Mental Health Archives

What Do We Do When Worldly Advice Fails?

“Just Be Positive.” “If you achieve it, you can do it.” “Pray harder.”

Have you ever heard one of these popular self-help phrases or maybe even said them yourself? If you’re like me, you’ve dealt with these phrases one or more times in your life. You may have thought that you would be able to encourage and uplift someone. Later, you walked through a tough moment, and someone told you one of these phrases and instead of leaving you comforted, it left you feeling alone and maybe even worse than before.

For me, there is one phrase that I found myself thinking about: nails on a chalkboard. It’s a phrase that to this day, I cringe over.

In the Darkness of the Valley of the Shadow of Death…there is Light

My husband’s alarm goes off and I pretend I didn’t hear it - convincing my body to ignore it and go back to sleep. The bed is warm and I know if I move the day will begin and I’m not ready to face it. And yet I know if I don’t get up I will be angry with myself for being ever behind on the never-ending list of things that must get done.

My body doesn’t move. It’s like my brain doesn’t know how to function and moving is one more decision too much for my brain to handle. Trapped by the bed and my own self, I lay there frozen in position. The longer I stay, the more stressed I feel, but the inertia needed to move the heavy mass on my shoulders and heart is too much.

Finally, once the level of stress is comparable to

The Season In Between

I don’t know about you, but the Christmas season is exciting AND frustrating. It’s exciting to spend time with people I don’t see very often. I take paid time off from work, which allows me more time in my day to do things I like to do like take my dog to the dog park when the sun is out, going to a workout class in the middle of the day, and staying up late to finish that movie I’ve been really wanting to see.

And it’s frustrating. The lack of structure in my day makes it hard to find motivation for things I should do like go grocery shopping, clean my apartment, and maintain personal hygiene. In addition to this, since many of my friends travel for the holidays, I often have less opportunities for quality social time.

Mental Health

What Do We Do When Worldly Advice Fails?

In the Darkness of the Valley of the Shadow of Death…there is Light

The Season In Between

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