care of clinicians. They are building a mental health system that takes care of you by prioritizing your personal wellbeing, providing opportunities for growth and connection, and empowering you to do work you enjoy.

For free CE credit offerings, join the Two Chairs Clinician Community.

Find out more here: For Therapists | Two Chairs

24. A Window Between Worlds

A Window Between Worlds (AWBW) believes that creating art is a human right. They exist to empower individuals and communities impacted by violence and trauma through a transformative healing arts program.

AWBW views art as a catalyst to release trauma, build resilience, and ignite social change. When individuals create art in a safe community they can be heard and respected – replacing violence and shame with safety and hope.

Earn CEs by registering for a Windows Facilitator Training where you will get everything you need to implement art programming and become a Certified Windows Facilitator, as well as gain ongoing access to an expanding curriculum of 600+ strengths-based art workshops and free professional development opportunities.

Find out more here: Facilitator Trainings | AWBW

25. Zur Institute

The Zur Institute provides a variety of learning modalities and address challenges professionals are likely to routinely encounter. Their content embraces diverse approaches and orientations, and recognizes the importance of addressing diversity across a broad-spectrum including, but not limited to, culture, race, age, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic variables.

The Zur Institute currently has over 120 unique courses with CE credit offerings ranging from $19 (for 1 CE) to $199 (for 26 CEs). Additionally, sign up for their newsletter for free resources and promotions.

Find out more here: Courses By Subject – Zur Institute


To conclude, online trainings, podcasts, webinars, and in-person workshops are a fantastic method to discover the most recent developments and evidence-based treatments in the field of mental health. CE credit offerings are a great approach to advance knowledge and expand expertise while maintaining the standards for licensure. For therapists wishing to advance their professional development, there are numerous innovative and creative CE credit offerings to choose from.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sydney Scanlon, Executive Development Specialist, Center for Council

Sydney Scanlon has been working in nonprofits across the world focusing on issues of healthcare, education, equity, and mental health. She has published research experience in climate change and health, childhood trauma, and psychedelic therapy. She has been working in marketing and design for universities, nonprofits, and musicians.


Guest Post: A Veteran’s Thoughts on “Thank You for Your Service”

Why is it difficult for me to say “you’re welcome” when thanked for my service on Veterans Day? Seferino Martinez, veteran and mental health counselor, explores why in this guest article.

When people find out I served in the military, their usual response is, “Thank you for your service.” This is popular on Veterans Day.

Honestly, I never know how to respond. I typically say ‘thank you’ back. I never say, “You’re welcome.” Something meant to be pleasant sometimes becomes an awkward exchange. It’s not like other holidays when I can confidently reply ‘Happy Thanksgiving’ or ‘Happy Holidays.’

I reflected on why I have such a hard time accepting credit for my service – and I found two major culprits.

The Glorified Soldier

Firstly, when I hear the word “veteran,” it conjures up images of classic war movies with brave heroes like John Wayne in The Green Berets or Charlie Sheen in Platoon, engaging in jungle warfare in Vietnam.

I also think about the men of WWII considered ‘The Greatest Generation’ with their elegant olive drab green uniforms and Jeeps; one of my favorite shows is Band of Brothers on HBO.

Although I tried my best to do my job everyday, I couldn’t relate to nor live up to those expectations. Those men jumped out of airplanes into aerial artillery to fight off the Nazis.

But every Veteran has their own story – and this one is mine.

Combat, Coffee, & Staying Sane

My first combat tour was Operation Iraqi Freedom from the year 2004 to 2005. I remember one long year of staring at a computer, daily gym workouts, and running on the treadmill.

We came under attack several times, and it was dangerous; however, the hardest part of the deployment was keeping our minds busy and sane. The best medicine for my mental health was coffee, music, workouts, bootleg movies, and books. Care packages and letters were a rare treat.

A prominent memory I have is when the helicopters landed on our last night to take us to the airport to start our long journey back home. The memory of that night has remained vivid in my mind for over 17 years.

PTSD

I think the second reason I find it difficult to respond to ‘thank you for your service’ is that I try to avoid traumatic memories. For a person with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it is typical to steer clear of conversations that may trigger unwanted memories.

Recently, I reflected on a memory I had been avoiding for quite some time. I was attached to a unit in Herat, Afghanistan in 2009, co-located with our Italian NATO partners. I remember the first day I landed. It was a cold morning, about 3 a.m., and I was transported alone by a cargo plane. All I could see was shadows of tents and huts and the silhouette of the mountains. I remember the stars shined like bright diamonds like I had never seen before in the United States.

I would spend four months at that location. It was difficult at first; however, we gained momentum and accomplished several missions.

Our base was attacked late one night; most of the staff had already gone to bed. I heard the first explosion from a distance. Several explosions followed, and they kept getting closer.

The enemy was creeping Rocket Artillery from the mountains. We were extremely vulnerable because we lived in tents and worked out of wooden huts. There were several concrete bunkers spread throughout the base for added protection, so my first reaction was to put on my gear and go wait it out in the bunker.

I was the first one there and I waited for everyone to follow. I was safe but I was alone, and I was worried about the others. No one joined me. I left the safety of the bunker and went to check on one of my friends. He was dead asleep. I remember waking him to the sound of explosions. “We are being attacked,” I said. He woke with a start and put on his armor vest and helmet and set off to check on the others.

The rest is a blur. I remember we split up to wake everyone, directing them to the bunkers, while the reaction team set out to take care of the shooters. By the time I made it back to the bunker, it was full. I crammed in at an exposed end. The explosions kept getting closer and started to hit some of our tents and equipment.

I remember feeling terrified from the uncertainty and the deafening explosions. We were lucky we did not lose anyone that night.

Thinking back on this memory, I realize I didn’t think twice about risking my safety to help my fellow soldiers. It’s what I would expected from them as well.

Normally, when people say “thank you for your service,” they don’t know why they are actually thanking me, and honestly, until recently, neither did I.

The Aftermath

The things I experienced while serving have been the source of nightmares, anxiety, and depression. What’s more, when I returned from deployment, I had to face life, new careers, civilian culture, housing, anger, marital problems, and financial stress without the moral support I used to get in the military.

I actually missed the life purpose supplied by combat and the need to feel needed by my band of brothers. At first, I tried to cope with alcohol, as many veterans do, but I realized it was not the answer. I eventually sought expert help from the Veterans Affairs. Today, part of the way I cope is by helping others as a mental health counselor.

Conclusion

After much thought and self-reflection, I am finally able to accept the great complement, “Thank you for your service.”

This is what you are thanking me for: I chose a timeless and noble profession. I chose to serve. I left the comfort of my family and my home to follow through with a commitment, to make good on an oath I made when I was a skinny 18-year-old fresh out of high school. I chose to stay drug-free and obey all the laws, to lead an honorable life to be fit for duty and able to serve. I chose to risk my safety for the benefit of the greater good. So, thank you for acknowledging my service.

And to all my fellow veterans: Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, and Marines, “Thank you for your service.”


According to the 2022 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report: In 2020, there were 6,146 Veteran suicide deaths.

To get help from a Veterans Crisis Line:

  • Call 988 (press 1)
  • Text 838255
  • Call TTY if you have hearing loss at 1-800-799-4889

If you are in crisis or having thoughts of suicide, visit VeteransCrisisLine for more resources.


About the Author: Seferino Martinez is a Texas native who joined the military after graduating high school. He is a veteran of both the Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan). He has a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Liberty University and is a Licensed Mental Health Professional in the state of Virginia.


Guest Post: Addiction, Family, & Healing

The battles that come with loving a person with an addiction are deeply painful. Healing takes time, but it is possible to recover and rebuild trust.

The battles that come with loving a person who struggles with addiction can be extremely painful. One such battle is having to face the dishonest words and behaviors of your loved one.

When Trust Falls Apart: A Look at Addiction, Family, & Healing

Families will often come to me, astounded by how their addicted loved one can look them right in the eye and calmly lie that he/she is not drunk or high, when it’s evident that he/she is. This type of interaction feels so very personal to the family.

It can leave the family feeling hurt, disillusioned, or downright furious. We think, “How could they do that to someone they love?!”

In a healthy brain, one that is unencumbered by the highjacking of addiction…they likely wouldn’t. That’s why it’s so confusing and painful. Many families will report that the dishonesty about drug and alcohol use causes more wounds to the relationship than the use itself!

However, with education about how addiction works, we can come to understand how the bizarre nature of this disease can actually be fairly predictable – and why our loved one has deviated in this way from values we hold dear (and maybe they once did too).

Getting High to Survive

As addiction progresses, the addicted person becomes more and more captive to the demands of the disease. Because the disease greatly impacts the “survival circuitry” in the brain, the perceived need for the drink/drug becomes a profound compulsion.

The logic that an addicted person would follow is similar to that of a starving man who easily justifies the theft of a loaf of bread, “I gotta do what I gotta do. I’ll deal with the consequences later.”

Stuck in the Middle

I often envision an addicted person in a tragic tug-o-war. On one team is the Disease, fierce and manipulating them into submission. On the other team are Societal Expectations: the shared belief structure of right vs. wrong, laws, and norms.

The notion of a healthy family structure falls under the umbrella of this second team, holding expectations of mutual respect, consideration, honesty, and the like.

While most addicted people never fully abandon these values in their heart of hearts, the pull of the disease tugs progressively stronger until the person is being yanked between others’ expectations and their own compulsions.

At this point, it can feel to the addicted person that the most adaptive solution is… lie like your life depends on it.

In other words, the addicted person attempts to keep society/family satisfied (or at least at bay) while keeping the disease satisfied by continuing to feed it.

It’s Not Because They Don’t Love You

As personal as the dishonesty can feel, this was never about love. I have come to consider dishonesty as an actual symptom of substance use disorder. It’s an adaptation the addicted person makes to continue surviving in “normal life” in spite of the profound changes that have occurred in their brain.

To be clear, I do not share the above explanation as a justification of hurtful behavior. I share it as a clinician who happens not to have a personal history of addiction.

In my early years as a provider for the substance-misusing population, I too, struggled with the bewilderment, and at times admittedly hurt feelings, when my addicted clients would lie to me about their recent use. After all, I was there to help them, right? Why would they lie to ME?

I’ve come to truly understand however, that dishonesty serves as an odd… but reliable ally that shields the addicted person from their shame, consequences, and need to explain their actions.

While a growing body of neuro-scientific understanding continues to shed light on the “WHY?” many of my clients would admit that on a personal level, they truly don’t understand why they do what they do.

What they do know however is that in order to get to their next fix, they need to evade those that love them the most. A loving family who wants to save you from addiction is the greatest threat to your next high.

Breaking Up & Waking Up

That powerful allegiance between the addicted person and their drug/drink seems only to be broken when they themselves come to understand that this intimate affair they’ve had with their substance has become a nightmarish relationship with a toxic abuser, the kind of abuser that controls their life and takes everything else they love away.

At that point, we hope they can finally reconsider their allegiances.

Recovery: Not Just for Substance Users

When a loved one enters recovery from addiction, it often takes the family a very long time to trust again. Understandably there is skepticism and disillusionment. After all, if a person has looked us in the eye and lied so calmly to us during active addiction, what is our barometer for honesty now?

The notion that “time takes time” is a reality that a recovering person must humbly accept. The addiction caused great damage, and that will take time to heal.

But as the family nurses its wounds, they must also understand that trust-building is a two way street. We must accept that our loved one lied to us because they didn’t trust us to understand the tug-o-war in which they were trapped.

The only way to become a trusted ally is to begin listening and trying to understand. In this, we also hopefully set the stage for them to eventually hear and understand our pain as well.


About the Author: Karen Perlmutter, LISW-CP, has worked as a therapist in clinic, hospital, and private practice settings for 15 years. She specializes in the treatment of substance abuse and mental illness, with a particular interest in supporting the entire family system through the complex journey of addiction. She has developed an evidence-based course for families coping with a loved one’s addiction.  Karen also aims to share education, support and hope with the community through a variety of speaking forums which have included universities, treatment programs, support groups, National Public Radio, professional development events, and an upcoming Tedx Charleston talk.


Guest Post: 4 Steps to Avoid Burnout

Providing mental healthcare these days is challenging and can lead to burnout. To avoid burnout, try these four strategies during difficult times.

Times are tough for therapists. Providing mental healthcare these days is challenging. Therapists find themselves in the midst of many perfect storms. Global changes, social unrest, tremendous upheaval, and trauma in the lives of their clients can mirror the struggles in their own lives, potentially leading to burnout.

Being a therapist is a beautiful, noble, and worthwhile undertaking. It is our life’s work. Yet often it is a slog. Clients may report a bit of progress, but then things fall apart. Our efforts to get through to them come up short. We can become lost and hopeless ourselves, watching people we have grown to care about continue to suffer and struggle.

In these situations, compassion fatigue and burnout can become a real risk. When we are worn down and exhausted, it can be difficult to give to our clients. The work that once inspired us can become draining to the point that it impacts our own wellbeing. When we feel burnt out, we need to find inspiration and reconnect to what it means to be a therapist.


Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Inspiration for the Weary Therapist: 4 Steps to Avoid Burnout

Here are 4 accessible steps for therapists to avoid burnout and compassion fatigue during challenging times:

1. Practice Real Self-Care

Self-care is vital for therapists. We learn from very early on in our training that we need to take care of ourselves to care for others. Yet what does self-care look like when you are at a level of weariness and burnout?

When we are in a lot of pain, our output to input ratio changes. If we are guilty of giving too much to our clients and not receiving enough from our lives, then we need to change the way we think about healing so that we do not give more than we take in. We must be okay with simply being present with our clients. We do not need to move mountains or do the work for them. As a therapist, you have to care for yourself too. We must strive for a healthy work-life balance to feel whole and avoid burnout.

Practicing self-care and attention, even in session, can help avoid burnout. Have a coffee in session. Sip it slowly. Take in the light that’s streaming through the window. Our clients need us to be present and alive when we’re meeting with them.

2. Practice Presence

What do you need to be present in session even in the face of others’ pain? Will always having food or tea with you help? Do you need different cushions on your chair? How about comfy clothes? A fan in the heat of summer? You may need a whole little apothecary on the table next to you to symbolize that you are present and caring for yourself while you care for your client.

Contrary to what we may have been taught, we do not need to hide our pain from our clients. We can let them know what we are going through. Clients benefit from having a full human being with them who is giving, receiving, experiencing joys, struggling, and even suffering themselves. Giving yourself permission to be a full person that is comfortable in the therapy room allows you to be truly present.

We need not clear everything out of our mind, be totally empty, and have no distractions in order to be present. I have seen new therapists who won’t remove their gaze from the client in session. That is too rigid. Instead, to avoid burnout, it helps to stay relaxed and open. We don’t need to override being human to be present in session.

3. Receive Care

Giving and receiving are connected. To effectively give to our clients and avoid burnout, we need to be adept at receiving. Receiving a breath, receiving a hug, receiving food, receiving sunlight, receiving sleep, and receiving company with people are all simple ways of taking in life so that we have more to give. Excessive giving can be a defense against receiving, as it can sometimes feel vulnerable to receive. To be impactful at giving to our clients, and to understand the control and power we have as therapists, we need to work on our ability to receive, and remove any barriers to taking in life.

For instance, how do you receive gifts from clients when they give you a present to express their gratitude? We are supposed to give to our clients, but the tables turn when they give to us. It is important for us to be open in those moments and receive the gratitude being offered. Instead of saying, “Oh, thank you very much,” and then putting the gift away, we might instead make a show of it, and ceremonially receive what they bring. Being fed by them in some way might help us be even more effective at feeding them overall and help to avoid burnout.

4. Embrace Your Humanity

Therapists are human too. When we are in pain, we need to be able to embrace our humanity and care for ourselves. To be effective at managing our clients’ pain, we must respond to our own suffering with warmth and self-compassion. Otherwise, we cannot practice real, deep compassion for others. When you give others a break for being a certain way, but won’t let yourself be that same way, it is not real compassion. It is unnecessarily beating yourself up, thinking that you need to be strong to help.

It is human to be weak. I have been surprised when I start hinting to clients that I don’t have it all together, they respond more effectively to treatment. When we are vulnerable with clients, we are sharing with them what it is to be human – that we are not always doing well. We acknowledge that the human experience is varied, that we are not ideal, but instead very human.

To avoid burnout, may the person you are be the same as the therapist that you are. May who you are in the therapy room be the same as who you are outside the office. You will feel way more at ease. Let your clients see you. They want to be seen and they want to be able to see you. Remember that your ability to see others only goes as far as your ability to be seen.


About the Author: David Klow, founder and owner of Skylight Counseling Center and Skylight Healing Center, is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT). He is the author of the new book, Inspiration for the Weary Therapist: A Practical Clinical Companion, from Routledge Press.


Guest Post: How CBT Can Heal Mental Illness

CBT is a type of therapy that heals dysfunctional emotions, ideas, and behaviors. With CBT, harmful behaviors can be modified.

Choosing a therapist is difficult enough, but it becomes perplexing when you see a long list of acronyms following their name. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is one of those acronyms.

CBT, founded on the notion that our ideas create our reality and behavior, may be just what you need, whether you’re seeking assistance for mental health concerns or need a little additional support.

Cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy are two distinct therapy modalities combined in CBT. Cognitive therapy focuses on how ideas and beliefs lead to unfavorable feelings and behaviors. Behavioral therapy emphasizes the causes of behavioral patterns and how they can be changed to impact mood positively.

What is CBT?

CBT is a type of psychotherapy that uses solution-based techniques to heal dysfunctional emotions, ideas, and behaviors. It is helpful for various issues, including depression, anxiety disorders, problems with alcohol and other drugs, general stress, managing one’s anger, marital problems, eating disorders, and severe mental disease.

Establishing new, healthy behavior patterns motivates patients to confront unhelpful and misguided thinking. With CBT, it is hoped that harmful behaviors can be modified and rerouted by rewiring cognitive pathways based on the theory that our ideas and perceptions influence human behavior.

It is essential to highlight that improvements in CBT have been made due to clinical and research-based work. A wealth of scientific evidence supports CBT, demonstrating that the techniques used indeed result in change. CBT is distinct from many other types of psychiatric therapy in this way.

How is CBT practiced?

According to Mary Heekin, a therapist at CBT Denver, “CBT is a practical, results-based, evidence-tested approach. It teaches people how thoughts and actions influence mood and other aspects of mental and physical health. People are given strategies to overcome challenges daily. CBT is very flexible and can benefit people with mental health conditions.”

CBT is based on several fundamental theories, such as:

  • Psychological issues stem from flawed or harmful ways of thinking.
  • Learned undesirable behavioral patterns can evidence psychological problems.
  • People with psychological issues can develop more robust coping mechanisms to help them manage their symptoms and improve their effectiveness.

In CBT, efforts are made to alter thought processes, such as:

  • Recognizing one’s thinking patterns that are problematic and then reevaluating them in the context of reality
  • Improving one’s knowledge of other people’s motivations and behaviors
  • Use problem-solving techniques to deal with challenging circumstances
  • Increasing one’s self-assurance as one grows in confidence

CBT treatment attempts to alter behavioral patterns. Such strategies include:

  • Confronting one’s fears without ignoring
  • Using role-playing to get ready for possibly awkward social interactions
  • Learning how to relax one’s body and mind

Not all CBT will implement each of these techniques. Instead, a collaborative effort between the psychologist and patient/client is used to analyze the issue and develop a treatment plan.

The goal of CBT is to assist people in becoming therapists. Patients and clients are assisted in developing coping skills to learn to alter their thoughts, disturbing emotions, and behavior through activities done both during and outside of sessions.

Instead of focusing on the circumstances that lead to the client’s problems, CBT therapists highlight what is happening in the present. Although some knowledge of one’s past is necessary, the goal is to move forward in time and create more useful coping mechanisms.

What conditions respond well to CBT?

Many mental ailments such as mood, anxiety, eating disorders, insomnia, and substance use disorders respond well to this therapy. While CBT is beneficial for people with mental health concerns, it can help anyone improve their quality of life.

Here are three common mental health disorders that are treated with CBT:

Bipolar disorder

CBT is helpful for bipolar disorder, seasonal affective disorder, dysthymia, and depression. If you have one of these disorders, it might be beneficial to recognize thought patterns contributing to mood problems and confront them by adopting a more realistic and positive perspective on your environment. In contrast to other treatment modalities, CBT emphasizes collaboration and goal-oriented therapy sessions.

CBT teaches several essential skills that target the core ways bipolar disorder affects you. These include:

  1. Acknowledging the diagnosis. The first step is to understand and admit that your disorder is causing your symptoms. For mental health practitioners, teaching about the condition’s indications, symptoms, causes, and progression is crucial because it may be challenging for individuals with bipolar disorder to accept their diagnosis. Psychoeducation empowers people to receive needed assistance while also realizing they are not alone.
  2. Monitoring overall mood. This is frequently accomplished by keeping a worksheet or notebook between sessions, which is then evaluated with your therapist. On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 equals “depressed,” 5 equals “feeling OK,” and 10 equals “very irritable or heightened mood,” patients are asked to rate their mood daily. The goal is to increase awareness of mood shifts and triggers.
  3. Restructuring cognitive processes. A patient can fix incorrect thinking patterns by learning to become more conscious of the impact that thoughts have on their mood, how to recognize problematic thoughts, and how to change or correct them. The therapist shows the patient how to analyze their thoughts, seeing errors like ‘all-or-nothing’ thinking and coming up with more reasonable ideas.
  4. Frequently solving problems. This stage teaches you how to recognize a problem, devise potential solutions, choose one, try it out, and assess the results. Problem-solving is typically first introduced in therapy and then practiced in-between sessions. Problems arise in all life areas, including relationships, jobs, and finances. If none of these stressors are addressed, you risk experiencing a lapse more frequently.
  5. Improving your social abilities. Some people living with bipolar disorder struggle socially, making them feel like they aren’t in control of aspects of their lives. You may improve how you manage interpersonal relationships by developing skills like assertiveness.
  6. Making routine changes. Establishing a rhythm to your day through regular, scheduled activity helps to stabilize your mood. Examples include:
    1. Working out in the early afternoon
    2. Maintaining regular sleep and mealtime routines
    3. Scheduling social activities
    4. Performing household duties

Anxiety disorders

Patients who suffer from anxiety disorders benefit from CBT’s attention to thoughts and behaviors. CBT assists patients in experiencing fewer and less intense symptoms of dread, anxiety, and panic, as well as avoiding being controlled by their fear by identifying habitual thought patterns that result in the sense of danger.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is effective for issues with a physical foundation. It is founded on the idea that our negative thought patterns influence or even drive our behaviors and impulses.

CBT professionals use common techniques to help you manage anxiety and change your behavior.

1. Restructuring or reframing of the mind

Examining negative thought patterns is a necessary step in this process. People may frequently:

  • Overgeneralize
  • Believe the worst will occur
  • Give excessive weight to minute details

This thinking could influence human actions and, in some cases, might become a self-fulfilling prediction. The therapist will inquire about one’s mental processes in certain circumstances so one can spot negative patterns.

Once the patient becomes conscious, they can learn how to change them into more optimistic and useful ones.

2. Thought challenging

By using concrete examples from our daily lives, patients may challenge their thoughts and look at something from multiple aspects. Instead of simply accepting their beliefs as the facts or the truth, thought questioning might help people view things more objectively.

A person can attempt to rectify the unhelpful beliefs with more balanced and factual ones by becoming aware of when a cognitive distortion is present in their thinking after receiving education about them.

People with anxiety may find it difficult to reason through the issues. They may experience anxiety but be unable to pinpoint its source. Or they might fear things like social gatherings but not understand why.

3. Behavioral activation

You can plan an activity if anxiety prevents you from doing it by placing it on your calendar. Doing this lets you set up a strategy and stop worrying about it.

For instance, you might plan a meet-up with a friend in the park if you’re worried about your kids’ safety at the same place. The techniques you practice in CBT will inspire you to take action and deal with the situation.

4. Maintaining journals

You can connect with and become aware of your thoughts and feelings via journaling, also known as a thought recorder. It can also facilitate cognitive organization and clarity.

You may list the negative and uplifting thoughts you can replace them with. Your therapist could encourage you to keep a journal of the new abilities and habits you practice outside of therapy sessions.

5. Behavioral research

These are frequently employed when you have devastating thinking, which is when you predict the worst.

Like in a scientific experiment, we make assumptions about the possible activity results and write down what we believe will occur and what we fear may happen.

Discussing your predictions and whether they came true with your therapist may be a good idea. You’ll eventually realize that your worst-case situation is unlikely to occur.

6. Calming methods

Relaxation methods ease tension and improve your ability to think correctly. These, in turn, can assist you in regaining control of a circumstance. These methods could consist of:

  • Activities for deep breathing
  • Progressively relaxing the muscles
  • Meditation

You may apply these techniques whenever you’re anxious because they don’t take much time, like in the checkout line at the grocery store.

OCD

Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder use particular compulsions to escape their distressing obsessive thoughts temporarily. The automatic connection between obsessive thinking and ritualistic compulsive conduct is broken through cognitive behavioral therapy. Additionally, CBT teaches patients not to engage in rituals when they are worried.

The following methods are frequently employed in CBT to assist in treating OCD patients. Along with treatment sessions, calming techniques like deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation can be used to reduce anxiety.

Here are some CBT techniques that are commonly used to treat OCD:

1. Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy (ERP)

Exposure and response prevention therapy is the most beneficial CBT technique for treating OCD. The patient is exposed to the anxiety-inducing obsessive thought during this procedure, but they are not permitted to engage in the compulsive action. They must deal with their anxiety until it subsides, and they get numb to it by doing this to avoid the brief relief that comes with the compulsion.

Among the elements of ERP are:

  • In vivo exposure – Sometimes known as “real-life exposure,” involves regularly exposing a subject to feared stimuli for a long time.
  • Imaginal exposure – The mental representation of a feared stimulus and the effects of exposure to the stimuli is known as imaginary exposure.
  • Ritual or response prevention – Avoiding ritualistic behavior after exposure to the feared stimuli is known as ritual or response prevention.
2. Exercises for deep breathing

Exercises focusing on breathing are pretty effective at reducing OCD-related anxiety and can be used during ERP. Deep breathing exercises come in various forms, but they all have the same goal of soothing the body by lowering the breath and pulse rate.

3. Progressive relaxation of the muscles

People can physically contract and relieve tension throughout their bodies via progressive muscle relaxation. Our bodies may activate the fight-or-flight reaction when we are under stress or anxiety, which frequently results in muscle tightness throughout the body. You may easily manage your stress by preventing your body from activating this response.

4. CBT and cognitive restructuring

Cognitive restructuring is a method of confronting irrational thoughts or cognitive patterns. This way, patients may replace these patterns with logical, sensible thoughts. The idea is to utilize facts to refute arguments founded on emotional reactions.


By recognizing the beliefs that lead people to turn to food, drugs, or impulsive behavior, these disorders can be treated. CBT teaches patients the skills to recognize the circumstances that could lead to bingeing on substances or acting impulsively, and it also helps to find alternate, healthier ways to cope.

How to find a CBT professional

Finding a competent therapist can be difficult. Though it may seem overwhelming to know where to begin, you can find a counseling practice that is ideal for you. Here are some things to consider when searching for a CBT expert.

Initiate your search

Ask friends and relatives for ideas. Online searches are a further resource for finding a CBT therapist. You can search a database on the Psychology Today website by state. Additionally, you can look through the National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists‘ directory.

Identify the characteristics you’re looking for in a therapist

Identifying the kind of therapist you would feel at ease with is helpful. Your ability to regain mental health will depend on how well you get along with your therapist. Ask yourself:

  • Who are you looking for in a therapist?
  • Do you prefer working with a particular gender?
  • Do you want an older or younger therapist?
  • Do you desire a spiritual component to your therapy?

Don’t compromise

It’s vital that you feel at ease with your therapist. It’s acceptable to look for a better match if they aren’t a good fit. Not everyone will be a good fit, and various therapists can address multiple concerns.

Online or in-person consultation

When you visit a therapist in person, you sit on sofas or chairs in their waiting room or office. However, as more therapists see their patients virtually, clinics now provide a more comprehensive range of possibilities for online therapy. You could discover that virtual counseling is more comfortable for you.

Certain businesses, like Online-Therapy, specialize in CBT. In addition to treatment sessions, they may provide you with additional beneficial materials like workbooks and live sessions.

Group or individual therapy

You may opt for CBT in a group therapy setting or individual counseling. In a group therapy session, a facilitator, typically a mental health professional with a license, works with a small group of persons experiencing related problems. The patient can get a one-to-one consultation with the doctor in an individual counseling session. 


Conclusion

It might be challenging to deal with mental illness, but fortunately, there are actions you can take to get through them. CBT is a means to alter your negative thought patterns so that they have a positive impact on how you react to circumstances.


About the Author: Dr. Joann Mundin is a board-certified psychiatrist who has been in practice since 2003. She is a Diplomate with the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and a Fellow with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Currently associated with Mindful Values, she provides assessments and treatment for patients with severe mental illness.

Guest Post: Can a Plant-Based Diet Impact Your Mental Health?

A healthy and balanced plant-based diet may improve your mental health and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.

According to the CDC, more than 50% of Americans will be diagnosed with a mental health condition at some point in their life. Depression and anxiety are among the top conditions that people suffer from.

As our society becomes more aware of mental health and more attuned to improving it, a number of potential solutions and aids have come to the surface.

One of the most recent theories is that a plant-based diet could help improve your mental health and reduce the effects of anxiety and depression. Today, I’ll examine this theory and show you some of the top research-based evidence so you can decide for yourself!

Can a Plant-Based Diet Improve Your Mental Health?

Obesity and physical illness aren’t the only drawbacks of an unhealthy diet. It’s no secret that our dietary choices have a huge impact on our mental health.

Our body needs specific vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients to support optimal hormone production and healthy brain function. Without them, our hormone levels can fluctuate drastically, resulting in symptoms such as:

  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Sleeplessness
  • And more…

Simply put – when we’re not eating healthily, our bodies will ultimately suffer, both physically and mentally.

Plant-based diets tend to be a lot healthier, compared to the average American diet that’s full of meat, sugar, and highly-processed foods. As a result, plant-based eaters tend to consume more plant-based nutrients than meat-eaters.

Meat does contain some essential nutrients. However, as long as vegans are supplementing with the best plant-based trace minerals to make up for this, they shouldn’t be negatively affected by the lack of meat in their diet.

Can a Plant-Based Diet Help Depression & Anxiety?

A growing body of evidence points towards the idea that a plant-based diet could improve your mental health. A recent study of 219 individuals revealed that those who adhered to plant-based diets were around 6% less likely to suffer from depression.

Six percent may not seem like a huge difference, but it’s certainly relevant. For those who suffer the daily effects of a mental health condition, a pharmaceutical-free solution (no matter how small the chances are) is certainly worth looking into.

Cognitive Dissonance & Plant-Based Eating

It’s easy to see how proper nutrient levels can correlate with healthier brain function. However, there’s a deeper aspect that’s just as relevant.

The American Psychological Association (APA) published a paper showing that many who suffer from depression also suffer from cognitive dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort that occurs when an individual’s beliefs about themselves don’t line up with the life that they actually live. It can also happen when an individual holds two conflicting beliefs at the same time.

For example, a part of you might really want to change your diet, improve your health, and start a plant-based lifestyle. The other part of you might also really enjoy meat, junk food, and other unhealthy things in your life.

Until you make a solid decision to follow one path or the other, you’ll likely feel uncomfortable. Sustained over long periods of time, these feelings can develop into depression or anxiety.

Once people commit to living a healthier lifestyle (which may include a plant-based diet), the positive decision can often feel like a weight lifted off of the shoulders. Stress, guilt, and indecision are replaced by focus, positivity, and clarity, which are naturally healthier emotions.

Not All Vegan Food Is Equal

When considering a plant-based diet to improve your mental health, it’s important to keep in mind the type of vegan food that you’re eating.

Not all vegan food is healthy.

Unfortunately, there are lots of unhealthy, highly-processed vegan foods that can be detrimental to your health.

I always recommend that plant-based eaters stick to natural, healthy whole foods, whenever possible.

Vegan Probiotics & Mental Health

Gut health often correlates with mental health. The healthier your gut biome is, the less likely you are to suffer from conditions like depression and anxiety. When your stomach is healthy, it’s able to absorb more of the nutrients it needs. Probiotics can even improve your body’s ability to create and absorb serotonin!

While vegans may not be able to consume yogurt (which is the biggest source of probiotics), the best vegan probiotics contain all of the essential bacteria needed to support a healthy gut!

Conclusion – Can Going Vegan Improve Your Mental Health?

As long as you’re consuming healthy whole foods and vegan nutrient supplements, then you may see improvements in both your physical and mental health! Vegan diets tend to be healthier than non-vegan diets and are more positive and ethical.

Combined, all of these things can lead to a happier state of mind, which can reduce the effects of depression and anxiety.


Guest author Emma Wilson is the creator of Vegan Calm, your guide to everything vegan!

Guest Post: Remaking Your Mind

Guest blogger Ken Pecoraro, LCSW, LCADC, discusses the concept of remaking your mind for a new and improved way of life to increase happiness.

Guest Post: Remaking Your Mind

Author: Ken Pecoraro, LCSW, LCADC, of Taking the Escalator

I was extremely psyched when I was asked to do a guest post for Mind ReMake Project. The first thing I thought when I saw the Mind ReMake Project website was “Wow, what an awesome, well put together online resource!” The second thing I thought to myself was “The Mind ReMake Project – what a fantastic name!”

The whole concept of “remaking your mind” really makes a ton of sense. Mental health and substance use treatment is all about making your mind over. In a lot of ways, this process of remaking our mind can be directly compared with making over or renovating a home or apartment. With that in mind, consider this analogy further.

When you renovate your apartment or home, first you identify what you need to throw away or update, and the same is true for remaking our mind.

When renovating your home, you would probably start by looking around at the furniture, the appliances, the carpets, wallpaper, fixtures, lighting, etc. It makes sense to carefully scan all around the place and decide what needs to be thrown away or replaced.  

Then, the process of renovation starts with getting rid of what does not work for you anymore around the place and eliminating or updating the things that are so worn out or outdated that they no longer bring you comfort or joy.

“If you can change your mind, you can change your life.”

William James (Philosopher)

When remaking your mind, the process is very much the same. You may start looking at things in your mind that are getting in the way of your progress or cluttering up the works inside your brain. This may include negative thoughts, debilitating feelings, destructive habits, bad attitudes, or dysfunctional behavior patterns.

Granted, it is not so easy to get rid of some of these aspects of our mind as it may be to throw away an outdated piece of furniture, but still the process starts with identifying and accepting what we need to change and what we need to improve upon in order to make our mind over.

Question for self-reflection

What negative things do you need to “throw away” or change in order to remake your mind? (Think about negative thoughts, stressors, triggers, feelings, habits, behaviors, moods, attitudes, etc.)

Next, it’s time to gather your tools, learn to use them, and get to work.

Once you have a renovation plan in place and have identified the repairs that need to be made, there is a ton of work to do. You would need to make sure you have the tools needed to get each job done as there may be several different types of renovations that need to be taken care of.

You may even find yourself watching YouTube videos or getting help from experienced friends and others who know how to make the needed home repairs you have identified. For more complicated tasks, you may need to call in an expert to help. Once you have the tools and supports in place, you can then get to work.

When getting to work on remaking your mind, you also will need to gather some tools. This will undoubtedly include coping skills and strategies for all of your mental and emotional goals. It is important to get the right tools for the right job depending upon your needs. Therefore, you may need to develop an array of varied skills for a host of conditions such as anxiety, depression, trauma, substance use, etc. Whatever it is that you need to renovate, you will need to become proficient with applying the appropriate skills.

Often, treatment is the place for many to develop these tools effectively, especially with more challenging mental and emotional conditions. In addition, we need to find supports in our lives who can help us learn to effectively use tools, based on their expertise and experience with the same tasks.

Questions for self-reflection

What are some tools, skills, and strategies that you may need to develop for your mind remake project? Are there any areas where you may need professional help (treatment)? Also, where can you find support to help you with these self- improvement goals and projects?

Finally, you put the work in long enough to see progress take place and then change your lifestyle to keep your new home clean and all your repairs in working order for the long haul.

So far, just to get to this point in home repair, it takes a good deal of time and persistent effort. Putting in the work doing repairs to renovate a home is a process that can take a long time and involve a lot of commitment to regular hard work. With time however, the house starts to take shape and eventually begins to look amazing as repairs and renovations take place. If you do good work, the home renovation project will surely show it.

Naturally then, it only makes sense to take care of your beautiful new home by living a more conscientious, organized, and goal-directed lifestyle. It wouldn’t make sense to completely redo your living room, for example, only to trash it right after. To the contrary, when the home looks new and beautiful, an increased effort is made to maintain the beauty of the renovations and to make the new home improvements last for as long as possible.

“The mind is everything. What you think you become.”

Again, in your personal mind remake project, when you put the work in over a long enough time, your changes and self-improvement start to become more evident to others, and your lifestyle starts to significantly improve. You then do what you can to maintain these changes to avoid going backward and losing all of your hard-fought progress.

Often, some type of plan for relapse prevention is needed so that progress and positive change are effectively managed and sustained on a consistent basis, thus rounding out your mind remake project on a long-term (possibly even lifelong) basis.

Questions for self-reflection

What is needed for you to avoid going backward with your mental and emotional progress? How can your transform your goals and progress into sustainable lifestyle changes that you can effectively manage and maintain on a long-term basis?

Conclusion

Both a home renovation and a mind remake project require a lot of persistence, support, commitment, learning, and of course, time, dedication, and hard work. Still, if you are able to stick with it, the end product is so worth it as you’ll have a new and improved way of life that will surely bring you increased happiness and prosperity. It’s worth the effort!


Ken Pecoraro, LCSW, LCADC specializes in addiction and mental health, and works with both adults and adolescents at Escalator Counseling Services. Ken posts addiction resources and more on his site, Taking the Escalator.

remaking your mind

Guest Post: How to Develop a Happiness Mindset

Ralph Macey, professional writer and health care coordinator, shares 9 effective strategies for cultivating joy and developing a happiness mindset.

Guest Post by Ralph Macey, Writer/Blogger/Health Care Coordinator

Happiness is all about mindset. Many believe that happiness depends on external factors, but this is not the case. Happiness depends on your mindset. Absolute happiness can exist even in the face of adversity when you have a positive mindset. 

Setbacks will always be a part of life. No one can avoid hardships or problems, not even monks or saints. When problems arise, you can tackle them head-on. And when there are joyous moments in life, you can savor them. And when you can remain relatively unaffected by whatever is happening around you, you can create a mindset of absolute happiness. 

“If you want to be happy, be.”

Leo Tolstoy (Russian Writer)

Tips for Developing a Happiness Mindset

Here are nine mental health tips for cultivating happiness and developing a happiness mindset.

Have gratitude for everything you have.

Human beings have a disgusting trait. They tend to focus more on the negative aspects of life than the positive. Oftentimes, people are more concerned about the things they do not have instead of the ones they already possess. Hence, they become unhappy. 

When you dwell on the things you’re missing out on, it is easy to be unhappy. For example, you may feel resentful when you don’t receive a raise or promotion at work. However, when you look outside of yourself at the millions of unemployed people in the world, you may feel better. (At least you have a job!)

Have gratitude for everything you have. Gratitude helps to develop positive emotions, enjoy experiences, tackle adverse situations, and build healthy relationships. When you have gratitude for even the small things in your life, you feel happy. 

“Happiness will never come to those who don’t appreciate what they already have.”

Anonymous

Develop a growth mindset and discard the fixed mindset.

There are two kinds of mindsets. The first is the fixed mindset, and the second, the growth mindset

In a fixed mindset, you are resistant to change. You are rigid in your way of thinking and are not concerned with self-improvement or personal growth. When you encounter challenges, you choose to not learn from them. You tend to defend your position blindly. Hence, you become an angry, irritated, fearful, and unhappy person. 

In a growth mindset, you crave learning and personal development. Whenever there is a challenge, you view it as an opportunity for improvement. With a growth mindset, you evaluate the situation, acknowledge the drawbacks, and focus on the skills you need to be successful. You do not have an inflexible, narrow mindset and are not driven by ego. Instead, you embrace any new challenge as a learning opportunity. Thus, you become happy and content. 

If you want to be happy, adopt a growth mindset and discard the fixed mindset. Regard every challenge you face as a medium to grow and prosper. 

Make a list of the things that make you happy.

To foster a happiness mindset, make a list of the things and memories that make you happy. Every morning, jot down a few words or phrases (i.e., friends, a favorite vacation, a beloved pet, your favorite meal, a brand new car, etc.). Add to your list daily. Once you have a list of considerable length, devote 30 minutes to reviewing it. In those 30 minutes, reflect on the people, places, events, and things that bring you joy.

Do not overthink or judge yourself.

Human beings have 6200 thoughts per day. And not all of those 6200 thoughts are positive. You experience both positive and negative thoughts. Try to not dwell on your negative thoughts, and do not overanalyze them. When you overthink things, you may worry unnecessarily and feel unhappy. Also, do not be ashamed of your negative thoughts. It is okay to have negative thoughts; just don’t let them overpower you. For a happiness mindset, let the negative go, and instead, focus on the positive.

Think about the best moment of the day.

Before going to sleep at night, think about the best moment of your day. It will bring a smile to your face. Did you love the food your significant other cooked for dinner? Or, if the meal was mediocre at best, be happy that they took out time from their busy schedule to prepare something for you. (It’s the thought that counts, right?) Relish in the feelings of happiness and gratitude as you drift off to sleep.

Focus on your goals and the journey rather than the obstacles.

You will face obstacles in life. Sometimes, you will fail and fall flat on your face. But you can pick yourself back up. Focus on your goals and on the journey itself, not on stumbling blocks you encounter along the way. When you’re fixated on a problem, you become discouraged and are thereby less likely to look for the solution. Subsequently, you get stuck, and happiness may seem out of reach. 

To get unstuck, develop a plan, and then take action to achieve your goals. Get back on track with a renewed focus, and fight until you succeed. Your vision of success will help you move forward as you continue on your journey.

“Happiness is a journey, not a destination.”

Ben Sweetland (Author and Psychologist)

Think positive thoughts about others. 

When you think negatively about the people in your life, you become incapable of maintaining healthy, genuine relationships. Misunderstanding and miscommunication can lead to conflict. Heated arguments or giving the cold shoulder generates hostility.

As much as possible, assume that others have positive intentions. For a happiness mindset, do not judge their words, actions, or motives. Judgments cloud your heart with unhappiness. 

Stop comparing yourself with others.

Each life is precious. Every journey is different. 

Now, envision that you’re scrolling through Facebook. You probably see smiling, attractive faces and happy, perfect families. In comparison, your life may seem dull or pathetic. Suppose you just went through a painful breakup, and when you view your home feed, all you see is your friends getting married or having babies. You may feel disheartened. If so, remind yourself that Facebook only reveals a tiny piece of the picture, not the full story. You are looking at edited highlights of your friends’ lives. You don’t know what happens behind the scenes. For a happiness mindset, stop comparing your life with others, and write your own story.

“Happiness is letting go of what you think your life is supposed to look like and celebrating it for everything that it is.”

Mandy Hale (Author)

Seek medical help to regain your lost happiness.

Happiness leaves your life when you develop severe depression. Depression is like a thief. It steals optimism and joy. If left untreated, depression can lead to hopelessness and mental anguish and will rob you of the ability to feel any pleasure or enjoyment. It may impact your relationships with others, in addition to affecting sleep, appetite, and energy levels. 

Unfortunately, the stigma associated with depression and other mental disorders may prevent people from seeking the medical care they need. Many view mental illness as a choice, a weakness, or even a put-on. In reality, the brain, like all other internal organs, is susceptible to illness.

What would you do if you were having heart palpitations, dizziness, and chest pain? Would you ignore your symptoms… or would you ask someone to drive you to the nearest hospital? Certainly, you would seek immediate medical care. Urgent health issues require treatment; likewise, urgent mental health issues require treatment. 

When there are chemical imbalances in the brain, your thoughts, emotions, and perceptions are affected. As a result, you experience depression, anxiety, etc.

If you are depressed, consult with a psychiatrist to learn about available treatment options. After assessing your symptoms, the psychiatrist will recommend one or more medical treatments. The first line of treatment for depression typically consists of medication and psychotherapy. However, if your symptoms persist despite continued treatment, your doctor may prescribe an alternative treatment, transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy, or TMS therapy. 


What is TMS therapy? 

TMS therapy is a non-invasive treatment that involves the delivery of recurring magnetic energy impulses to the parts of your brain that regulate mood. The magnetic pulses stimulate targeted brain cells to enhance communication between different parts of your brain, restoring balance. When TMS therapy is given at regular intervals, it is called repetitive TMS (or rTMS). TMS therapy reduces symptoms of depression and improves mood. TMS therapy is also effective for decreasing symptoms associated with OCD, PTSD, anxiety disorders, chronic pain, etc. This treatment is painless and has little to no side-effects. It does not involve sedation. Even after undergoing a session, you can drive back to your home without any hassle. That’s the best part of TMS therapy.


Conclusion 

In conclusion, to cultivate a happiness mindset, you must master your mind, not the other way around. True happiness comes from within and is not influenced by external factors. 

To develop the happiness mindset, practice gratitude, strive to improve yourself and learn, reflect on the things that make you happy (daily), be kind to yourself (and others), be solution-focused, compare self with self (not anyone else), and seek psychiatric care for depression.

happiness mindset

Guest Author: Ralph Macey, Writer/Blogger/Health Care Coordinator

Ralph Macey, a professional writer since 2008 and medical health/patient care coordinator at savantcare.com since 2014, writes articles on all mental health-related subjects. He holds a degree and two professional certifications in his field and continues to upgrade his knowledge with additional classes and seminars. He also provides mental health consultations and private fitness instructions for free in his local community.

Guest Post: My Experience with Depression

“I had absolutely no direction in my life. I was a loose cannon. An unguided projectile… I viewed life in a negative, nihilistic, cynical, and overall pessimistic way.”

depression
Image by Daniel Reche from Pixabay


Note: This article, or parts of it, may have been posted to other blogs. It is not entirely unique to this site.


Guest Post: My Experience with Depression

Depression, also known by some as the silent killer. And for good reasons.

Little did I know I was going to find this out firsthand.

Early on in life, before the age of 16, everything was perfect. I had loving parents and, in general, a loving family. I had plenty of friends. I excelled in sports and did well in school.

Things were easy back then. The only ounce of responsibility I had was making sure I got passing grades. And what if I didn’t listen in school and got detention as a result? Well, he’s still a young kid who’s figuring out life. Got into a fight? Well, he’s still a young boy who doesn’t always thinks before he acts.

But my perfect world didn’t last.

My Experience with Depression

Around the age of sweet 16, my life started changing rapidly.

I stopped feeling happy and optimistic. At first, I thought it was just a phase everyone my age went through and that it would pass as quickly as it came. But it didn’t. I had a difficult time adjusting to my ever-changing environment and handling the pressure I believed was being put on me.

I didn’t know what I wanted for my future. My friends and schoolmates already knew what they were going to study when they went to college the next year. I, however, did not. I had no direction in life. I was a loose cannon, an unguided projectile, an immature and wild kid, busy with partying and drinking.

I started getting into frequent fights; I’m not a violent person, but the anxiety, negative emotions, feelings of helplessness, and an overall sense of feeling lost in this world led to physical confrontations with others. The fights were a reflection of my poor mental state.

anger
Image by Annabel_P from Pixabay

Then I turned 18. My parents told me it was time to start taking responsibility for my choices and actions because this time “it was for real.”

In college, I decided to pursue the field of nutrition. Not because I had a strong desire to become a dietician, but rather, because people I knew from my home town were going this route, and I figured since I was interested in exercise/health, it might be a good fit.

Newsflash, it wasn’t.

I quit school two months in. Turns out choosing what course to study based on friends rather than what you want in life is not the smartest idea. (Who would’ve thought, right?)

The following year, I gave it another try. This time I studied occupational performance. Long story short, I managed to earn a college degree despite my depression.

After I graduated and started working as an occupational therapist in a physical rehabilitation center, things got better. I was motivated to help people relearn lost skills, improving their quality of life.

But in time, my thoughts turned dark again, becoming negative and nihilistic. I slept less and my sleep quality was poor. I would randomly wake up at night and cry because I felt so terrible. I withdrew from friends and family. I even discovered a way to measure the severity of my depression; when my mood worsened, I craved alcohol. Drinking was a way to self-medicate.

alcohol use
Image by succo from Pixabay

I continued to plow away at work, but an excessive sense of responsibility, perfectionism, and anxiety was eating away at my mental health. I was head deep into my depression.

One day, I woke up and found I couldn’t get out of bed. I had nothing left in the tank. I realized I needed to take some time off work to deal with my depression and get my life in order again. I called my parents and asked to come home.

At first, I didn’t leave the bedroom. There were successive days I didn’t get up to eat or shower. I was in constant mental pain. It was hell on earth.

One evening, I managed to get out of bed and sat down to eat dinner with my parents. They were silent, and looked tired and sad. Until this moment, my depressive haze prevented me from seeing how my illness impacted my family. I decided: that’s it, no more. It was my guilt that fueled the decision to fully contend with my mental illness.

Up until now, I was only living for myself, not participating and valuing what my parents, family, and others did for me. So, something needed to change. I needed to turn my life around. And with my life, my attitude.

I started seeing a psychologist and taking antidepressants. I took a sincere look at self, including undesirable traits I’d been afraid to face. I set goals for myself. And when I had zero desire to get out of bed, I pushed through. I made sure I did something useful every day.

After several months of therapy and medication, life became manageable. I talked more, was less irritable, and as a result, my life and that of those around me improved. At times I even looked forward to things!

How Depression Changed Me


Although the depression was tough on me, and there were times I didn’t know if I was going to make it, it brought about some positive changes.

I became more mature and resilient; I learned to put things in perspective and take necessary responsibility. But the two most significant aspects that changed were my so-called “intellectual arrogance” and the pessimistic way I viewed life.

Before, I considered myself a fairly intelligent fellow. The problem with this was that I overvalued intelligence, viewing other aspects in life as inferior.

Moreover, my attitude was overwhelmingly cynical and negative. What I failed to realize is that focus shapes experience. And if you only pay attention to the negative, you miss the beauty life has to offer. Now, I actively search for the good and beautiful things happening around me.

What Helped Me Get My Depression Under Control

In addition to medication and therapy, I found the following to be helpful:

  • Seeking help. We can’t do everything on our own, no matter how much we’d like to. There are times when you will need help to cope with your depression. In addition to professional help, seek support from family and trusted friends. You may find that feeling heard and understood is what carries you through the darker days.
  • Setting goals. I had no desire to do anything in life. I had no goals. For severe depression, I would advise setting smaller goals you think you would mind doing the least (minimal effort) and/or goals which you found important in the past (before your depression took over).
  • Taking responsibility. Although depression can be debilitating, practice taking responsibility for the things in life under your control. For me, it was easy to blame others for everything that went wrong, believing the world to be wretched and unfair, but it didn’t do me any good.
  • Exercising. Mental health and physical health go hand-in-hand. Exercise releases endorphins, the “feel good” brain chemicals related to pleasure. If you don’t enjoy exercise, try a hobby that requires some level of physical exertion. As an additional benefit, engaging in exercise can take your mind off the stressful things in life.
exercise
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

My Depression Warning Signs

For me, there are clear signs that indicate my depression is coming back or worsening. Keep in mind that warning signs vary from individual to individual. What might be a warning sign for me may not for you.

  • My desire to do anything decreases. Hobbies I enjoy like weightlifting and running suddenly mean very little to me. But it’s not just about hobbies. Things like getting out of bed and showering suddenly become difficult because I have zero motivation or energy.
  • My thoughts get darker and more negative. It becomes increasingly tough to see the positive things in life or the positive in people. I become cynical and pessimistic.
  • Overthinking. I tend to overthink when things go bad, which is basically what depression is for me: feeling bad.
  • Anxiety. Negative thoughts and overthinking lead to increased levels of anxiety. My anxiety about the little things in life may seem insignificant to others who don’t have a mental illness, but a simple act such as calling or visiting a friend can freak me out and lead to rumination.
  • Ruminating. Intrusive thoughts run through my head and there’s no “off” switch.
  • Irritability. I become increasingly irritable; I’m in a foul mood all of the time and the smallest things piss me off.
  • Increased desire to self-medicate. I experience a strong desire to drink. Alcohol impacts the brain by triggering a release of dopamine. This rush of dopamine creates feelings of pleasure and happiness.
  • Decreased sleep quality. My overall sleep quality gets worse, partly due to constant overthinking and ruminating. Anxiety and stress are also big factors. And when I’m able to fall asleep, I wake up throughout the night.

Conclusion

Depression is a terrible disease that may go unnoticed if the signs aren’t recognized or known. A person with depression might attempt to maintain a positive front, possibly because they don’t want to complain or they’re afraid of being misunderstood.

There are multiple symptoms of depression; my symptoms went hand-in-hand, playing off one another and creating a vicious circle of negative thoughts that sucked the energy and lust for life from me.

Depression symptoms are different for different people. Learning to identify the symptoms will help you to recognize depression in others. Furthermore, an increased awareness enhances empathy and enables you to better support someone with depression.

I give the following advice to anyone with depression:

  • Don’t give up.
  • Seek professional help.
  • Seek support from your family and close friends.
  • Set goals and work hard to achieve them.
  • Take responsibility for the things you can control.
wellbeing
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Is there a cure for depression? No. Do I think I will ever be totally depression-free? Maybe. What I do know for sure is that my illness is manageable and livable at the moment. I look forward to what the future has in store for me. Which is a lot more than I anticipated at first.

depression

About the Author:

Kevin Mangelschots is a writer and occupational therapist with seven years of experience in the field of physical rehabilitation. He is a long-time fitness enthusiast. Kevin lives in Belgium and has created a platform for other bloggers to share their life stories where he writes about his own experience with depression at retellinglifestories.com.