Category: Self Therapy

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The Changing Face of Grief

A healthy amount of grief may be a tribute and defiance, both at the same time.

Introduction

I came to punk late and sideways, the way most outsiders do, not through the right record shops or the right postcodes, but through a person and a feeling. The person was my late husband. He chose death with dignity last year after 30 years of marriage.

When we met, I had two cassette tapes, Billy Joel and the Counting Crows, and he was appalled. This was a guy who grew up in the Valley in LA and spent a lot of his life going to shows. Let’s just say that when he played Sun Ra and then John Cage’s 4′33″ on our first date, I was unsure. A month later, we were engaged.

Music was a central part of our life together, and he helped me explore and build my own discography, including my punk collection, deliberately, almost as if he knew how much I’d need it someday.

Last year, as the world started to burn a little hotter and faster, and as my husband chose to die, I found myself building all-women playlists that combined Aretha, L7, and Amyl and the Sniffers, screaming and crying out the songs while hiding in my outside studio. After he died, I didn’t have to hide anymore, so our house became my mosh pit.

In the nine months since he passed, I’ve read all of the books on grief, and I’ve got to say: let it go. The feeling that something had happened to me, and the music being recommended, the stuff that was supposed to help, was all wrong. Too soft. Too resolved. Too busy telling me it was going to be okay.

I didn’t want okay. I wanted something that understood that it was not okay. That it was, in fact, completely horrible.

You know what got me to now? Joan Didion, Nora Ephron, and singing particularly angry and naughty songs out loud, especially “Ex-Boyfriend Beat” by Skinned Teen, “If I Had a Dick” by So Good, “Stiletto Heels” by High Tension, and “Switchblade” by LP.

So, having gotten here to this moment, here’s what I’ve worked out, still knee-deep in loss, about how punk handles grief. Not the aesthetic of it. Not the patches and the hair. The actual bones-and-guts philosophy of moving through the worst thing.

Six parts. All of them messy. None of them fixed.

I. Rage Before Resignation

The first thing grief culture tries to sell you is acceptance. There are stages, apparently. A diagram. As if losing someone is a project you can manage, with milestones and deliverables and a tidy sign-off at the end.

The five stages thing wasn’t even meant to work like that. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross was writing about people who were dying themselves, not the ones they left behind, but it got copied and pasted into the popular imagination anyway. Now, everyone with a concerned face asks, “Have you reached acceptance yet?”

No. I have not reached acceptance. I am in the cereal aisle, losing my mind. Thank you for asking.

Punk doesn’t start from acceptance. Punk starts with, “This is wrong, and I am furious about it.” The whole tradition, from The Clash to Bikini Kill to every chaotic three-minute blast these women are making right now, is built on the premise that anger is a legitimate response to a world that keeps doing shit it shouldn’t.

All I ever wanted was to walk by the park
All I ever wanted was to walk by the river, see the stars
Please, stop fucking me up.
— Amyl and the Sniffers

That. That energy.

Grief doesn’t begin with peace. It begins with, “How dare this have happened?” You are allowed, in fact, supposed to stay there until you’re ready to move. Not because someone else needs you to, but because you need you to.

II. Make Something Ugly and Honest

The first punk records were not good. Technically. They were recorded in bad rooms with bad gear by people who had been playing for eighteen months. They were perfect because of it, not despite it. The gap between the feeling and the sound was basically zero.

Grief, when you try to get it out, resists prettiness. It comes out wrong. You’ll write a sentence, and it won’t be the sentence. You’ll try to describe what it felt like, and you’ll get something lumpy and embarrassing that doesn’t do it justice, and you’ll want to scrap it.

Don’t scrap it.

Most music I listen to on bad days is chaotic and brilliant, and it absolutely doesn’t care if you find it “a lot”. There’s something about that refusal to smooth things over that maps directly onto grief.

The mess is the message. The mess is the most honest thing you can offer.

Shut up
Shut up
Shut up
Don’t look down on me!
— Otoboke Beaver

Make the bad poem. Record the terrible voice memo at 3 a.m. Start the zine you have no idea how to finish. Write in your notes app in the car park before you’re ready to go back inside.

None of it needs to be good. It needs to be out of your body and into the world, where you can look at it and say, “There it is.”

You don’t need craft. You need honesty. Turns out those aren’t the same.

III. Reject the Timeline

Society gives you roughly three months before people stop asking. Six months before your family starts suggesting therapy in the careful voice that actually may mean, “Your sadness is making us uncomfortable and we’d like it to stop now, please.” A year passes by, and you get “closure”. You get “what they would have wanted”. You get “moving on”, as if grief is a flat you can vacate when the lease runs up.

I’m questioning the validity of it all.

Punk understands the things that come back. The things that ambush you. The things that live in your body longer than anyone told you they would.

It’s been a while
Since I’ve held
You tight
It’s harder in the night time
The city is a fright to me
Tread carefully
— Big Joanie

Dig me out, dig me in
Out of this mess, baby, out of my head
— Sleater-Kinney

Grief is not linear. You can be absolutely fine, and then a smell, a song, a specific quality of afternoon light in October will put you back in the worst week of your life as fast as blinking.

That is not a setback. That is what it is.

You don’t owe anyone a recovered self. Take the year. Take ten years. Take the moment in the cereal aisle when it comes for you in year fifteen.

You’re not behind. There’s no ahead.

IV. Community over Isolation

There’s a myth that punk is fundamentally solitary, the lone individual against the machine, middle finger raised, going it alone. Yes, fine, there’s that. However, anyone who’s actually been in a good pit knows the other thing: you only stay up because everyone around you agrees, without saying anything, to catch each other.

Grief wants to isolate you. It tells you that no one could understand this specific weight, this particular person-shaped hole in your life. That feeling is real. It’s also a trap.

I have found deep and piercing solace in female punk. There’s something in this whole wave of women making loud music together that is about the radical act of not being alone with your mind.

Love you like a sister always
Soul sister, rebel girl
Come and be my best friend
— Bikini Kill

Find the people who can sit with you at 2 a.m. without trying to fix it, who let you say the dead person’s name past the point where everyone else has stopped saying it, and who don’t flinch when the answer to “how are you?” is actually honest.

Not the people who need you to be okay. Those people can wait.

The pit works best when everyone catches each other. Apply this everywhere.

V. Honor the Person Defiantly

Funerals are for the living. People say that like it’s comforting. I’ve never quite worked out why. The living want it to be tasteful. Manageable. Resolved.

The punk move is to ask: what would actually honor this person? Do that even if it’s inconvenient.

Those that might say that this can’t be done
Can get out my way while we’re having fun
— Firewalker

I know you got a room with a view up there
Please save a spot for me
— The Interrupters

Maybe it’s a party. A real party, bad lighting, the songs they actually liked, people getting drunk and telling the stories that would’ve made them laugh.

Maybe it’s a cause they cared about.

Maybe it’s twenty people in a field crying and laughing at the same time, which is the most honest emotional state anyway.

A healthy amount of grief may be a tribute and defiance, both at the same time. On one hand, grief can be a tribute to the person or thing we have lost, reflecting our love and appreciation for them. It allows us to honor their memory and acknowledge the impact they had on our lives. On the other hand, grief can also act as a form of defiance. In this context, it can represent a resistance to the finality of loss. By grieving, we assert that the loss matters and that the emotions tied to it are valid. It reflects a refusal to simply move on without acknowledging the depth of our feelings and the significance of the relationship.

VI. Don’t Aestheticize It Too Soon

There’s a branch of medicine waiting to take your grief and hand it back to you as a growth experience. The healing journey. The gift of loss. What it teaches and how it transforms over time.

Punk has always been suspicious of the machine that absorbs genuine feeling and converts it into product.

Someday, they’ll cry to survive
They’ll wonder why you’re not alive
— White Lung

Don’t let people do that with your grief. Not yet. Maybe not ever. Sometimes loss is just brutal. It doesn’t mean anything. It isn’t making you stronger. It’s just an absence where a person used to be. You’re allowed to refuse the narrative arc that does not align with you.

Stay with the rawness as long as it’s raw. Don’t package it before it’s ready. Don’t perform the recovered version of yourself until you actually are one. Let it breathe, ugly and unfinished, for as long as it needs to be. Punk grief isn’t a program. It’s a refusal. Grief is not something you get over. It’s something you carry. It changes shape. Sometimes it gets lighter. Sometimes it ambushes you in a supermarket.

None of that is failure. You’re allowed to do this on your own terms. Loudly if you need to. Badly if that’s what comes out. That’s the whole thing.

I chose to write about this topic because our culture seems to demand that we approach grief in a very specific way, a way that I’m not sure ever worked for the people still alive, and one that I know doesn’t work now.

We need to normalize talking about grief as something deeply individual. We need to model that whatever someone needs, their version of loud, quiet, messy, or unresolved, is valid.

References

Avis, K. A., Stroebe, M., & Schut, H. (2021). Stages of grief portrayed on the internet: A systematic analysis and critical appraisal. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 772696. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.772696

Costa, B. M., Hall, L., & Stewart, J. (2007). Qualitative exploration of the nature of grief-related beliefs and expectations. OMEGA—Journal of Death and Dying, 55(1), 27–56. https://doi.org/10.2190/CL20-02G6-607R-8561

Logan, E. L., Thornton, J. A., & Breen, L. J. (2018). What determines supportive behaviors following bereavement? A systematic review and call to action. Death Studies, 42(2), 104–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2017.1329760

Maciejewski, P. K., Zhang, B., Block, S. D., & Prigerson, H. G. (2007). An empirical examination of the stage theory of grief. JAMA, 297(7), 716–723. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.297.7.716

Stroebe, M. S., & Schut, H. (1999). The dual process model of coping with bereavement: Rationale and description. Death Studies, 23(3), 197–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/074811899201046

Author Bio

Rene Huey-Lipton is a lover of Pepsi, an equal reader of philosophy, mysteries, and all genres of romance. A burgeoning bird watcher, she is a refuser of all things housework. She is also the creator of The Women’s Economy, founder of StopApp, SheScan, and Doyenne of DAME. She writes about topics that affect women. Today, a few weeks out from the first anniversary of losing her husband, she is ruminating.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Anxiety Stole My Own Name

Anxiety is not just about fear, it is about the erosion of identity.

Introduction

One of the worst feelings a human being can experience is not knowing their own name. It is looking in the mirror and seeing a stranger, not knowing who you actually are, even though everyone around you claims it is obvious. They know your name, they know your personality, they know “you.” But me, I do not have an answer to any of those questions. I do not know who I am, I do not know what I am like, and I do not even recognize my own name anymore. There is only one thing I know perfectly, by heart, the email address of my psychiatrist.

I do not know who I am anymore, and it does not even hurt. What does hurt is not knowing when it all began, or if it will ever end, or if an ending is even possible. I am trying to understand. I am trying to figure out who hurt me this way, or if I was simply born sad. I am swimming in thoughts distorted by the world around me, by my good old friend anxiety, and by myself, fumbling to distinguish what is truth and what is a delusion.

A Childhood Defined by Shadows

Anxiety traded places with my own name back in my childhood. I suppose it is a classic case, a broken home, an unstable mother, an angry father, and a small soul shattered into pieces. Even then, looking in the mirror felt strange. I did not feel like I was looking into my own eyes, but into the eyes of a complete stranger. Those blue-green eyes held nothing but pain, fear, and endless anxiety. That could not be me, I was five years old. I should have been happy, running outside, riding a bike with scraped knees, and looking forward to dinner at home.

It continued like this year after year, but with one significant change, it stopped terrifying me. It still gripped me, but the fear was gone. The reflection in the mirror still was not mine, it belonged to a very close acquaintance of mine, Anxiety.

Hello? Is Someone There?

Even my psychiatrist has stopped talking to me. My emails and cries for help go unanswered. This is not silent suffering, it is loud, at least to me. I cannot listen to music, I cannot eat, I cannot sleep, I cannot work. I do not have the strength to feel any more like a stranger to myself than I already do. I constantly ask myself, why is this happening, why have I suffered for so many years, and most importantly, why can no one help me?

I feel cursed, as if I was not even meant to be in this world, and so I suffer as a punishment. Whatever is controlling me is not “me,” and yet everyone around me is angry at me, whatever “me” is supposed to mean anymore. Losing a loved one hurts, but what about losing yourself?

When Light Terrifies the Dark

When you live with this twisted and ugly uniqueness, your perception of the people around you changes. You rarely let anyone get close enough to officially introduce them to your “friend,” Anxiety. In most cases, if you do, people eventually leave because they do not want your negative energy to affect them.

Until recently, I was resigned to the fact that there is no such thing as “my person,” that I was simply fighting a war against myself, by myself. But then, he appeared.

I was, and honestly still am, distrustful. What led him to want to get to know all of my pain? What led him to tell my Anxiety that he would drive it out of me? It is so brave that it is almost laughable, isn’t it? Although I did not hold much hope, I have to admit that this boy and his light have a profound effect on my Anxiety. For the first time, she is more afraid than I am.

Conclusion

I am still drowning in the darkness, still struggling with the simplest human tasks, but I have hope now. I have a light I can follow when I can no longer breathe. I am starting to hear a name and turn toward it. Does that mean I finally know what my name is?

I chose this topic to illustrate that anxiety is not just about fear, it is about the erosion of identity. I wanted to show the raw reality of living as a stranger to oneself and the profound impact that a single person’s support can have on a life consumed by darkness. This story is my way of reclaiming the name that was stolen from me.

References

Hunter, E. C., Sierra, M., and David, A. S. (2004). The epidemiology of depersonalisation and derealisation. A systematic review. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 39(1), 9-18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-004-0701-4

Lee, W. E., Kwok, C. H., Hunter, E. C., Richards, M., & David, A. S. (2012). Prevalence and childhood antecedents of depersonalization syndrome in a UK birth cohort. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 47(2), 253–261. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-010-0327-7

Michal, M., Adler, J., Wiltink, J., Reiner, I., Tschan, R., Wölfling, K., Weimert, S., Tuin, I., Subic-Wrana, C., Beutel, M. E., & Zwerenz, R. (2016). A case series of 223 patients with depersonalization-derealization syndrome. BMC Psychiatry, 16, 203. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-016-0908-4

Simeon, D., Guralnik, O., Schmeidler, J., Sirof, B., & Knutelska, M. (2001). The role of childhood interpersonal trauma in depersonalization disorder. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 158(7), 1027–1033. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.158.7.1027

Teicher, M. H., & Samson, J. A. (2013). Childhood maltreatment and psychopathology: A case for ecophenotypic variants as clinically and neurobiologically distinct subtypes. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 170(10), 1114–1133. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.12070957

Author Bio

Petra Mleckova is a writer and mental health advocate who focuses on the profound experience of depersonalization and identity loss. By sharing her raw journey through childhood trauma and the difficult process of reclaiming her sense of self, she aims to give a voice to those feeling invisible within their own lives. Her work is a testament to the fact that even in the deepest silence of anxiety, one can begin to hear one’s own name again.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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The “Yes Woman”

Deeply ingrained habit often transitions into the professional sphere, manifesting as a tendency to say "yes" to every request, even those far beyond the scope of work or official working hours.

Introduction

As Asian women in Indonesia, our culture has long emphasized obedience to parental authority and a “no questions asked” approach to instructions. This deeply ingrained habit often transitions into the professional sphere, manifesting as a tendency to say “yes” to every request, even those far beyond the scope of work or official working hours.

Many women find themselves agreeing to take on extra tasks for other teams while harboring internal resentment. This experience is far from isolated. Regrettably, this dynamic often occurs between women. Female managers frequently expect their female subordinates to work overtime or handle tasks outside their job descriptions.

The justifications vary, such as a lack of manpower, tight deadlines, or a desire to see the team “working hard”. However, it is disheartening because every woman, whether single or with a family, has the right to personal time. Does this resonate with your experience?

Why Are Women Under Pressure in the Workplace?

The pressure women face in professional environments often stems from the “double bind” phenomenon and contradictory social expectations. Psychologically, women are frequently expected to appear warm and supportive in line with traditional gender roles, yet they must simultaneously project decisiveness and competence to be recognized as leaders.

When they act assertively, they risk being disliked due to the likability bias, yet when they adopt a softer approach, they are often perceived as less competent. This dilemma creates chronic stress and higher rates of burnout, as women must constantly calibrate their behavior to navigate a workplace culture that remains predominantly masculine in its standards.

What Drives Conflict Between Women?

The phenomenon of women undermining other women, often referred to as Queen Bee Syndrome, is usually not rooted in personal animosity. Rather, it is a defensive response to a patriarchal environment. In organizational structures where top positions for women are limited, unhealthy internal competition can emerge.

Social psychology suggests that some women who reach leadership roles may distance themselves from female peers to protect their status or because they believe others should “suffer” as they once did. This creates a toxic cycle where gender-based solidarity is eroded by a perceived threat to professional security.

Systemic Reform or the Power to Say “No”?

While strengthening an individual’s capacity to be assertive and say “no” is vital, the burden of change should ultimately lie with a work system that normalizes exploitation. Psychologically, individuals, particularly women, often feel guilty or fear social repercussions if they decline additional workloads due to a prevailing “always on” culture.

However, demanding that individuals simply improve their assertiveness without addressing an organizational culture that glorifies overwork is an oversimplification of the problem. Work systems must shift from hour-based evaluations to output-based assessments, creating a safe space for every employee to set boundaries without fear of negative professional judgment.

Conclusion

The “Yes Woman” phenomenon among female professionals is not merely a matter of individual timidity. It is a manifestation of the intersection between a culture of obedience and gender-biased work systems. While assertiveness is a valuable skill, placing the entire burden of change on the individual without addressing exploitative systems is unjust.

There must be a synergy between organizational policies that support work-life balance and genuine solidarity among women to break the cycle of Queen Bee Syndrome. Only by fostering a workplace culture that respects boundaries and evaluates performance objectively can women thrive without sacrificing their mental health or feeling perpetual guilt for saying “no.”

I chose to write about this topic because it is a reality that I, along with many women in the Indonesian professional landscape, have personally navigated. Throughout my 14-year career, I have observed that exercising the courage to say “no” typically leads to one of two outcomes: being pressured into resigning due to an uncomfortable work environment, or finally earning the respect of leadership. Regrettably, in my experience, the outcome has consistently leaned toward the former.

References

Aung, N., & Tewogbola, P. (2019). The impact of emotional labor on the health in the workplace: A narrative review of literature from 2013-2018. AIMS Public Health, 6(3), 268–275. https://doi.org/10.3934/publichealth.2019.3.268

Faniko, K., Ellemers, N., & Derks, B. (2021). The Queen bee phenomenon in academia 15 years after: Does it still exist, and if so, why?. The British Journal of Social Psychology, 60(2), 383–399. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12408

Gerli, F., Bonesso, S., & Pizzi, C. (2015). Boundaryless career and career success: The impact of emotional and social competencies. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1304. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01304

Latu, I. M., Mast, M. S., Bombari, D., Lammers, J., & Hoyt, C. L. (2019). Empowering mimicry: Female leader role models empower women in leadership tasks through body posture mimicry. Sex Roles, 80(1), 11–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-018-0911-y

Souza-Costa, A. C., Oliveira, H. C., & Guirardello, E. B. (2026). Relationship among workplace bullying, job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intention: The mediating role of nurses’ resilience. Nursing Research and Practice, 2026, 8868659. https://doi.org/10.1155/nrp/8868659

Author Bio

Nurul Hanifah (Nova) is a Jakarta-based writer who transitioned from a career in journalism to the professional communications industry. Throughout her 14-year journey, she has developed a keen interest in the intersection of mental health, equality, and the modern work culture. Nova is passionate about exploring how professionals can navigate their careers while staying true to their principles and well-being.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

 

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Combating Suicidal Ideations and Attempts: A Serious Global Issue

Suicide is a complex issue shaped by many factors, including financial stress, relationship struggles, job loss, and mental health conditions. Nonetheless, one truth stands out clearly from both research and lived experience, crises pass, even when they feel endless.

Introduction

I Attempted Suicide

I am writing this not to shock you, but to tell the truth in my experience. I reached a point where life felt too heavy to carry. Money problems were closing in, my relationship was breaking up, and despite my qualifications, I was not getting work. It felt like every door was locked. What followed was a crisis that I survived, and that survival changed how I understand mental health.

This article blends my lived experience. Suicide is a serious global issue, and behind every statistic is a human story. According to global health bodies, most people who think about suicide do not actually want to die. They just want relief from pain.

This piece aims to:

  • Educate
  • Reduce stigma around mental health struggles
  • Offer hope and direction for anyone feeling overwhelmed

If you take one thing from this, let it be: even in your lowest moment, your story is not over.

When I Lost My Job, I Somehow Lost My Identity

Work is not just about earning money. It often shapes identity, routine, and purpose. When I lost my job, I felt lost. Days became longer, motivation dropped, and self-doubt crept in. It was not just income that disappeared. There was a loss of structure, confidence, and a sense of progress.

Then, the bills piled up faster than opportunities. Each unanswered call and unpaid balance added weight to my thoughts. Financial stress is one of the worst predators of mental health. My brain shifted into survival mode, which created anxiety and feelings of failure. I have come to learn that job loss is not a personal failure, it is often influenced by economic systems and, in my case, had nothing to do with me.

Emotional Isolation Inside My Marriage

My marriage was a source of strength, but when the stress of finances crept in, it started to crumble. The emotional impact was intense. Conflict, separation, and episodes of silence created a deep sense of loneliness, even when surrounded by loved ones. Communication slowly disappeared, making small disagreements lead to large emotional distances.

What Changed After the Crisis

Surviving a suicide crisis does not instantly fix everything, but it creates a moment, a pause where perspective can begin to shift. For me, that moment was quiet but powerful. After waking up from a deliberate pill overdose, I realised that pain had narrowed my view, making problems feel larger and solutions invisible. My family and friends came together to support me out of my hopeless haze. The non-judgmental shoulders to cry on and professional therapy were the first steps out of the hole.

Recovery is not a straight line. Some days feel heavy again, but survival created a foundation for change, and that foundation matters.

Conclusion

Suicide is a complex issue shaped by many factors, including financial stress, relationship struggles, job loss, and mental health conditions. Nonetheless, one truth stands out clearly from both research and lived experience, crises pass, even when they feel endless. This article is not just my story, it is a reminder. Pain can be overwhelming, but it is not permanent. Most importantly, help exists.

I chose to write about attempting suicide but surviving for a reason that goes beyond storytelling. Financial pressure, relationship struggles, and job loss quietly broke me down. Too often, conversations about mental health stay on the surface. We talk about stress or burnout, but we rarely connect the dots to the deeper realities people face daily. I wanted to tell my story about when it felt like the end, but it was not. Lastly, writing this piece was to contribute to shaping conversations about mental health.

References

Choi, N. G., Marti, C. N., and Choi, B. Y. (2022). Job loss, financial strain, and housing problems as suicide precipitants: Associations with other life stressors. SSM – Population Health, 19, 101243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101243

Guan, N., Guariglia, A., and Moore, P. (2022). Financial stress and depression in adults: A systematic review. PLOS ONE, 17(2), e0264041. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264041

Mathieu, S., Treloar, A., Hawgood, J., Ross, V., and Kõlves, K. (2022). The role of unemployment, financial hardship, and economic recession on suicidal behaviors and interventions to mitigate their impact: A review. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 907052. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.907052

Nisar, A., Yin, J., Waqas, A., Bai, X., Wang, D., Rahman, A., & Li, X. (2020). Prevalence of perinatal depression and its determinants in Mainland China: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 277, 1022–1037. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.07.046

Roelfs, D. J., and Shor, E. (2023). Financial stress, unemployment, and suicide: A meta-analysis. Crisis, 44(6), 506–517. https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000908

Author Bio

Nickson Mberesha has 10+ years of experience delivering impactful projects in child protection, OOSC education, youth engagement, theatre and film, and community development. He focuses on turning ideas into practical solutions that improve access, strengthen systems, and create real opportunities for communities. His work experience spans not-for-profit project implementation, stakeholder engagement, training/facilitation, and digital content development. He has led initiatives that deliver results in fast-paced, resource-constrained environments. Strong interest in community empowerment and inclusive development, he is hands-on and adaptable, with a track record of delivering results.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Focus is the New Superpower – Why Single-Tasking Beats Multi-Tasking Every Time

The Multi-Tasking Myth: Why It Is Stealing Your Focus and Productivity

Introduction

You rush through the door at 6:30 pm, arms full, mind racing. Within minutes, you are simultaneously heating dinner, folding yesterday’s laundry, and replying to a work email. Then the unmistakable smell of burning food snaps you back to reality. Yet another evening turns chaotic because of the very multitasking you thought would make you more efficient. If this scattered rhythm feels familiar, you are not alone. In our hyper-connected world, constant task switching has become the default mode of living. But what if the habit we celebrate as getting things done is actually undermining our focus, productivity, and peace of mind?

Let us explore how constant task switching steals your focus, disrupts your peace, and increases stress levels. Extensive research shows that when you focus on one task at a time, your productivity increases significantly, as does the quality of your work. Single-tasking creates space for greater creativity, stronger memory, and even unlocks the flow state of productivity. There are also simple mindfulness-based strategies that can help you train and apply the single-tasking skill in all areas of your life.

The Multi-Tasking Myth: Why It Is Stealing Your Focus and Productivity

Efficient multitasking is largely an illusion, as the brain is not designed to handle multiple tasks simultaneously. Instead, it rapidly switches between tasks, creating switching costs in time, accuracy, and mental energy. Research shows that you can lose up to 40 percent of productive time as task complexity increases (Rubinstein et al., 2001).

Study participants who continuously switched between media-related tasks performed worse on attention, memory, and filtering tasks. Even when doing a single task, their minds remained primed for distraction (Ophir et al., 2009). Studies also suggest that chronic multitasking is associated with reduced grey matter in the brain, which is essential for processing information, memory, and other cognitive functions (Becker et al., 2022; Loh and Kanai, 2014).

Single-Tasking Superpowers: The Science of Faster and More Satisfying Work

Focusing on one task at a time improves speed, accuracy, creativity, and overall well-being. The concept of flow state, introduced by Csikszentmihalyi (1990), describes a condition in which you are completely immersed in a task that is both challenging and rewarding. This state represents the ultimate benefit of single-tasking and is associated with reduced mental fatigue. However, this deep immersion is often disrupted by multitasking (Pluut et al., 2024).

The brain also has a cognitive bottleneck, meaning it must prioritize and process limited information at a time to prevent overload. Single-tasking respects this limitation and helps maintain cognitive efficiency (Pashler, 1994).

Training Your Focus: Mindful Single-Tasking

At this point, you might be wondering how to implement single-tasking in your own life. Here are some simple, evidence-based approaches to help shift from multitasking to mindful focus.

A study by Sleimen-Malkoun et al. (2023) showed that just 10 minutes of focused attention mindfulness meditation can significantly improve attention, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility, as measured by Stroop task performance. It is important to remember that focus is a skill that anyone can develop. It does not require extraordinary willpower to cultivate this ability (Kim et al., 2025).

Be patient with yourself as you learn and experiment with this new approach. Over time, you will begin to notice meaningful improvements in your daily functioning and overall sense of clarity.

Conclusion

In a world engineered to pull our attention in countless directions, choosing to focus on one task at a time is more than a productivity strategy. It is a fundamental shift toward better mental functioning. By moving away from the multitasking myth and embracing mindful single-tasking, you can regain sharper thinking, deeper creativity, reduced stress, and those valuable moments of flow.

The science is clear, the brain performs best when working in alignment with its natural design. Start small by selecting one important task, giving it your full attention, and observing how it changes your experience. Focus truly is a powerful skill, and the more you practice it, the stronger it becomes, leading to a calmer, clearer, and more fulfilling life.

I chose to write about single-tasking versus multitasking because it is a habit many people adopt in an attempt to save time. In reality, it often leads to increased stress and reduced quality of work. As modern environments tend to encourage multitasking, many individuals remain unaware of its negative effects on brain health and mental well-being.

This article aims to gently encourage readers to reflect on their multitasking habits, understand the underlying psychological and cognitive mechanisms, and adopt a more mindful, single-tasking approach. The goal is for readers to finish the article feeling informed and motivated to take greater ownership of their mental well-being.

References

Becker, L., Kaltenegger, H. C., Nowak, D., Weigl, M., & Rohleder, N. (2022). Physiological stress in response to multitasking and work interruptions: Study protocol. PlOS ONE, 17(2), e0263785. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263785

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper and Row. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224927532_Flow_The_Psychology_of_Optimal_Experience

Kim, A. J., Chen, K., Tian, Y., & Mather, M. (2025). The effects of mindfulness meditation on mechanisms of attentional control in young and older adults: A preregistered eye tracking study. eNeuro, 12(7). https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0356-23.2025

Loh, K. K., & Kanai, R. (2014). Higher media multi-tasking activity is associated with smaller gray-matter density in the anterior cingulate cortex. PlOS ONE, 9(9), e106698. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0106698

Ophir, E., Nass, C., & Wagner, A. D. (2009). Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(37), 15583–15587. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0903620106

Pashler H. (1994). Dual-task interference in simple tasks: Data and theory. Psychological Bulletin, 116(2), 220–244. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.116.2.220

Pluut, H., Darouei, M., & Zeijen, M. E. L. (2024). Why and when does multitasking impair flow and subjective performance? A daily diary study on the role of task appraisals and work engagement. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1384453. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1384453

Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E., & Evans, J. E. (2001). Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology, Human Perception and Performance, 27(4), 763–797. https://doi.org/10.1037//0096-1523.27.4.763

Sleimen-Malkoun, R., Devillers-Réolon, L., & Temprado, J. J. (2023). A single session of mindfulness meditation may acutely enhance cognitive performance regardless of meditation experience. PlOS ONE, 18(3), e0282188. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282188

Author Bio

Femke de Hoog Bouthoorn draws on her academic background in psychology (MSc. Neuroscience and Psychology of Mental Health), and her global observations as a flight attendant to explore everyday habits that quietly shape our mental wellbeing. She is passionate about making psychological science accessible and investigates common modern behaviors, such as multitasking, comparison, and the creativity behind boredom, through psychoeducation, gentle self-reflection, and practical tools. Femke aims to empower readers to become more aware of their habits and to inspire them to take ownership of their mental wellbeing, one mindful step at a time.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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High-Functioning Burnout: When You Look Fine but Feel Empty

High-functioning burnout is difficult to recognize because it hides behind the appearance of normalcy.

Introduction

From the outside, everything can look perfectly fine. You meet deadlines, respond to messages, show up to work, and even manage to smile through conversations. Yet internally, something feels off, like you are running on empty but do not have the time or permission to stop. This is what high-functioning burnout often looks like – invisible, normalized, and dangerously easy to ignore.

I chose this topic because it reflects a reality many people quietly live through, especially in fast-paced, performance-driven environments. When productivity becomes identity, exhaustion becomes something we learn to hide rather than address. The problem is not just being tired, it is feeling disconnected from yourself while continuing to function as if nothing is wrong.

High-functioning burnout is different from the stereotypical image of burnout, where someone completely shuts down. Instead, it is subtle. You continue to perform, but everything takes more effort. Tasks that once felt easy start to feel heavy. Motivation does not disappear, it becomes forced.

One of the most challenging aspects is that it often goes unnoticed, even by the person experiencing it. Because responsibilities are still being met, there is a tendency to dismiss the internal struggle. Thoughts like “I am still managing, so it is not that bad” or “Others have it worse” create a cycle where the problem is minimized instead of addressed.

Over time, this disconnect builds. You might notice irritability, lack of focus, or a constant sense of mental fatigue. Even rest does not feel restorative, because the mind never fully switches off. There is also a quiet emotional numbness. Things that used to matter or bring joy start to feel distant.

What makes high-functioning burnout particularly difficult is the expectation, both internal and external, to keep going. In many environments, being busy is seen as a sign of success. Slowing down can feel like failure. As a result, people push through warning signs until their mental health forces them to stop.

Addressing this kind of burnout does not always require drastic life changes, but it does require awareness. Small shifts, like setting clearer boundaries, allowing genuine rest without guilt, and recognizing that productivity is not the same as worth, can make a significant difference. It also involves being honest with yourself, even when everything seems “fine” on the surface.

Ultimately, high-functioning burnout is a reminder that functioning is not the same as thriving. Just because you can keep going does not mean you should have to.

What High-Functioning Burnout Really Looks Like

High-functioning burnout does not always announce itself in obvious ways. There is no dramatic collapse or clear breaking point. Instead, it shows up quietly, woven into daily routines. You still wake up on time, complete your tasks, attend meetings, and respond to messages. On paper, everything seems normal. But internally, there is a constant sense of strain, as if every action requires more effort than it should.

One of the clearest signs is emotional disconnection. Things that once felt engaging or meaningful start to feel flat. You may go through entire days on autopilot, completing responsibilities without feeling present. Even small decisions can feel overwhelming, not because they are difficult, but because your mental energy is already depleted.

Another common experience is persistent fatigue that rest does not fix. You can sleep, take breaks, or step away from work, yet still feel tired. This is not just physical exhaustion. It is cognitive and emotional fatigue. Your mind struggles to fully switch off, often replaying tasks, worries, or unfinished responsibilities in the background.

There is also a tendency to become more irritable or impatient, even over minor things. Because your internal resources are stretched thin, small inconveniences feel disproportionately frustrating. At the same time, you might push these feelings aside, telling yourself to “just get through the day.”

Perhaps the most defining feature of high-functioning burnout is that you keep going despite all of this. You meet expectations, fulfill responsibilities, and maintain appearances. But beneath that surface, there is a growing gap between how you seem and how you actually feel, and that gap is where burnout quietly deepens.

Why It Often Goes Unnoticed

High-functioning burnout is easy to overlook because it hides behind productivity. As long as tasks are completed and responsibilities are met, both you and others may assume everything is fine. There is no obvious disruption, no missed deadlines, no clear signal that something is wrong. In fact, many people experiencing this type of burnout are often seen as reliable, disciplined, and high-performing.

A major reason it goes unnoticed is the way constant busyness is normalized. In many environments, being overwhelmed is almost expected, and pushing through exhaustion is often praised. Phrases like “just power through” or “it is part of the job” reinforce the idea that feeling drained is normal, not something to question.

There is also an internal factor at play. People experiencing high-functioning burnout tend to downplay their own struggles. They compare themselves to others and think, “I am still managing, so it cannot be that bad.” This mindset makes it harder to recognize when stress has crossed into something more serious.

Another layer is the fear of slowing down. Taking a step back can feel risky, like you might fall behind, disappoint others, or lose control over your responsibilities. So instead, you keep going, even when your mind and body are asking for a break.

Because of all this, high-functioning burnout can persist for a long time without being addressed. It blends into daily life so seamlessly that it feels normal, until it does not. By the time it becomes impossible to ignore, the impact is often much deeper than it first appeared.

How to Break the Cycle and Recover

Breaking out of high-functioning burnout does not happen overnight, and it rarely comes from a single big change. It starts with awareness, recognizing that just because you are functioning does not mean you are okay. Acknowledging this without judgment is the first step toward regaining control.

One of the most effective ways to begin recovery is by creating boundaries. This does not mean abandoning your responsibilities, but rather redefining how you engage with them. Setting limits on work hours, reducing unnecessary commitments, and allowing yourself to say “no” can help protect your energy. Boundaries create space, something burnout gradually takes away.

Rest also needs to be intentional. It is not just about stopping work, but about giving your mind a real chance to disconnect. Passive rest, like scrolling or watching content, does not always restore energy. Instead, focus on activities that genuinely recharge you, whether that is quiet time, light movement, or simply doing nothing without guilt.

Another key part of recovery is reconnecting with what feels meaningful. Burnout often creates distance between you and the things you once enjoyed. Reintroducing small moments of interest or curiosity, without pressure, can slowly rebuild that connection. It does not have to be grand, even small shifts can make a difference over time.

It is also important to challenge the belief that your worth is tied to productivity. This mindset fuels burnout by making rest feel undeserved. Reminding yourself that value is not measured by output alone can help ease the internal pressure to constantly perform.

Finally, do not underestimate the importance of support. Talking to someone, whether it is a friend, partner, or professional, can help you process what you are experiencing and gain perspective. Burnout thrives in isolation, but it becomes easier to manage when shared. Recovery is not about becoming less responsible or less driven. It is about finding a sustainable way to live and work without losing yourself in the process.

Conclusion

High-functioning burnout is difficult to recognize because it hides behind the appearance of normalcy. You keep showing up, keep delivering, and keep moving forward, even when something inside you is quietly wearing down. That is what makes it so dangerous. It convinces you that everything is fine when, in reality, you are slowly running out of energy.

Understanding this kind of burnout is important because it challenges a common belief that as long as you are functioning, you are okay. However, functioning is not the same as feeling fulfilled, present, or at ease. Ignoring the signs does not make them disappear. It only allows them to grow beneath the surface.

The goal is not to stop being productive or to withdraw from responsibilities. It is to find balance, to create a way of living where you can still achieve, contribute, and perform without sacrificing your well-being. That starts with small, honest shifts, listening to yourself, setting boundaries, and allowing rest to be a necessity rather than a reward. In the end, taking care of your mental and emotional state is not a weakness. It is what allows you to sustain everything else in your life.

I chose to write about this topic because it reflects a reality that is often overlooked, yet widely experienced. High-functioning burnout does not always look like a crisis. It looks like normal life, just heavier, quieter, and more draining. It is something many people go through without realizing it has a name, which makes it even harder to address.

This subject also resonates on a personal and professional level. In environments where performance and reliability are expected, it is easy to prioritize responsibilities over well-being. Over time, that can lead to a state where you are constantly functioning but rarely feeling fully present or fulfilled. By writing about this, I wanted to bring attention to something that often stays hidden. The goal is to help people recognize the signs earlier, understand that their experience is valid, and feel encouraged to take small steps toward balance before it becomes overwhelming.

References

Cano-López, I., Pérez, M. I., & Puig-Pérez, S. (2023). Burnout is related to executive dysfunction in primary healthcare professionals working in rural areas. El burnout se asocia con la disfunción ejecutiva en profesionales de atención primaria que trabajan en zonas rurales. Revista de neurologia, 76(3), 91–99. https://doi.org/10.33588/rn.7603.2022283

De Hert S. (2020). Burnout in healthcare workers: Prevalence, impact and preventative strategies. Local and Regional Anesthesia, 13, 171–183. https://doi.org/10.2147/LRA.S240564

Edú-Valsania, S., Laguía, A., & Moriano, J. A. (2022). Burnout: A review of theory and measurement. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1780. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031780

Khammissa, R. A. G., Nemutandani, S., Feller, G., Lemmer, J., & Feller, L. (2022). Burnout phenomenon: Neurophysiological factors, clinical features, and aspects of management. The Journal of International Medical Research, 50(9), 3000605221106428. https://doi.org/10.1177/03000605221106428

Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Understanding the burnout experience: recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psychiatry, 15(2), 103–111. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20311

Author Bio

Daniel Tabone is a Senior Systems Analyst based in Malta, working within the public sector on large-scale IT systems, infrastructure, and digital services. With a background in managing high-responsibility environments, he has developed a strong interest in the intersection between productivity, mental well-being, and sustainable work practices. Drawing from both professional experience and personal insight, Daniel writes about modern workplace challenges, particularly those that are often overlooked—such as high-functioning burnout. His goal is to raise awareness, encourage honest conversations, and promote healthier approaches to work and daily life.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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When Caring Becomes Exhausting: Understanding Emotional Burnout in Helping Professionals

Re-establishing Boundaries - Boundaries protect energy rather than limit generosity. Learning when to pause, delegate, or decline tasks preserves long-term effectiveness.

Introduction

I chose to write about emotional burnout because it often hides behind dedication. Many professionals who work with people, including educators, HR practitioners, social workers, healthcare providers, volunteers, and leaders, enter their fields with a strong desire to help others grow. Yet somewhere between responsibility, empathy, and constant availability, caring can slowly transform into exhaustion.

Burnout does not usually arrive dramatically. It appears quietly, with decreased motivation, emotional numbness, irritability, or the feeling that even meaningful work no longer feels meaningful. What makes burnout particularly challenging is that high performers are often the least likely to recognize it. They normalize stress, minimize fatigue, and continue giving long after their emotional resources are depleted.

The World Health Organization recognizes burnout as an occupational phenomenon linked to chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. However, beyond clinical definitions, burnout is deeply human. It reflects the tension between caring for others and forgetting to care for oneself.

This article explores emotional burnout from a personal and psychological perspective, aiming to open an honest conversation about sustainability, boundaries, and self-compassion.

Burnout is often misunderstood as simple tiredness. In reality, it represents a multidimensional psychological state involving emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of accomplishment, concepts extensively studied by psychologist Christina Maslach.

Helping professionals are particularly vulnerable because their work relies on emotional presence. Unlike technical tasks, emotional labor cannot be automated or detached. Listening deeply, supporting others through challenges, managing conflicts, and facilitating growth all require continuous emotional engagement.

Many individuals in people-centered roles develop an identity around being reliable, supportive, and strong. While these traits foster trust and leadership, they can also create internal pressure. Thoughts like, “if others depend on me, I cannot slow down”, may manifest. Over time, this mindset leads to emotional overextension. Instead of restorative work, daily interactions begin to feel draining. Compassion turns into fatigue, and passion quietly shifts into survival mode.

Burnout is therefore not a personal failure. It is often a mismatch between human limits and sustained emotional demands.

The Invisible Signs of Emotional Burnout

Burnout rarely begins with collapse. It starts with subtle psychological changes:

  • Feeling emotionally detached from work or people
  • Reduced patience or empathy
  • Persistent mental fatigue despite adequate sleep
  • Loss of motivation toward previously meaningful tasks
  • Increased self-criticism or feelings of inadequacy

One of the most confusing aspects of burnout is emotional numbness. Individuals may continue performing effectively while internally feeling disconnected. Because productivity remains intact, colleagues and supervisors may not notice any struggle.

This invisibility contributes to delayed intervention. Many people only acknowledge burnout when physical symptoms appear, such as headaches, sleep disturbances, or chronic stress responses.

Recognizing early emotional signals is therefore essential. Awareness transforms burnout from a crisis into a manageable condition.

Why Passionate People Burn Out Faster

Contrary to common belief, burnout does not primarily affect disengaged employees. It frequently impacts the most committed individuals.

Passionate professionals often:

  • Take personal responsibility for outcomes beyond their control
  • Struggle to set boundaries
  • Derive self-worth from helping others
  • Say “yes” more often than they should

This creates what psychologists call empathic over-identification, when one absorbs others’ challenges emotionally instead of supporting them with healthy distance.

In environments where resources are limited or expectations remain high, passion becomes both a strength and a vulnerability. Without recovery periods, continuous emotional investment leads to depletion.

Healthy helping requires recognizing that effectiveness does not come from endless availability but from sustainable engagement.

Rebuilding Emotional Sustainability

Recovery from burnout is not simply about taking time off. It involves redefining one’s relationship with work and self-care.

Key practices include:

  1. Re-establishing Boundaries – Boundaries protect energy rather than limit generosity. Learning when to pause, delegate, or decline tasks preserves long-term effectiveness.
  2. Restoring Meaning – Burnout disconnects individuals from purpose. Reflecting on why the work matters, beyond performance metrics, helps rebuild motivation.
  3. Practicing Self-Compassion – Many high achievers treat themselves with harsher standards than they would ever apply to others. Self-compassion reduces emotional exhaustion and improves resilience.
  4. Shared Support Systems – Burnout thrives in isolation. Peer discussions, supervision, mentoring, or coaching create psychological safety and normalize emotional struggles.

Emotional sustainability is not selfish, it is necessary for continued contribution.

Conclusion

Burnout challenges a deeply rooted belief that caring more always leads to better outcomes. In reality, sustainable care requires balance. Helping others should not come at the cost of losing oneself. Acknowledging burnout is an act of courage. It allows professionals to shift from endurance to intentional living, from constant giving to reciprocal wellbeing. When individuals learn to protect their emotional energy, they do not become less committed, they become more present, more authentic, and more capable of meaningful impact. Mental health conversations must therefore move beyond crisis management and toward prevention, self-awareness, and compassionate workplace cultures.

Emotional burnout feels deeply relevant to people who dedicate their careers to developing others. Many helping professionals silently carry emotional weight while appearing strong and capable. Writing about burnout creates space for honesty. It allows individuals to recognize that exhaustion does not invalidate passion, and needing rest does not mean lacking resilience. This topic matters to me because I believe sustainable leadership begins with self-awareness. Supporting others effectively requires acknowledging our own limits, emotions, and humanity.

References

Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., and Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). The job demands-resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 499–512. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.3.499

Maslach, C., and Leiter, M. P. (2016). Understanding the burnout experience: Recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psychiatry, 15(2), 103–111. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20311

Salvagioni, D. A. J., Melanda, F. N., Mesas, A. E., et al. (2017). Physical, psychological and occupational consequences of job burnout: A systematic review of prospective studies. PLOS ONE, 12(10), e0185781. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185781

Schaufeli, W. B., Leiter, M. P., and Maslach, C. (2009). Burnout, 35 years of research and practice. Career Development International, 14(3), 204–220. https://www.wilmarschaufeli.nl/publications/Schaufeli/311.pdf

West, C. P., Dyrbye, L. N., and Shanafelt, T. D. (2018). Physician burnout: Contributors, consequences and solutions. Journal of Internal Medicine, 283(6), 516–529. https://doi.org/10.1111/joim.12752

Author Bio

Clara-Maria Saadeh is a Talent Experience and Development professional specializing in learning, leadership development, and emotional intelligence. With experience in organizational training and people development, she is passionate about creating psychologically safe workplaces and promoting sustainable performance. Her work focuses on bridging human-centered leadership with practical development strategies that support both organizational success and individual wellbeing.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

 

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What if There Is a Cure for Addiction?

What is Addiction? How Do We Define It and Is There a Solution?

Introduction

What is Addiction? How Do We Define It and Is There a Solution?

In my 42 colourful years on earth, I have been intimately familiar with addiction. From my own desperate need for love, approval, and validation, to parents with physical abuse or emotional dependencies, to partners with severe substance and sexual abuse histories. These were the common denominators underneath all of these versions of suffering, in my experience, loneliness and a lack of connection. Not primarily to others, but really to oneself. You can only perceive and receive what you believe you are deserving of. I realise this may be inflammatory to read, but let us curiously explore this idea.

Addiction is a complex condition, a brain disorder that is manifested by compulsive substance use despite harmful consequences. It can be characterized by an overwhelming desire to use a substance, loss of control over usage, and the development of tolerance and withdrawal symptoms. Defining addiction often involves understanding the various forms it can take, including substance-related addictions like drugs and alcohol, as well as behavioral addictions such as gambling or internet use. The American Psychiatric Association classifies addiction within the framework of substance use disorders, which highlights the psychological, social, and biological factors involved. There are various approaches to addressing addiction, and while there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, several strategies have been found effective.

Me, Me, Me

There is the ME, the victim that is owed something by life, and then there is the ME that is fully formed and worthy of all the treasures life has to offer. But how do we go from feeling like a feather in the wind to becoming our own wind of change, blowing into the sails of our life?

There are infinite ways, but one thing is for sure, the only way is through you.

Where to Begin???

It may seem like a cliché, and maybe even an overly pragmatic suggestion. The truth is, peace comes from stillness and not from the wave. To find that stillness, we must fully and radically accept who we are today, with compassion for ourselves and forgiveness for others. If these two basic pillars are not met, there cannot be a foundation for growing into self-love. That self-love grows into connection with oneself, which then develops into the ability to connect with others, and the ability to release addictions to food, sex, substances, and emotions like sadness, shame, guilt, and many other forms of attachment we tend to indulge in.

It is not easy, but it is simple.

Neuroplasticity changes the brain. Think it, write it, say it, do it until you start to believe it. Practice makes progress. Let go of the outcome and focus on the process. Again, again, again. Unless you want to suffer. You are also allowed to suffer, but you do have a choice. Every day is a new day, a chance to choose again.

Conclusion

Each day is a new beginning. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That is why it is called the present. Be present with yourself, and fall in love with yourself. The internal world will become far more fulfilling than the external stimuli we often hope will save us.

This topic has been a part of my life, and I have witnessed many beautiful healing journeys, including my own, through the path of radical honesty, acceptance, and the courage to try again. After all, life is nothing but a series of moments.

References

Alexander, B. K. (2008). The globalization of addiction: A study in poverty of the spirit. Oxford University Press. https://raggeduniversity.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1_x_Bruce-K.-Alexander-The-globalisation-of-addiction-_-a-study-in-poverty-of-the-spirit-Oxford-University-Press-USA-2010.pdf

Berg, S. J., Zaso, M. J., Biehler, K. M., & Read, J. P. (2024). Self-compassion and self-forgiveness in alcohol risk, treatment and recovery: A systematic review. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 31(3), e2987. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2987

LaFata, E. M., Allison, K. C., Audrain-McGovern, J., & Forman, E. M. (2024). Ultra-processed food addiction: A research update. Current Obesity Reports, 13(2), 214–223. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-024-00569-w

Gupta, A., Osadchiy, V., & Mayer, E. A. (2020). Brain-gut-microbiome interactions in obesity and food addiction. Nature Reviews, Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 17(11), 655–672. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-020-0341-5

Hauck, C., Cook, B., & Ellrott, T. (2020). Food addiction, eating addiction and eating disorders. The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 79(1), 103–112. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665119001162

Phelps, C. L., Paniagua, S. M., Willcockson, I. U., & Potter, J. S. (2018). The relationship between self-compassion and the risk for substance use disorder. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 183, 78–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2017.10.026

Author Bio

Stefanie Fröehlich has lived a lot of life. She knows what she doesn’t know, and she knows that knowledge doesn’t equal wisdom. Forged by fire and liberated by love, her encounters with life have humbled and inspired her with compassion and patience for the healing journey of each one of us, no matter how long and arduous that journey may be. 

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Suicide and Negative Thinking amongst Veterinarians

Being a veterinarian is a high-demand profession, and it often requires dedication, years of study, and long, stressful shifts.

Introduction

Being a veterinarian is a high-demand profession, and it often requires dedication, years of study, and long, stressful shifts. Burnout and financial constraints, combined with clients becoming more informed and using AI tools to challenge veterinarians’ opinions, are making this profession increasingly difficult in day-to-day life.

Complex mechanisms can contribute to the development of suicidal tendencies. The field of veterinary medicine is constantly changing and evolving, and overall, it is becoming a predominantly female profession. More women are entering the field, and many report questioning whether they chose the right profession or report feeling a lack of job satisfaction.

Reaching Perfection

People who pursue perfection are often the ones who need the most support. The drive that makes someone wake up early, prepare thoroughly for cases, and plan their workday can feel like chasing an ideal that is never fully attainable. We never truly reach it, yet we continue striving for it repeatedly. When goals are not achieved, it can lead to feelings of failure and the belief that nothing meaningful has been accomplished.

Suicide Factors

Surveys indicate that substance abuse is the most common factor associated with suicide in veterinarians. Access to drugs and familiarity with euthanasia protocols can make this pathway more accessible within the profession. The second and third most common methods are hanging and the use of firearms.

Isolation

Many small-animal practice professionals experience isolation. Their daily interactions are often limited to a small, repetitive circle of colleagues and clients. Within these environments, a lack of understanding or support can deepen feelings of loneliness instead of encouraging individuals to seek help. The need for belonging is fundamental to human nature, and when adequate support is absent, isolation can increasingly dominate a person’s thoughts and even begin to feel like a source of comfort.

Conclusion

Suicide is not rare within the veterinary profession, and greater awareness and open conversations about mental health are essential to improving conditions for veterinarians in the future, especially in the context of high client demands.

Mental health is now being discussed more openly, and it is important to recognize when someone is struggling or feeling overwhelmed. Veterinary work is a clear example of emotional strain, as professionals regularly deal with illness, distressed clients, and critical situations. While they manage these responsibilities and move forward, the emotional impact does not disappear. Instead, it can remain beneath the surface and resurface later, often in moments of quiet, making it difficult to cope.

References

Bartram, D. J., & Baldwin, D. S. (2010). Veterinary surgeons and suicide: a structured review of possible influences on increased risk. The Veterinary record, 166(13), 388–397. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.b4794

Platt, B., Hawton, K., Simkin, S., & Mellanby, R. J. (2010). Systematic review of the prevalence of suicide in veterinary surgeons. Occupational Medicine, 60(6), 436–446. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqq044

Skipper, G. E., & Williams, J. B. (2012). Failure to acknowledge high suicide risk among veterinarians. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, 39(1), 79–82. https://doi.org/10.3138/jvme.0311.034R

Stoewen D. L. (2015). Suicide in veterinary medicine: let’s talk about it. The Canadian Veterinary Journal, 56(1), 89–92. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4266064/

Tran, L., Crane, M. F., & Phillips, J. K. (2014). The distinct role of performing euthanasia on depression and suicide in veterinarians. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 19(2), 123–132. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035837

Author Bio

Ivana Nikic is a veterinarian with years of experience in small-animal practice. She is trying to raise awareness about mental health in her profession, as coming from Serbia, at times, she learned that people often forget to ask each other simple questions. Somehow, that simplicity seems to work when you apply it. She is currently working in a small practice, has two dogs and two cats, and enjoys hiking in the woods.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Mental Health Through the Body: Why We Can’t Think Our Way to Wellbeing

Much of the conversation around mental health continues to live in the mind. We are encouraged to think differently, reframe, analyze, and understand our thoughts. While this has its place, it often overlooks something far more immediate and accessible, the body.

Introduction

Much of the conversation around mental health continues to live in the mind. We are encouraged to think differently, reframe, analyze, and understand our thoughts. While this has its place, it often overlooks something far more immediate and accessible, the body.

In my work, both through movement education and one-to-one sessions, I see this repeatedly. People arrive wanting to “fix” how they feel, often through thinking. Yet their posture, their breath, the way they sit, stand, move, and relate to their environment tells a much clearer story. Mental health is not just something that happens in the mind, it is something we experience through the body, moment to moment, often beneath conscious awareness. When we begin there, something shifts.

There is a growing body of research supporting what many movement traditions have long understood, that the body plays a central role in emotional regulation. Breathing patterns influence the nervous system. Posture affects mood. Movement alters perception. Yet in modern life, we have become increasingly disconnected from these simple but profound relationships.

We sit more. We move less. We spend long periods in environments that require sustained attention but minimal physical engagement. Over time, this creates a subtle but cumulative effect, a body that is less responsive, less aware, and less able to regulate itself. What often follows is a sense of unease that is difficult to explain. It may present as anxiety, low mood, or a general feeling of being “not quite right.” The tendency is to interpret this as a psychological issue, but very often, it is also a physiological one.

When the body is not moving well, breathing well, or sensing well, the system becomes less adaptable. When adaptability decreases, so does resilience.

The Body as the First Point of Contact

Before we think, we feel. Before we analyze, we sense. The body is our first point of contact with the world, and yet it is often the last place we look when something feels off.

Simple observations can be revealing:

  • Is the breath shallow or held?
  • Is there unnecessary tension in the jaw, shoulders, or abdomen?
  • Is movement restricted or guarded?

These are not minor details, they are indicators of how the nervous system is functioning. By bringing attention back to these areas, not to control them but to become aware of them, we begin to restore a level of responsiveness. From here, change becomes possible, not through force, but through awareness.

Movement as a Regulator, Not Just an Activity

Movement is often approached as something we “do”, exercise, training, or fitness. However, its role is much deeper than that. Movement is one of the primary ways the body regulates itself. When movement is varied, responsive, and connected to the environment, it supports coordination, balance, breath, attention, and emotional regulation.

In contrast, when movement is repetitive, restricted, or absent, these systems begin to narrow. This is particularly important for children. In school environments, where time is increasingly spent sitting and focusing cognitively, movement becomes essential, not as a break from learning, but as a foundation for it. The same applies to adults. We do not outgrow the need for movement, if anything, we need it more.

Reconnecting With the Body in Everyday Life

Reconnection does not require complex routines or specialized practices. It begins with small shifts in attention:

  • Noticing how you sit.
  • Allowing breath to deepen without forcing it.
  • Walking with awareness rather than urgency.
  • Spending time in environments that invite movement.

These are simple, but not insignificant.

They reintroduce the body as an active participant in experience, rather than something we carry passively through the day. Over time, this changes how we feel, not because we have “fixed” anything, but because the system is functioning more as it is designed to.

Conclusion

Mental health is often approached as something to be solved through the mind, but the body offers a different entry point, one that is immediate, accessible, and grounded in experience. By returning to the body, through movement, breath, and awareness, we begin to create the conditions for wellbeing, rather than trying to impose it from the outside. This is not a replacement for psychological support where needed, but it is a reminder that the body is always involved, and often, it is where meaningful change begins, thereby embracing a mind-body approach.

This topic sits at the center of my work. Through both Bluearth and Touched by Yoga, I have spent years working with children, adults, teachers, and practitioners, and the same pattern continues to emerge, a disconnection from the body, and an overreliance on thinking as the primary tool for change. I chose this topic because it offers a different perspective, one that is practical, accessible, and grounded in experience. It also reflects the growing need within both education and broader society to reconsider how we approach wellbeing, not as something separate from the body, but as something deeply connected to it.

References

Koch, S. C., Kunz, T., Lykou, S., and Cruz, R. (2014). Effects of dance movement therapy and dance on health related psychological outcomes, a meta analysis. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 41(1), 46–64. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01806

Payne, P., Levine, P. A., and Crane Godreau, M. A. (2015). Somatic experiencing, using interoception and proprioception as core elements of trauma therapy. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 93. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00093

Porges, S. W. (2007). The polyvagal perspective. Biological Psychology, 74(2), 116–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.06.009

Schmalzl, L., Powers, C., and Blom, E. H. (2015). Neurophysiological and neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the effects of yoga based practices. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 235. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00235

Streeter, C. C., Gerbarg, P. L., Saper, R. B., Ciraulo, D. A., and Brown, R. P. (2012). Effects of yoga on the autonomic nervous system, gamma-aminobutyric-acid, and allostasis in epilepsy, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Medical Hypotheses, 78(5), 571–579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2012.01.021

Author Bio

Bettina (Tina) Freake is a health and wellbeing facilitator. As the Founder of Touched by Yoga and newly appointed CEO of the Bluearth Foundation, Bettina has been deeply involved in human health and wellbeing for almost two decades. Her core belief is that holistic wellbeing is everybody’s human right. Initially practicing as a Remedial Therapist, she developed an interest in the body-mind continuum and is now a recognised specialist in bodywork, movement, injury rehabilitation and prevention, posture and alignment. Over the course of her career she has developed and delivered hundreds of customised exercise and educational programs, collaborated and featured on a range of health and wellbeing initiatives for corporates, non-profits and further educational facilities. Having worked and trained first-hand with world-leading health and wellbeing specialists, her career continued on to expose her to the discipline of yoga and she has been passionately practicing and teaching yoga to thousands of people around the world ever since. She holds a BA in Exercise Science and Human Movement, a BA in Psychology, is a recognised 500 Hour Yoga Alliance Teacher, an 800 Hour Jivamukti Yoga Certified teacher, and is also qualified in Counseling, Coaching, and Remedial Therapy.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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You’re Not Insecure — You’re Protecting Yourself: How Anxiety Silently Erodes Your Authority at Work

In professional environments, credibility is rarely lost in one obvious moment. It erodes gradually, not because of a lack of competence, but because of subtle behavioral shifts.

Introduction

You are in a meeting, explaining something you know well. You have done the work, you are prepared, you are competent. Then something shifts. A subtle interruption, a change in tone, a silence that feels heavier than it should. Without realizing it, you start adjusting yourself. You soften your words, you explain more than necessary, you hesitate before taking a clear position. Not because you are insecure, but because something in you is trying to protect your credibility. This is where many competent professionals, especially women, begin to lose authority, not through mistakes, but through micro-adjustments driven by pressure. The most difficult part is that it happens slowly, almost invisibly.

In professional environments, credibility is rarely lost in one obvious moment. It erodes gradually, not because of a lack of competence, but because of subtle behavioral shifts. When a person feels under implicit judgment, the nervous system reacts before the mind does. The goal becomes protection, not expression. Protection often looks like softening strong statements, over-explaining to avoid misinterpretation, using irony to reduce perceived tension, and seeking validation before fully expressing a position. These adjustments seem harmless. In fact, they are socially intelligent. Over time, they change how others perceive you. Authority is not only built on what you know, but it is also built on how consistently you hold your position under pressure. When self-protection becomes automatic, your presence may become less defined. When your position is not clearly held, others do not need to challenge it. It weakens on its own. This is why many highly competent professionals feel overlooked, questioned, or less recognized than they should be, not because they lack value, but because their value is not being fully embodied in moments that matter.

Why It’s Not Insecurity, It’s Self-Protection

Many professionals assume that when they hesitate, soften their tone, or hold back their opinions, it is a sign of insecurity. In many cases, that is not what is happening. What looks like self-doubt is often a form of self-protection. When you perceive a subtle threat, such as judgment, exclusion, or loss of credibility, your system does not prioritize expression, it prioritizes safety. Safety in professional environments often means not being too direct, not taking up too much space, not exposing yourself to criticism.

These responses are not random, they are adaptive. They help you navigate complex social dynamics and avoid immediate conflict. The problem is that what protects you in the short term can slowly reshape how others perceive you. Every time you step back from a clear position, even slightly, you reduce the clarity of your presence. Over time, that lack of clarity becomes your perceived identity.

How Small Adjustments Quietly Erode Your Authority

Authority is rarely lost through a single visible mistake. More often, it fades through repetition of small, almost invisible adjustments. A softened statement here, an unnecessary explanation there, a moment of hesitation before taking a clear stance. Individually, these moments seem insignificant. Together, they create a pattern.

People do not respond only to what you say. They respond to how consistently you hold your position. When your communication becomes less defined under pressure, others start to rely less on your perspective, not consciously, but perceptually. This is how credibility weakens, not because you lack competence, but because your presence becomes less stable in critical moments.

The most challenging part is that this process feels like the right thing to do. It feels polite, strategic, and safe. Until you realize it is costing you recognition, influence, and authority.

From Protection to Position, Reclaiming Your Authority

The shift does not start with confidence, it starts with awareness. You cannot change what you do not recognize in real time. The key is to notice when protection takes over, not after the interaction, but during it. That moment when you feel the urge to soften what you were about to say, explain more than necessary, or step back from a clear position, that is the exact point where the pattern can change.

Reclaiming your authority does not mean becoming more aggressive or more dominant. It means staying connected to your position, even when the environment feels uncertain. This can look like finishing your thought without over-adjusting it, allowing silence without rushing to fill it, or expressing a clear opinion without immediately justifying it.

These are small shifts, but they signal something powerful, i.e., stability. Stability is what builds perceived authority over time. The goal is not to eliminate self-protection, it is to stop letting it define how you show up.

Conclusion

Most people try to build authority by adding something, more skills, more preparation, more effort. Often, the real shift happens when you stop subtracting yourself in moments that matter. You do not lose authority because you are not capable, you lose it when your position becomes negotiable under pressure. That does not happen all at once. It happens in small, almost invisible moments where protection feels safer than expression.

The work is not to become someone else, it is to remain in your position, even when it would be easier not to. Authority is not something you claim. It is something others recognize when you stop stepping away from it.

I chose to write about this topic because it reflects a pattern I have observed consistently in professional environments, especially among highly competent individuals. Many people I have worked with and observed in real contexts do not struggle with a lack of knowledge or ability. They struggle with what happens under subtle pressure. Moments of perceived judgment, ambiguity, or social tension can trigger small behavioral adjustments that, over time, impact how their competence is perceived. This dynamic is often overlooked because it is neither explicit nor easily measurable, yet it has a significant impact on confidence, communication, and professional positioning. I am particularly interested in exploring these less visible psychological processes and translating them into language that people can recognize and apply in their daily work environments.

References

Leary, M. R. (1983). A brief version of the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 9(3), 371–375. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167283093007

Dickerson, S. S., & Kemeny, M. E. (2004). Acute stressors and cortisol responses, a theoretical integration and synthesis of laboratory research. Psychological Bulletin, 130(3), 355–391. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.355

Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong, desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497–529. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497

Ashford, S. J., Blatt, R., & VandeWalle, D. (2003). Reflections on the looking glass, a review of research on feedback-seeking behavior in organizations. Journal of Management, 29(6), 773–799. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0149-2063(03)00079-5

Crocker, J., & Wolfe, C. T. (2001). Contingencies of self-worth. Psychological Review, 108(3), 593–623. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.108.3.593

Author Bio

Antonella De Martino is a psychology graduate focused on emotional dynamics in complex professional environments. Her work explores how subtle psychological patterns influence communication, perceived authority, and professional positioning, particularly among women in the workplace. She is currently developing a framework aimed at helping individuals move from self-protection to stable self-positioning in high-pressure contexts.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Three Steps for Maintaining Optimism

The idea that happiness is a choice can feel almost too simple, but it is profoundly powerful.

Introduction

In a world that constantly promises happiness through success, wealth, or recognition, it is no surprise that many people spend their lives chasing it. Yet despite this pursuit, a striking number of individuals admit they do not truly feel happy, or do not know how to get there. The truth is often overlooked. Happiness is not something you stumble upon or earn after reaching a milestone. It begins with a decision. Happiness is not a state of circumstance. It is a state of being, and every state of being starts with a choice.

The idea that happiness is a choice can feel almost too simple, but it is profoundly powerful. While we cannot control every event in our lives, we do have control over how we interpret and respond to them. Choosing happiness means consciously shifting perspective, looking for opportunity instead of limitation, and gratitude instead of lack. It does not mean ignoring pain or difficulty, rather, it means refusing to let those experiences define your entire outlook. Each day presents a quiet but persistent question: Will you lean into negativity, or will you choose optimism?

Maintaining Goals

Happiness thrives when paired with purpose. Setting and maintaining goals gives life direction and meaning, which naturally fuels a sense of fulfillment. However, goals should not become the sole condition for happiness. Too often, people postpone joy until they arrive somewhere. Instead, optimism allows you to enjoy the process while still striving forward. By appreciating progress rather than obsessing over outcomes, you create a sustainable sense of satisfaction that grows alongside your ambitions and can help you with three noteworthy steps for maintaining optimism.

1. Keeping Hope

Hope is the backbone of optimism. It is what allows people to endure setbacks without losing their sense of possibility. When challenges arise, and they always do, hope reframes them as temporary rather than permanent. Keeping hope alive requires intention, surrounding yourself with positivity, reminding yourself of past resilience, and believing that better outcomes are possible. Hope does not guarantee ease, but it ensures that you never feel stuck in despair.

2. Accepting Mistakes and Learning from Them

One of the biggest barriers to happiness is the fear of failure. Mistakes are often seen as proof of inadequacy rather than opportunities for growth. Optimism changes this narrative. It encourages acceptance and understanding of the fact that errors are a natural part of being human. When you learn from mistakes instead of dwelling on them, you free yourself from unnecessary guilt and self-criticism. This shift not only fosters personal growth but also creates emotional space for happiness to exist.

3. Reducing Noise from the Outside World by Maintaining Focus

Modern life is filled with distractions, opinions, expectations, comparisons, and constant information. This external noise can easily pull you away from your own sense of peace and clarity. Choosing happiness requires focus, tuning out what does not serve you, and prioritizing what truly matters. By maintaining control over your attention, you protect your mindset from negativity and create room for optimism to flourish. Focus becomes a filter, allowing only what supports your wellbeing to take root.

Conclusion

Happiness is often treated as a distant reward, something to be achieved after everything else falls into place. In reality, it begins much closer to home, within the choices we make every day. By choosing happiness, maintaining meaningful goals, keeping hope alive, learning from mistakes, and filtering out external noise, we shape our internal state regardless of circumstance. Optimism is not naive, it is intentional. Through that intention, happiness becomes less of a pursuit and more of a way of being.

References

Aspinwall, L. G., and Tedeschi, R. G. (2010). The value of positive psychology for health psychology, progress and pitfalls in examining the relation of positive phenomena to health. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 39(1), 4 to 15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-009-9153-0

Bhattacharyya, K. K., et al. (2025). The role of life satisfaction and optimism for successful aging. https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648241273337

Carver, C. S., and Scheier, M. F. (2014). Dispositional optimism. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18(6), 293 to 299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2014.02.003

McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T., Jr (1997). Personality trait structure as a human universal. The American Psychologist, 52(5), 509–516. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066x.52.5.509

Saboor, S., Medina, A., & Marciano, L. (2024). Application of positive psychology in digital interventions for children, adolescents, and young adults: Systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials. JMIR Mental Health, 11, e56045. https://doi.org/10.2196/56045

Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., & Bridges, M. W. (1994). Distinguishing optimism from neuroticism (and trait anxiety, self-mastery, and self-esteem): A reevaluation of the Life Orientation Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67(6), 1063–1078. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.67.6.1063

Author Bio

Andres Bella, as President & CEO of the Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences, spearheaded the institution’s expansion into five new international markets, significantly increasing global enrollment by 40% within three years. Under his leadership, the academy launched the groundbreaking Integrative Medicine Research Initiative, securing $5 million in grants to explore the synergy between traditional Chinese medicine and modern healthcare practices. Andres also established strategic partnerships with top universities, resulting in the development of dual-degree programs that have enhanced the academy’s academic reputation. His commitment to innovation and excellence earned him the prestigious Global Leadership in Education Award in 2022.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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The Hidden Truths of Parental Anxiety

(Wo)men with anxiety issues.

Introduction

Regardless of how you came into parenting, your style, or the choices you have had to make to ensure a safe and loving environment for your children, there is one thing that we definitely have in common. And no, it is not a preference for fruit pouches or the conscious effort to break toxic cycles; it is parental anxiety.

Even the calmest, most well-regulated humans who are raising other humans have, or will have, moments of hesitation, self-doubt, regret, or even full-blown despair while making parenting decisions. In my case, as a woman with anxiety issues from a very young age, that meant literally being unable to breathe when I had to refuse to play with my eldest because I was breastfeeding her little sister. No, I did not use those words with her. I am aware that blaming the other child could have negative consequences in the future. For my very centered and adaptable husband, it meant creating plans so rigid that any deviation required a family meeting requested three working days in advance, because, of course, plans with little children rarely change during a family trip.

New Problems, Not Really

There is an illusion that previous generations had it much easier when it came to raising children. With no social media and far less access to mental health information, one often hears elders express confusion about why we are now so concerned with secure attachment and emotional needs. However, while today’s environment certainly influences how we approach these issues, much of our fear, avoidance, and need for control stems from our own childhoods and how the people who raised us modeled responses to both major and minor life events.

The Art of Doubting Oneself

While a best friend, or your therapist, might wisely suggest you stay away from Instagram and reflect on what works for you and your family, the reality is that you and your children live in the outside world. Even the most insulated echo chamber will still expose you to perspectives that differ from your own. Reviewing and reflecting on decisions is a healthy process, but anxious minds often struggle with persistent self-doubt. Avoiding the tendency to interpret anything different as evidence that something is wrong on your side of the fence is about as easy as installing a newborn car seat in your hatchback for the first time.

We Do It as a Family

In the spirit of breaking difficult cycles, much of the research on parental and childhood anxiety suggests that initiatives focusing on the mental wellbeing of the entire family are likely to produce the most comprehensive results. Awareness and intentional effort in understanding how behavioral patterns develop within the household can be a formidable task, and one that will only work if it is shared by everyone involved. Yes, it is often faster to do things on your own, but there is no shortcut when it comes to this process.

Conclusion

The phrase “you are not alone” may feel overused in parenting groups and discussions, but it remains valid. Recognizing the collective nature of this struggle can help an anxious parent identify what truly needs attention and what can be set aside. Moreover, understanding counterproductive habits and patterns related to emotional regulation and addressing them as a family unit can be challenging work, but it is likely to produce more sustainable and positive outcomes.

I wrote about this topic because it is an issue that affects my family on a daily basis and one that I frequently discuss with other parents in my close circle. I chose a topic that felt natural to write about and aimed to keep the tone light and informal, as I would with others experiencing these challenges.

References

Chapman, L., Hutson, R., Dunn, A., Brown, M., Savill, E., and Cartwright-Hatton, S. (2022). The impact of treating parental anxiety on children’s mental health, an empty systematic review. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 88, 102557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2022.102557

Rohner, R. P., and Khaleque, A. (2010). Testing central postulates of parental acceptance rejection theory, a meta analysis of cross cultural studies. Journal of Family Theory and Review, 2, 73 to 87. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-2589.2010.00040.x

Sweeney, S., and Wilson, C. (2023). Parental anxiety and offspring development, a systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 327, 64 to 78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.128

Vernon, J. R. G., and Moretti, M. M. (2024). Parent emotion regulation, mindful parenting, and youth attachment, direct and indirect associations with internalizing and externalizing problems. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 55(4), 987 to 998. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-022-01446-0

Wolk, C. B., Caporino, N. E., McQuarrie, S., Settipani, C. A., Podell, J. L., Crawley, S., Beidas, R. S., and Kendall, P. C. (2016). Parental attitudes, beliefs, and understanding of anxiety, development and psychometric properties of a measure. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 39, 71 to 78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.03.001

Author Bio

Paula Goerg is a linguist with over 20 years of experience in social and behavioural research, with a strong focus on understanding human interactions, cultural adaptation, and data-driven insights. Alongside her professional work, she is the mother of two young children and has spent the past decade living across six different countries. As the primary person responsible for supporting her family’s adaptation to diverse cultural environments, she has engaged closely with international communities, participating in parent groups, workshops, and informal support networks. These experiences have provided her with a practical and empathetic understanding of the challenges faced by globally mobile families. Her personal experiences with anxiety and postpartum depression, as well as her engagement with therapeutic processes, have further deepened her interest in mental health, particularly in relation to parenting, emotional well-being, and cross-cultural adjustment.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Functional Depression in an Awakened Person

Depression and its many forms.

Introduction

There is a particular kind of suffering that arrives not in darkness, but in the full light of awareness. It does not announce itself with dramatic collapse or obvious despair. Instead, it moves quietly, a weight in your chest, present at every meal, every conversation, every moment of beauty that the awakened soul still manages to receive.

Functional depression in an awakened person is perhaps one of the most paradoxical forms of human pain. To be truly awake is to feel everything more fully, to see the world with fewer protective filters, to perceive what lies in between. Still, feeling deeply does not grant immunity from sorrow. Sometimes it is this very openness, this heightened sensitivity to existence, that lends itself to depression.

The awakened person rises each morning, tends to their work with care, sits with their practice, finds real gratitude in the color of light through a window, and yet still carries, beneath it all, a quiet ache that no amount of presence seems to fully dissolve. This is not failure, it is not a sign that the journey has been lost, nor is it the soul asking to be held with the same compassion one so freely offers to the world.

The Courage of Continuing

There is a quiet bravery in a person who knows the nature of impermanence, who has touched the depths of their own being, and still gets up, still makes the tea, still listens. Not because the heaviness has lifted, but because they have learned, slowly and without fanfare, that showing up is the practice, and that love, even when offered from a weary heart, is never wasted.

Stillness Is Not Always Peace

We often mistake the quiet person in the room for the contented one. However, sometimes stillness does not lead to peace. It is the discipline of someone who has learned to hold their storm with grace. The awakened one who moves through their days with gentleness and presence may simply be someone who has chosen, again and again, to let their sorrow move through them without sweeping others away in its current. Depression has many forms. We must remain open to them, but most often it is quiet in nature.

The Loneliness of Seeing Clearly

There is a particular loneliness that comes with awareness. When you have journeyed inward far enough, you sometimes find it difficult to speak of what you have seen, perhaps because the words are not there, or more likely because the territory itself is so vast that reducing it to conversation feels like a kind of betrayal.

In this way, the awakened soul smiles across the table, genuinely present, genuinely caring, while somewhere beneath the surface, a part of them quietly wonders if anyone will ever truly meet them there, in that deep and wordless place where they most fully live.

Conclusion

Perhaps the greatest teaching of functional depression in an awakened person is that wholeness was never meant to mean the absence of pain. It means the capacity to carry both the beauty and the burden, without letting either one define the whole. The awakened soul who has walked through their own quiet darkness and still chosen tenderness, still chosen presence, still chosen love, is not broken. It is not despite what they carry, but because of how gently, how bravely, how gracefully they have learned to carry it.

References

Brach, T. (2003). Radical acceptance: Embracing your life with the heart of a Buddha. Bantam Books.

Degerman, D., & Sul, J. R. (2025). Lost in speech: depressive rumination and the dynamics of inner silence. Inquiry, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2025.2587214

Hollis, J. (2005). Finding meaning in the second half of life: How to finally, really grow up. Gotham Books.

Keng, S. L., Smoski, M. J., & Robins, C. J. (2011). Effects of mindfulness on psychological health: A review of empirical studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(6), 1041-1056. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2011.04.006

Nepo, M. (2012). Seven thousand ways to listen: Staying close to what is sacred. Atria Books.

Nhat Hanh, T. (1991). Peace is every step: The path of mindfulness in everyday life. Bantam Books.

Sofocleous, A. (2025). Depression and Mindfulness: Reclaiming the Past, Present, and Future. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 65(2), 328-350. https://doi.org/10.1177/00221678231197870

Sul, J. R. (2025). The structure of silence in depression. Synthese, 205(77). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-025-04933-8

Tolle, E. (2004). The power of now: A guide to spiritual enlightenment. New World Library.

Author Bio

Ian Herbert is no great expert when it comes to medical science or mental health awareness, but he is an avid researcher, philanthropist, and humane person who seeks to share more deeply the mental joys and struggles that come with our age.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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The Everyday Challenges of Body Dysmorphia

Body dysmorphia is more than a distorted view of appearance.

Introduction

Body dysmorphia is a psychological condition in which a person becomes preoccupied with perceived flaws in their appearance, even when others see none or far less. Personally, I struggled with seeing myself as flawed, believing I was unattractive or overweight despite evidence to the contrary. This disconnect shaped not only my self-image but also my broader understanding of mental well-being.

At around 15, I became fixated on my appearance. Puberty brought acne, and although my weight was normal, I constantly compared myself to others who seemed effortlessly beautiful. Family expectations to be tall, thin, and blonde only intensified this dissatisfaction. This led me to extreme dieting. At times, eating just one apple a day, yet even as I lost weight, my perception of being “fat” persisted. The turning point came when I discovered energy healing. Through extensive sessions, I began to unravel these mental blockages. I was so inspired that I trained to become a certified healer myself. Today, I am not only fully healthy and at peace with my body, but also deeply committed to helping others free themselves from similar harmful perceptions.

From Self-Doubt to Empowerment: Turning My Healing Journey into a Mission to Help Others

What began as a struggle with self-image evolved into a profound transformation. Through energy healing, I not only shed distorted beliefs about my body but also uncovered a deeper calling. I realized that the same tools that liberated me could empower others. Helping people dismantle their mental barriers is now more than a goal. It is a mission.

My journey from self-doubt to empowerment crystallized during one pivotal healing session. For the first time, I saw myself not through a distorted lens, but with compassion and acceptance. This breakthrough inspired me to help others experience the same shift. As I worked with individuals trapped in their own mental barriers, I observed how guiding them toward inner balance created ripple effects in their confidence and overall life satisfaction. Each transformation reinforced my mission: to empower others to break free from self-limiting beliefs, just as I did.

Reclaiming Self-Worth Beyond Appearance

For a long time, my sense of self-worth was tightly bound to how I looked. Every perceived flaw felt like a reflection of my value, and no amount of weight loss or external change could quiet that inner criticism. I came to understand that body dysmorphia is not truly about appearance. It is about the relationship we have with ourselves. It distorts not only how we see our bodies but also how we measure our worth.

The healing process required a shift inward. Through energy healing, I began to understand that self-worth is not something to be earned through physical perfection, but something that exists independently of it. I learned to separate who I am from how I look and to reconnect with qualities that had long been overshadowed: my resilience, sensitivity, and capacity to grow and help others.

Reclaiming self-worth was not an overnight transformation but a gradual rebuilding of trust within myself. It meant challenging old beliefs, releasing comparison, and choosing compassion over criticism. Today, I no longer see my body as something to fix, but as something to respect and care for. This shift has allowed me to feel grounded, confident, and aligned with who I truly am.

More importantly, this journey has given me a sense of purpose. I now strive to help others recognize that their value is not defined by their reflection in the mirror, but by the depth of who they are. When we reclaim our self-worth beyond appearance, we do not just heal, we transform.

The Gap Between Perception and Reality

One of the most challenging aspects of body dysmorphia is the invisible gap it creates between perception and reality. What I saw in the mirror was not an accurate reflection of my body, but a version shaped by insecurity, comparison, and internalized expectations. While others saw someone completely normal, even slim, I remained convinced that I was flawed. This disconnect was not only confusing but deeply distressing, as it made it difficult to trust my own mind.

Over time, I came to understand that perception is not always the truth. It is filtered through our experiences, beliefs, and emotions. In my case, early comparisons, societal standards, and subtle pressures had constructed a distorted lens through which I viewed myself. That lens became so familiar that I accepted it as reality without questioning its validity.

Recognizing this gap was a turning point. It allowed me to step back and ask a powerful question: What if what I see is not the truth? This simple shift opened the door to healing. Through inner work and energy healing practices, I began to challenge those perceptions, gradually separating fact from feeling. I learned that just because something feels real does not mean it is accurate.

Bridging this gap required patience and consistency. It meant learning to rely less on automatic thoughts and more on grounded awareness. Over time, I began to see myself more clearly, not perfectly, but more truthfully. The distorted image gradually lost its power, replaced by a more balanced and compassionate perspective.

Understanding the gap between perception and reality is essential not only for healing body dysmorphia but also for improving overall mental well-being. It reminds us that our minds can sometimes mislead us, and that clarity comes from questioning, not blindly accepting, our inner narratives. When we realign perception with reality, we regain control over how we see ourselves and, ultimately, how we live our lives.

Conclusion

Body dysmorphia is more than a distorted view of appearance. It is a deeply rooted disconnect between how we see ourselves and who we truly are. Through my journey, I experienced firsthand the weight of that distortion, shaped by comparison, societal expectations, and relentless self-criticism. Yet within that struggle, I also discovered the possibility for transformation.

By recognizing the gap between perception and reality, replacing criticism with compassion, and reclaiming my self-worth beyond appearance, I was able to rebuild a healthier relationship with myself. Healing was not about changing how I looked, but about changing how I thought, felt, and spoke to myself. It was a process of unlearning, releasing, and rediscovering.

Today, this journey extends beyond me. It has become a purpose. I aim to help others navigate their internal struggles and realize that they are not defined by distorted perceptions or unrealistic standards. True healing begins when we turn inward, challenge the narratives we have accepted, and choose to see ourselves with clarity and kindness.

Ultimately, the most powerful transformation is not physical. It is the moment we finally see ourselves as we truly are and accept that we have always been enough.

I chose to speak about body dysmorphia because it has been a deeply personal and defining part of my journey. For years, this distorted perception influenced many of my decisions, often leading me down paths that were not aligned with my well-being or true potential. The constant dissatisfaction with my appearance affected my confidence, my choices, and the way I showed up in life. Looking back, I recognize that if I had not struggled with this issue, some aspects of my life might have unfolded differently, perhaps with more ease, clarity, and self-assurance. However, acknowledging this also deepens my understanding of its impact and reinforces my commitment to healing, not only for myself, but also to help others avoid losing years to the same internal struggle.

References

Caponnetto, P., Maglia, M., & Polosa, R. (2024). Body dysmorphic disorder and psychotherapeutic interventions. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, Article 11176052. https://doi.org/10.52965/001c.117649

Mufaddel, A., Osman, O. T., Almugaddam, F., & Jafferany, M. (2013). A review of body dysmorphic disorder and its presentation in different clinical settings. Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders, 15(4). https://doi.org/10.4088/PCC.12r01464

Nicewicz, H. R., Torrico, T. J., & Boutrouille, J. F. (2024). Body dysmorphic disorder. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK555901/

Phillips, K. A. (2021). Body dysmorphic disorder: Clinical overview and treatment considerations. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 44(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20210012

Singh, A. R., & Veale, D. (2019). Understanding and treating body dysmorphic disorder. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 61(1), S131–S135. https://doi.org/10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_528_18

Author Bio

Najat Khadam holds a Bachelor’s degree in Media and Communications and an MBA in Luxury Media and Communications. She is a certified energy healer with a strong interest in mental well-being and personal transformation. Fluent in Arabic, French, and English, and proficient in Spanish, she combines communication expertise with holistic practices. Her work focuses on helping individuals reconnect with themselves and build healthier relationships with their self-image.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Coping with Schizophrenia: A Grueling Illness

Schizophrenia does not only exist in the mind, the body tells its story as well, through eating habits and self-harm tendencies.

Introduction

I used to think the mind was the safest place I had, quiet, private, dependable, and safe. A space where thoughts made sense and the world outside could be processed, understood, and stored away. I never imagined that the very place I trusted the most would one day become unfamiliar, unpredictable, and frightening.

Schizophrenia did not arrive loudly in my life. It crept in quietly, through small changes I could not explain, thoughts that felt slightly out of place, and moments where reality did not feel as solid as it once did. At first, I brushed it off as stress, exhaustion, or simply a phase. But slowly, the lines between what was real and what my mind was creating began to blur.

This illness is grueling, not because it is always visible, but because of how invisible it can be to everyone else. On the outside, I could appear calm, functional, and present. On the inside, my thoughts could be chaotic, confusing, and overwhelming. Simple tasks became battles. Conversations required immense effort. Trusting my own perceptions became a daily challenge.

Schizophrenia is not what it seems in mainstream media. It is not all loud, blaring noises and voices you cannot ignore. It presents itself in a more sinister way, creeping up when you are not looking, when you are not paying attention.

The illness does not only exist in the mind, the body tells its story as well, through eating habits and self-harm tendencies. The body reflects how the internal experience begins to shape reality when living with this condition.

Social circles become daunting when surrounded by the uncertainties the mind creates every day. Walls begin to tell tales that transcend what can be considered normal. Friends become more distant, like a hand stretched out in the darkness, always seeming so near, yet never close enough.

The Struggles in the Mirror

The mirror became a place of quiet confrontation. I would stand before it and search for familiarity in my own reflection, hoping to recognize the person looking back at me. Some days, the face in the mirror felt like mine. Other days, it felt distant, as if I were observing a stranger wearing my features. This unsettling disconnect made me question not only how I looked, but who I was becoming.

Schizophrenia distorted more than my thoughts, it distorted my sense of identity. I began to doubt my expressions, my emotions, and even the authenticity of my reactions. I would study my reflection, wondering whether my eyes revealed the chaos I felt inside or hid it too well. There was a constant fear that others could see something I could not, that they could detect the disorder behind my composed exterior.

Simple routines like grooming, dressing, or preparing for the day became emotionally heavy. I was not just getting ready to               face the world, I was trying to assemble a version of myself that felt stable enough to be seen. The mirror forced me to confront the gap between how I felt internally and how I appeared externally. Maintaining that balance was exhausting.

Sometimes, I avoided the mirror altogether. It was easier not to face the questions it raised. However, even in avoidance, the struggle remained, because the real battle was not with my reflection, but with the shifting perception of myself that schizophrenia created, where certainty about who I was could change from one moment to the next.

The Stillness in My Eyes

People often commented that I looked calm, quiet, and composed. They saw stillness in my eyes and mistook it for peace. What they could not see was that this stillness was not serenity, it was survival. It was the effort of holding everything inside, of keeping the storm in my mind from spilling into the world around me.

There were moments when my thoughts moved too quickly, too loudly, crowding my head with noise I could not silence. In response, my body learned to become very still. My expressions softened, my gaze steadied, and I appeared distant. That distance was not indifference, it was a shield, a way of coping when my inner world became overwhelming.

The stillness in my eyes was also a sign of disconnection. I would find myself staring, not because I had nothing to say, but because I was trying to process what was real and what was not. Conversations would continue around me while I struggled to anchor myself to the present moment. My eyes seemed fixed, but my mind was searching for clarity.

Sounds of Colours

There were moments when my senses no longer stayed in their proper places. Colours did not remain silent, and sounds did not remain invisible. A passing noise could feel bright, almost blinding, while certain colours seemed to hum with an intensity I could not ignore. The world around me became layered with sensations that overlapped and tangled together, making it difficult to separate what I was seeing from what I was hearing.

A simple environment could become overwhelming. The faint buzz of a light might feel loud and sharp, as if it carried a colour of its own. The rustle of leaves could seem vivid and intrusive, demanding my attention in ways I could not explain. It was as though my mind translated ordinary stimuli into something far more complex, far more intense than it should have been.

How do you explain that a sound feels bright, or that a colour seems to echo?

The words never felt adequate, and the fear of sounding irrational often kept me silent. So I carried these sensations quietly, navigating a world that felt distorted in ways only I could perceive.

Living with schizophrenia has been a journey through confusion, fear, and deep introspection. It has altered how I see myself, how I experience the world, and how I understand reality. From the uneasy reflection in the mirror, to the quiet stillness in my eyes, to the overwhelming blending of my senses, this illness has touched every part of my daily life in ways that are often invisible to others.

Yet within these struggles, I have come to know a different kind of strength. I have learned to be patient with myself on days when my mind feels uncertain. I have learned resilience when reality feels distorted. Most importantly, I have learned that even in the midst of this grueling illness, I am still present, still aware, and still capable of finding moments of clarity and meaning.

Conclusion

Schizophrenia does not define who I am, but it has shaped my journey in profound ways. My story is not only about the weight of the illness, but about endurance, understanding, and the quiet determination to keep moving forward despite it.

I have lived experience with this topic. It was only a few years ago that I was diagnosed with schizophrenia and began taking medication to manage it. I am currently 25 years old and have experienced a great deal in relation to this condition.

References

Bortolon, C., Capdevielle, D., Altman, R., Macgregor, A., Attal, J., & Raffard, S. (2017). Mirror self-face perception in individuals with schizophrenia: Feelings of strangeness associated with one’s own image. Psychiatry Research, 253, 205–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2017.03.055

Feyaerts, J., & Sass, L. (2024). Self-disorder in schizophrenia: A revised view, 1, comprehensive review, dualities of self and world experience. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 50(2), 460–471. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbad169

Peralta, V., & Cuesta, M. J. (1994). Subjective experiences in schizophrenia: A critical review. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 35(3), 198–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-440x(94)90192-9

Sandsten, K. E., Nordgaard, J., Kjaer, T. W., Gallese, V., Ardizzi, M., Ferroni, F., Petersen, J., & Parnas, J. (2020). Altered self-recognition in patients with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 218, 116–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2020.01.022

Weilnhammer, V., Röd, L., Eckert, A.-L., Stuke, H., Heinz, A., & Sterzer, P. (2020). Psychotic experiences in schizophrenia and sensitivity to sensory evidence. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 46(4), 927–936. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbaa003

Author Bio

Aishath Layaan Shahid is a 25-year-old undergraduate student studying at UCSI University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She studies Forensic Science and has acquired many skills through this program, including leadership and people skills. She has lived experience in multiple mental health struggles and wishes to openly talk about them and raise awareness about the topics that come from them. Regardless, she has many hobbies such as reading and artistic expression, along with watching movies with her friends and eating new foods. She has learned that in life, many different situations can bring you down underneath the splashing waves, but it can never truly make you broken, even though you may feel that way from time to time. 

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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How to Recover from a Traumatic Job?

Recovery also means being open to new possibilities and shifting your mindset from “I am hurt” to “What hurt me will not keep me down.”

Introduction

We have all experienced stressful work environments that not only drain us but also make us question whether we are in the right field. I had the unfortunate experience of working for two years in a job that caused significant mental stress, to the point where I felt I had lost myself.

I was offered a position at a company I was genuinely excited to join. Things started off well. We had an excellent orientation, and everyone seemed friendly. As I settled in and began learning, I realized I was in the “honeymoon phase” of my career. I barely had a personal life, let alone a social one, and things eventually escalated to the point where I experienced a mental breakdown. When I had two stress-induced seizures at work, I knew it was time to leave. I had to accept that my job was not worth my health because how could I continue working if I was not well?

Confronting What You Are Feeling

The first step in my recovery was confronting my feelings. Many of us struggle with this, but anything worth doing rarely comes easily. I sat down alone and began writing a list of what I was feeling, identifying the key factors behind those emotions. This helped me understand where my pain came from and later guided me in overcoming the feeling of burnout.

Find Activities That Relax You

When working full-time, it is easy to forget the things you enjoy. Most of my weeks were spent going to work and coming home to sleep, seven days a week. To change this, I began making time for activities I enjoy. These included reading, getting massages, and journaling.

Journaling was the most helpful, as it felt like speaking to a therapist who already understood me. I also sought professional therapy, because sometimes you cannot do it alone. Talking to someone who has your best interests in mind can help you gain deeper self-awareness. My favourite activity was painting. It became a powerful way to express feelings I could not put into words.

Take Time to Meditate and Reflect

Everyone heals differently. One of the most important steps is taking time each day to meditate and reflect on what you are dealing with internally, and then learning to let it go. This also means being open to new possibilities and shifting your mindset from “I am hurt” to “What hurt me will not keep me down.”

Prayer worked best for me, but we all have our own belief systems. It is important to choose methods of meditation and reflection that align with what works best for you.

Conclusion

I was fortunate that after leaving my job, I secured an internship that gave me the flexibility to heal. My supervisors were understanding, which made a significant difference. I dedicated two days each week to focusing on myself, removing distractions, and anything that negatively overstimulated me, such as social media and alcohol.

It required a great deal of discipline, but in the end, I found myself again. I rediscovered why I had fallen in love with my field. I was smiling more and felt more creative than I had in a long time. Taking time out of a busy schedule to focus on healing is one of the most valuable forms of self-care, and it is something I will never take for granted.

This is how I learned to break free from stress and anxiety. Many people experience this in the workplace but never take the time or feel they have the time to reflect and heal.

References

Brosschot, J. F., Gerin, W., & Thayer, J. F. (2006). The perseverative cognition hypothesis: A review of worry, prolonged stress‐related physiological activation, and health. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 60(2), 113–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2005.06.074

Gross, J. J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2(3), 271–299. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.271

Hülsheger, U. R., Alberts, H. J. E. M., Feinholdt, A., & Lang, J. W. B. (2013). Benefits of mindfulness at work: The role of mindfulness in emotion regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(2), 310–325. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031313

Sonnentag, S., & Fritz, C. (2015). Recovery from job stress: The stressor-detachment model as an integrative framework. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(S1), S72–S103. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1924

Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry, 15(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli1501_01

Author Bio

Issabella Murungi is a hospitality graduate with experience in the international hospitality industry. She is passionate about personal growth, self-reflection, and mental well-being, drawing from her own journey of overcoming burnout and rediscovering balance. Through her writing, she shares honest insights about healing, resilience, and the importance of taking time to reconnect with oneself.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and Its Impact on Mental Health

FOMO is an increasingly common issue in the modern digital world, fueled by constant exposure to curated versions of other people’s lives.

Introduction

In today’s digital era, social media has become an inseparable part of daily life. We are constantly exposed to other people’s activities, ranging from achievements, vacations, to seemingly perfect moments of happiness. Without realizing it, this exposure can trigger a feeling of being left behind, commonly known as FOMO, fear of missing out. FOMO is not just a sense of curiosity, it can develop into psychological pressure that affects an individual’s mental well-being.

It differs from JOMO, i.e., the joy of missing out.

Quite often, FOMO arises when individuals compare their lives to others on social media. Seeing others succeed, socialize, or enjoy life can create a sense of inadequacy or dissatisfaction. Over time, this constant comparison may lead to anxiety, low self-esteem, and even symptoms of depression.

One major impact of FOMO is increased anxiety. Individuals may feel pressured to stay constantly updated, check notifications frequently, and engage in activities just to avoid feeling left out. This creates a cycle where a person becomes mentally exhausted from trying to keep up with others.

Additionally, FOMO can negatively affect self-esteem. When people believe that others are living better or more fulfilling lives, they may begin to undervalue their own experiences and achievements. This distorted perception can reduce self-confidence and create feelings of insecurity.

FOMO also contributes to unhealthy habits, such as excessive screen time and difficulty focusing on the present moment. Instead of enjoying real-life experiences, individuals may become more concerned with documenting and sharing moments online. This reduces genuine satisfaction and can lead to emotional burnout.

In more severe cases, prolonged FOMO may contribute to symptoms of depression. Feelings of loneliness, dissatisfaction, and disconnection from reality can intensify when individuals believe they are constantly missing out on better opportunities or experiences.

To manage FOMO, it is important to develop self-awareness and set healthy boundaries with social media. Limiting screen time, practicing gratitude, and focusing on personal goals can help individuals regain control over their thoughts and emotions. Building real-life connections and being present in the moment are also essential steps toward improving mental well-being.

The Causes of FOMO in the Digital Age

FOMO is largely driven by the rise of social media and constant connectivity. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter allow people to share highlights of their lives, often presenting only the best moments. This creates an unrealistic standard of happiness and success. As a result, individuals may feel that others are always experiencing something better or more exciting.

Another cause of FOMO is the human need for social belonging. People naturally want to feel included and valued within their social circles. When they see others participating in events or experiences without them, it can trigger feelings of exclusion and anxiety. The fear is not just about missing an event, but about missing meaningful connections and opportunities.

The Psychological Effects of FOMO

FOMO can have serious psychological effects if it is experienced continuously. One of the most common effects is anxiety. Individuals may feel restless or uneasy when they are not checking their phones or staying updated with social media. This constant need for validation and information can be mentally draining.

Moreover, FOMO can lead to decreased self-esteem. When individuals compare themselves to others, they may feel inadequate or less successful. Over time, this can create negative self-perceptions and reduce overall life satisfaction. In some cases, it may even contribute to feelings of loneliness and depression, especially when individuals believe they are missing out on important life experiences.

Ways to Overcome FOMO

Overcoming FOMO requires conscious effort and self-awareness. One effective way is to limit social media usage. Setting boundaries, such as designated screen-free times, can help reduce exposure to triggering content. This allows individuals to focus more on their own lives rather than constantly comparing themselves to others.

Practicing gratitude is another powerful strategy. By appreciating what one already has, individuals can shift their focus from what they lack to what they value. This helps build a more positive mindset and reduces the urge to compare.

Additionally, engaging in real-life activities and building meaningful relationships can help combat FOMO. Spending quality time with friends and family, pursuing hobbies, and being present in the moment can increase overall happiness and reduce the fear of missing out.

Conclusion

FOMO is an increasingly common issue in the modern digital world, fueled by constant exposure to curated versions of other people’s lives. While it may seem harmless at first, prolonged FOMO can negatively affect mental health, leading to anxiety, low self-esteem, and emotional exhaustion. Recognizing its impact is the first step toward change. By setting boundaries with social media, practicing gratitude, and focusing on meaningful real-life experiences, individuals can regain control over their thoughts and emotions. In the end, true happiness comes not from keeping up with others, but from embracing and appreciating one’s own journey.

I chose to write about FOMO because it is a highly relevant issue in today’s digital era, especially among young people. With the constant presence of social media, many individuals, including myself, have experienced moments of comparing their lives to others and feeling left behind. This topic is important to discuss because it directly affects mental health, yet it is often overlooked or normalized. By raising awareness about FOMO, I hope readers can better understand their feelings and learn healthier ways to manage them.

References

Alt, D. (2015). College students’ academic motivation, media engagement, and fear of missing out. Computers in Human Behavior, 49, 111–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.02.057

Blackwell, D., Leaman, C., Tramposch, R., Osborne, C., & Liss, M. (2017). Extraversion, neuroticism, attachment style, and fear of missing out as predictors of social media use. Personality and Individual Differences, 116, 69–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.04.039

Elhai, J. D., Yang, H., & Montag, C. (2020). Fear of missing out (FOMO): Overview, theoretical underpinnings, and literature review on relations with severity of negative affectivity and problematic technology use. Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, 42(2), 203–209. https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-4446-2020-0870

Franchina, V., Vanden Abeele, M., van Rooij, A., Lo Coco, G., & De Marez, L. (2018). Fear of missing out as a predictor of problematic social media use and phubbing behavior among Flemish adolescents. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(10), 2319. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15102319

Przybylski, A. K., Murayama, K., DeHaan, C. R., & Gladwell, V. (2013). Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(4), 1841–1848. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.02.014

Author Bio

Jeremiah Imanuel Siregar is a psychology graduate from a private university in Indonesia with a strong interest in mental health and digital behavior. He is passionate about exploring how technology and social media influence human emotions, thoughts, and overall well-being. Through his writing, he aims to raise awareness about psychological issues in a relatable and practical way, especially among young people navigating the challenges of the digital age.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Single Parenting: Feeling Like You Are Enough When Juggling Life

Through kindness to yourself, self-appreciation, celebrating the wins, and sometimes understanding that each thing comes in its own time, we learn single parenting

Introduction

As a single parent with a busy career, I learned the hard way through 2 burnouts that although you can have it all, sometimes it is better to be kind to yourself, and acknowledge that no one is Superwoman.

Through kindness to yourself, self-appreciation, celebrating the wins, and sometimes understanding that each thing comes in its own time, we learn. We learn we are enough. We are doing a good job. We are our own worst enemy. Life is good, right now, in the moment. Everyone else’s life on Instagram isn’t to be measured up against. You are allowed to set boundaries. You are allowed to look after yourself. If you are good, so is your child.

I Am Failing

This is a feeling of a very human nature. It is rarely true when not comparing oneself to impossible and unachievable standards. Raising someone, providing for them, and remembering that you exist are far from failures. The day your child is old enough and tells you they are proud of you, it clicks. You are not failing. You are getting up time after time from an obstacle. You are resilient. You are teaching resilience. You are teaching mental toughness.

I Am Exhausted

Pouring from an empty cup is an impossible feat. Balancing single parenting with a career easily creates an empty cup without boundaries. It is your responsibility to yourself to set those boundaries. Learning to say no is a key lesson that I am still learning. We are conditioned to help, but it should not be at our own expense.

Building Resilience in the Next Generation

When you are a parent, the natural instinct is to protect, nurture, and remove all obstacles from your child’s path. As a single parent, in my view, this is even more emphasized by the underlying guilt you may feel for not having a second partner around for whatever reason. Nonetheless, removing frustration sources and boredom is not building resilience, as they do not learn how to deal with less-than-ideal situations, which is not a 1:1 reflection of the real world.

Conclusion

You are enough. Your child thrives from your presence and models your resilience and your strength. Having a career is a necessity to pay the bills, but it also provides a very much needed world where you exist as a woman and a professional. They can coexist, but you need to make it work for you so you can go the distance, gain satisfaction, and feel a sense of achievement.

I wrote about single parenting since it is a topic I have experience with first-hand, and I would love to share my insights and lessons I learned the hard way.

References

Cairney, J., Boyle, M. H., Offord, D. R., & Racine, Y. (2003). Stress, social support, and depression in single and married mothers. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 38(8), 442–449. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-003-0661-0

Coles, R. L. (2001). The parenting roles and experiences of nonresident fathers involved with their children. Journal of Family Issues, 22(1), 3–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/019251301022001001

Cooper, C. E., McLanahan, S. S., Meadows, S. O., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2009). Family structure transitions and maternal parenting stress. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71(3), 558–574. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00619.x

Nomaguchi, K. M., & Brown, S. L. (2011). Parental strains and rewards among mothers: The role of education. Journal of Marriage and Family, 73(3), 621–636. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2011.00835.x

Orthner, D. K., Jones-Sanpei, H., & Williamson, S. (2004). The resilience and strengths of low-income families. Family Relations, 53(2), 159–167. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-2445.2004.00006.x

Author Bio

Isabelle Mulcahy (Grace) is a professional in her 40s who has built her career over the span of 20 years. She has a 17-year-old son, and is also a mom to their 4-pawed companion, who is a 7-year-old beagle. She firmly believes in resilience and life lessons through sports while growing up, and credits her own insights with this upbringing.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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The Stories We Tell About Illnesses and Why They Matter

Before an illness becomes a diagnosis, a statistic, or a case to be managed, it is first a story of a person's reality.

Introduction

When people talk about their medical illnesses, they rarely begin with symptoms alone. They begin with a story, “I think I caught it from a colleague”, “It is probably just stress”, “I knew this would happen, I have been run down all week”. These explanations come quickly, almost instinctively. Almost immediately, people begin to interpret what is happening. They ask where it came from, what it means, and what it says about their bodies or their lives. These explanations often draw on familiar ideas, about stress, immunity, responsibility, or even luck, that circulate in everyday conversations and media. In this way, an illness is never just personal. It is shaped by shared ways of understanding that help people make sense of what might otherwise feel uncertain or out of control.

At first glance, an illness appears to be purely biological, a disruption in the body that can be measured, diagnosed, and treated. But this is only part of the picture. When something feels wrong, the question is not just what is happening, but why it is happening. That question opens the door to interpretation. People begin to connect symptoms to recent events, habits, environments, or emotional states. A cold becomes the result of exhaustion. A headache becomes a sign of stress. A more serious diagnosis can prompt deeper reflection about lifestyle, chance, or even fairness.

These interpretations are not always medically accurate, but they are meaningful. They help people situate their illness within the broader context of their lives. In doing so, they transform a set of symptoms into something more understandable and, at times, more manageable.

The Familiar Stories We Draw On

The way people explain their illness is not created from scratch. It draws on shared ideas that circulate through everyday life, through family conversations, cultural beliefs, media, and past experience.

Some of these stories emphasise responsibility, the sense that an illness results from overwork, poor habits, or neglect. Others lean toward chance or inevitability, framing their illness as something that simply happens, beyond individual control. Still others emphasise resilience, casting their illness as something to push through, endure, or overcome.

These patterns are often so familiar that they go unnoticed. Yet they shape how people understand not only their illness, but themselves. To see an illness as preventable may bring guilt or self-blame. To see it as random may bring relief or frustration. To frame it as a test of strength may encourage perseverance, but also discourage rest.

In this way, illnesses are never interpreted in isolation. It is understood through shared ways of thinking that give shape to personal experience.

Storytelling as a Way of Regaining Control

Illnesses can be deeply unsettling. It interrupts routines, introduces uncertainty, and challenges the sense that life is predictable or controllable. However, stories help restore a sense of order. By identifying a cause, “I have been overdoing it”, people can make their illness feel less arbitrary. By placing it within a sequence, “First I felt tired, then this happened”, they create a sense of structure. Even when the explanation is incomplete, the act of telling a story can make the experience feel more contained.

In this sense, storytelling is not just descriptive, it is practical. It helps people manage uncertainty, reduce anxiety, and regain a sense of agency in situations where control feels limited.

This is particularly visible during periods of widespread uncertainty, such as a pandemic, when official information may shift and clear answers are not always available. In these moments, personal and shared stories become even more important as people try to navigate what is happening around them.

How Stories Shape What We Do

The stories people tell about their illness do not stay at the level of explanation, they influence action. If an illness is understood as a personal failing, individuals may respond with guilt or try to correct their behaviour. If it is seen as a contagious threat, they may become more cautious, attentive to boundaries and protection.

Paying attention to how people talk about their illness offers a different kind of insight, one that goes beyond symptoms or outcomes. It reveals how individuals experience uncertainty, how they position themselves in relation to responsibility and risk, and how they navigate the emotional and social dimensions of being unwell. It also highlights the diversity of these experiences. The same condition can be understood in very different ways depending on context, culture, and personal history.

Listening to these stories does not replace medical knowledge, but it adds something essential, an understanding of how illnesses are lived, not just how they are measured.

Conclusion

Before an illness becomes a diagnosis, a statistic, or a case to be managed, it is first a story of a person’s reality. It is something people explain to themselves and to others, something they fit into the broader narrative of their lives. These stories shape how illnesses are understood, felt, and responded to.

An Illness may begin in the body, but it takes shape in the stories we use to make sense of it. Within those stories, we begin to see not only what it means to be unwell, but what it means to be human.

This article reflects my broader interest in narrative theory and health, which sits at the heart of my doctoral research. My PhD explores how people use stories to make sense of their lived experiences, particularly in moments of uncertainty and change. I am interested in how narratives are not just ways of describing what happens, but ways of shaping meaning, helping people understand themselves, their relationships, and the world around them.

Over time, I have become especially drawn to how storytelling can provide a sense of coherence when life feels disrupted, and how these everyday narratives quietly shape how people experience health and illness.

References

Holloway, I., & Freshwater, D. (2007). Vulnerable storytelling: Narrative research in nursing. Journal of Research in Nursing, 12(6), 703–711. https://doi.org/10.1177/1744987107084669

Jovchelovitch, S. (2007). Knowledge in context: Representations, community and culture. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Knowledge-in-Context-Representations-Community-and-Culture/Jovchelovitch/p/book/9781138042896

Moscovici, S. (1984). The phenomenon of social representations. In R. M. Farr & S. Moscovici (Eds.), Social representations (pp. 3–69). Cambridge University Press. https://www.scirp.org/reference/referencespapers?referenceid=1164372

Murray, M. (2000). Levels of narrative analysis in health psychology. Journal of Health Psychology, 5(3), 337–347. https://doi.org/10.1177/135910530000500305

Murray, M. (2001). Narrative psychology and narrative analysis. In J. A. Smith, R. Harré, & L. Van Langenhove (Eds.), Rethinking methods in psychology (pp. 95–112). SAGE Publications. https://www.scirp.org/reference/referencespapers?referenceid=1621955

Murray, M. (2002). Connecting narrative and social representation theory in health research. Social Science Information, 41(4), 653–673. https://doi.org/10.1177/0539018402041004008

Walsh, P., Owen, P., & Mustafa, N. (2021). The creation of a confidence scale: The confidence in managing challenging situations scale. Journal of Research in Nursing, 26(6), 483–496. https://doi.org/10.1177/1744987120979272

Author Bio

Marissa Brits is a doctoral researcher in narrative theory and qualitative inquiry, and an ESL teacher. Her work explores how people use storytelling to make sense of lived experience, particularly in contexts of uncertainty, identity, and change. She is especially interested in how narratives shape understanding across cultural and linguistic contexts, and how people use stories to interpret health, illness, and everyday life.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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The Invisible Wall: How High Expectations in Childhood Create a Loneliness That Follows You Into Rooms Full of People

There is a particular kind of loneliness that has no obvious name.

Introduction

There is a particular kind of loneliness that has no obvious name. It does not arrive when you are physically alone. It arrives at birthday parties, in classrooms full of laughing kids, at dinner tables surrounded by family. It is the loneliness of operating at a different speed than everyone around you, of carrying expectations so heavy that they quietly separate you from the world without anyone noticing, including you.

I know this loneliness well. Growing up, I was placed under high demands early. The people around me moved at what felt like a slower pace, and no matter how many rooms I entered, I could not find a way to fully connect. I was present, but I was not there. It took me years to understand that what I was experiencing was not a personality flaw or social incompetence. It was a psychological response to a childhood shaped by pressure, performance, and an invisible wall built one expectation at a time.

This article is about that wall, who builds it, and what it costs.

Mental health conversations today have expanded significantly. We talk about anxiety, burnout, and depression with more openness than ever before. Yet one experience remains largely unnamed in public discourse, the specific loneliness that emerges when a child is raised under extraordinary pressure to perform, achieve, or carry a weight beyond their years. This is not the loneliness of neglect. It is the loneliness of being seen for what you produce, not for who you are.

Research in developmental psychology and affective neuroscience consistently shows that loneliness is not simply the absence of people. It is the subjective experience of disconnection, a gap between the social connection a person desires and the one they actually feel. You can be surrounded by people and still be profoundly alone. In fact, that invisible gap is often the most painful version of loneliness, because from the outside, everything looks fine.

When Expectations Become Walls

High expectations, in themselves, are not harmful. Research shows that parental involvement and ambition for a child’s future can support academic performance and resilience. However, there is a threshold, and beyond it, expectations stop being motivating and start being isolating.

Studies on children raised under high parental and institutional pressure have found patterns of perfectionism, social withdrawal, and difficulty forming peer connections. When a child is repeatedly measured against standards that their peers are not held to, they begin to perceive themselves as fundamentally different. That difference, over time, does not produce pride. It produces distance.

For many of these children, the world around them seems to move too slowly. Conversations feel surface-level. Friendships feel unequal. There is a constant sense of watching life from slightly outside of it, even when physically in the middle of it. This is not arrogance. It is a form of social dislocation that begins in childhood and, without intervention, travels into adulthood unchanged.

The Paradox of Being Surrounded and Alone

The modern era has made this paradox more visible and more common. Social media creates the appearance of connection while deepening felt isolation. Young people, especially those who grew up performing for external validation, learn to curate presence rather than experience it. They show up to rooms, they execute, they deliver, but they rarely arrive.

The pandemic accelerated this dynamic significantly. Lockdowns removed the physical scaffolding of social life and forced an internal reckoning that many high-performing individuals had been successfully avoiding. Without the structure of performance, many discovered that they had built identities entirely around achievement and had very little underneath. The loneliness that had been managed through busyness became impossible to ignore.

What the science of loneliness makes clear is that this subjective disconnection carries real physiological consequences. Prolonged loneliness is associated with elevated stress hormones, disrupted sleep, and increased risk of depression and anxiety. It is not a soft emotional problem. It is a hard health problem that compounds quietly over the years.

Finding Your Way Back to Connection

The path out of this kind of loneliness is not simply about being around more people. It is about learning to be present in a way that was never fully taught. For children raised under intense pressure, connection was often conditional. You were valued for performance, for outcomes, for potential. Learning that you can be valued for your presence, for your imperfection, for simply existing in a room, requires a fundamental rewiring of what you believe you owe the people around you.

This begins with honesty. Naming the experience, as uncomfortable as it is, disrupts the invisible wall. Therapeutic frameworks centered on person-centered approaches, which prioritize the individual’s internal experience over external metrics, have shown meaningful results in addressing the emotional residue of high-pressure childhoods. So has creative expression. Writing, music, and storytelling have long served as bridges between internal isolation and external connection, offering a language for experiences that otherwise have no words.

The next generation of mental health care must take seriously the specific wounds of high achieving children. Not because they have it worse than others, but because their pain is often invisible, masked by success and mistaken for strength.

Conclusion

The loneliness I carried growing up did not disappear when I became more successful. It followed me into every room I entered, every circle I joined, every milestone I reached. What changed was not the world around me. What changed was my willingness to name it, to stop performing connection and start seeking it.

If you recognize yourself in these words, know that the wall is not permanent. It was built by circumstances you did not choose, but it can be dismantled by choices you make now. The first one is simple, stop waiting to feel worthy of connection before you pursue it. The worthiness was always already there. It just got buried under expectations that were never yours to carry alone.

Mental health is not the absence of struggle. It is the courage to be known, even when being known feels like the most dangerous thing in the world.

I chose to write about this topic because it is personal to me. Growing up, high expectations were placed on me from an early age, and without anyone intending harm, those expectations built a wall between me and the world. I found myself feeling profoundly alone in rooms full of people, operating at a pace that made genuine connection feel just out of reach. Writing became the one space where I did not have to perform. It was where I could actually exist. This article is, in part, an attempt to give language to something I lived without the words for. I believe the intersection of performance culture and mental health is one of the most underaddressed conversations of our generation, and I want to contribute to it with honesty rather than theory.

References

Killgore, W. D. S., Cloonan, S. A., Taylor, E. C., and Dailey, N. S. (2020). Loneliness, a signature mental health concern in the era of COVID 19. Psychiatry Research, 290, 113117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113117

Lim, M. H., Eres, R., and Vasan, S. (2020). Understanding loneliness in the twenty first century, an update on correlates, risk factors, and potential solutions. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 55(7), 793-810. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01889-7

Qualter, P., Brown, S. L., Munn, P., and Rotenberg, K. J. (2010). Childhood loneliness as a predictor of adolescent depressive symptoms, an 8 year longitudinal study. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 19(6), 493 to 501. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-009-0059-y

Supke, M., Hahlweg, K., Job, A. K. et al. (2025). Long term patterns and risk factors of loneliness in young adults from an 18-Year longitudinal study in Germany. Sci Rep, 15, 24025. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08842-1

Spithoven, A.W.M., Vanhalst, J., Lodder, G. et al. (2017). Parent-adolescent discrepancies regarding adolescents’ peer-related loneliness: Associations with adolescent adjustment. Journal of Youth Adolescence, 46, 1104–1116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0662-z

Author Bio

Jesús Cadena is a business entrepreneur, founder & CEO of Grupo Meridia, a technology import and distribution company based in Bogotá, Colombia. Driven by a lifelong interest in human behavior and storytelling, he writes about the psychological dimensions of ambition, identity, and modern life. His work sits at the intersection of business thinking and personal narrative, exploring what high performance costs and what it quietly leaves behind.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Why Constant Productivity Can Harm Mental Health

The Role of Social Media and Comparison

Introduction

In today’s world, being busy is often seen as a sign of success. Many people feel constant pressure to be productive, to achieve more, and to use every minute efficiently. While ambition can be positive, this mindset can also lead to stress, burnout, and feelings of never being “good enough.” Personally, I have noticed how this pressure can affect mental health and make it difficult to truly relax or enjoy the present moment.

The pressure to always be productive often comes from social expectations and comparison. Social media plays a big role in this, showing only the highlights of other people’s lives, like their achievements, routines, and successes. This can create unrealistic standards and make individuals feel like they are falling behind, even when they are doing their best.

From personal experience, there are moments when I feel guilty for resting or taking time for myself. It feels like I should always be doing something “useful.” However, this constant pressure can lead to exhaustion and reduce overall motivation. Instead of being productive, it can actually have the opposite effect.

Learning to slow down and accept that rest is necessary has been an important step. Mental health improves when we allow ourselves breaks without guilt. Productivity should not define our worth. It is okay to have days where we do less, recharge, and focus on our well-being.

Why Constant Productivity Can Harm Mental Health

Constant productivity can have serious effects on mental health. When people feel like they always need to be doing something, they rarely allow themselves to rest. Over time, this can lead to stress, anxiety, and even burnout. The mind and body need breaks in order to function properly, but the pressure to keep going often ignores these basic needs.

Another issue is the feeling of guilt when not being productive. Many people start to associate their self-worth with how much they achieve. This creates a cycle where rest feels undeserved, even though it is necessary. As a result, individuals may feel overwhelmed and emotionally drained.

The Role of Social Media and Comparison

Social media has intensified the pressure to be productive. People are constantly exposed to others’ achievements, routines, and lifestyles. However, these platforms usually only show the positive aspects, creating an unrealistic picture of reality. This comparison can make individuals feel like they are not doing enough, even when they are working hard. It can lower self-esteem and increase stress. Instead of focusing on their own progress, people begin to measure themselves against others, which can negatively impact mental health.

Learning to Rest Without Guilt

Learning to rest is essential for maintaining good mental health. Rest should not be seen as a reward, but as a basic need. Taking breaks helps improve focus, creativity, and overall well-being. Personally, understanding that it is okay to slow down has made a big difference. It allows for a healthier balance between productivity and self-care.

I have also noticed that getting enough sleep, at least eight hours, is especially important for us as women as we get older. Adequate sleep is not only crucial for mental health but also for physical well-being and long-term health. By setting boundaries and accepting that not every moment needs to be productive, individuals can reduce stress and feel more at peace.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the pressure to always be productive can have a negative impact on mental health. While ambition is important, it should not come at the cost of well-being. Finding a balance between work and rest is key to a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle. Allowing ourselves to pause, recharge, and simply exist without pressure is not a weakness, but a strength.

I chose this topic because it is something I can personally relate to. In today’s fast-paced world, I have experienced the pressure to always be productive and the guilt that comes with taking breaks. I believe it is important to talk about this issue, as many people feel the same way but do not openly discuss it. Raising awareness can help others understand that they are not alone and that it is okay to prioritize their mental health.

References

Woodward, M. J., McGettrick, C. R., Dick, O. G., Ali, M., & Teeters, J. B. (2025). Time spent on social media and associations with mental health in young adults: Examining TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, and Reddit. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science, 10, 661–671. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-024-00474-y

Huang, C. (2022). A meta-analysis of the problematic social media use and mental health. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 68(1), 12–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764020978434

Ergün, N., Özkan, Z., & Griffiths, M. D. (2023). Social media addiction and poor mental health: Examining the mediating roles of internet addiction and phubbing. Psychological Reports. https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941231166609

Gao, S., & Shao, B. (2024). Problematic social media use and employee outcomes: A systematic literature review. SAGE Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241259158

Apoorva, A., Chaudhuri, R., Hussain, Z., & Chatterjee, S. (2022). Social media usage and its impact on users’ mental health: A longitudinal study and inputs to policymakers. International Journal of Law and Management, 64(5), 441–465. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLMA-08-2022-0179

Author Bio

Shirley Bastidas is an Executive and Project Assistant at WSP, supporting leadership and multidisciplinary teams across different areas of the organization. Her role goes beyond project coordination. She also contributes to internal communications, editorial content, and marketing initiatives. Further, she enjoys working in dynamic environments where organization, adaptability, and collaboration are key. Outside of work, she is passionate about travel and discovering new cultures.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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The Impact of Academic Pressure on My Mental Health

One of the biggest effects of academic stress on me is anxiety and worry.

Introduction

Mental health is very important in my life because it affects how I think, feel, and manage my daily activities. As a psychology student, I face many responsibilities such as studying, completing assignments, preparing for exams, and balancing other duties in my life. At the same time, I also have significant family responsibilities. I am a wife, a mother of two teenage daughters, and the only child of my elderly parents.

Sometimes, this academic pressure makes me feel stressed, tired, worried, and overwhelmed. There are moments when I feel afraid of failing or not doing my best, and this affects my peace of mind. This topic is personal to me because academic pressure has had a real impact on my mental health. Through this article, I aim to explain how academic stress affects me and why it is important to care for mental health while continuing my education as an adult student.

Effects of Academic Stress on My Mental Health

One of the biggest effects of academic stress on me is anxiety and worry. When I have deadlines, exams, or a large amount of work to complete, I sometimes feel nervous and restless. I often think about whether I can complete everything properly and whether I will perform well. There are times when I fear failing or disappointing myself and my family.

These thoughts make it difficult for me to relax and disturb my peace of mind. Academic stress also affects me both physically and emotionally. When I feel too stressed, I become very tired, lose energy, and sometimes feel overwhelmed. It can make me feel frustrated, impatient, or emotionally weak.

There are days when my mind feels overloaded, and I cannot focus properly. Because of this, even simple tasks may feel difficult. At times, I also feel guilty because I am unable to give equal attention to my studies, my family, and my parents.

Importance of Mental Health Care

However, these experiences have also taught me the importance of taking care of my mental health. I have learned that I cannot do everything perfectly all the time, and that it is okay to ask for help or take rest when needed.

I try to manage my time better, take short breaks, pray, and remain calm when I feel overwhelmed. I remind myself that being an adult student with many responsibilities is not easy, and I should be kind to myself. Caring for my mental health helps me continue my education with greater strength and hope.

How Academic Pressure Affects My Mental Health

Academic pressure affects my mental health in many ways. As a psychology student, I must manage reading, assignments, examinations, and deadlines while also fulfilling my responsibilities as a wife, a mother of two teenage daughters, and the only child of my elderly parents.

Because of these multiple roles, I often feel mentally tired and emotionally burdened. Research shows that academic stress is strongly related to poorer mental well-being among students and can become a major source of pressure in student life (Barbayannis et al., 2022; Pascoe et al., 2020).

There are times when I worry that I may not be able to do everything well. I sometimes fear failing, making mistakes, or not meeting my own expectations. When many tasks accumulate, I feel overwhelmed, and my peace of mind is affected. This demonstrates that academic pressure is not only about studying hard but also about how that pressure influences thoughts, emotions, and mental balance (del Pino & Matud, 2024; Pascoe et al., 2020).

The Emotional and Physical Effects of Stress

Academic stress affects me both emotionally and physically. Emotionally, I may feel anxious, restless, frustrated, and discouraged. Sometimes, my mind feels overloaded, making it difficult to concentrate on one task at a time.

Research has shown that stress in students is associated with mental health symptoms and lower well-being, and that higher levels of chronic stress are linked to poorer life satisfaction (del Pino & Matud, 2024; Barbayannis et al., 2022).

Physically, stress can leave me feeling extremely tired and drained. On some days, I lack energy and motivation, and even simple tasks feel burdensome. At times, stress also affects my sleep and makes it difficult to relax.

Studies indicate that academic stress can negatively impact students’ motivation, learning, and overall functioning. This highlights the importance of recognizing stress early and managing it in a healthy way (Pascoe et al., 2020; Iqra, 2024).

How I Try to Cope with Academic Stress

Although academic stress affects me, I have learned that coping with it is essential. I try to manage my time effectively by planning my study schedule, family responsibilities, and rest periods carefully.

Good time management can help reduce academic stress. Research has shown an inverse relationship between time management and academic stress among university students (Gallardo-Lolandes et al., 2020). This reinforces the idea that being organized supports both academic success and mental well-being.

I also cope by taking short breaks, praying, staying calm, and reminding myself that I do not need to be perfect all the time. I believe it is important to be kind to myself and to accept that adult students face multiple responsibilities.

Research reviews suggest that understanding stress and using effective coping strategies are essential for reducing its negative effects and supporting student well-being (Iqra, 2024). By caring for my mental health, I feel more capable of continuing my education with strength, hope, and determination.

Conclusion

In conclusion, academic pressure has a significant impact on my mental health. It makes me feel stressed, anxious, tired, and sometimes emotionally overwhelmed. As an adult student, balancing academic and family responsibilities can be very challenging.

However, I have learned that taking care of my mental health is just as important as working hard in my studies. By managing my time, taking breaks, and practicing self-compassion, I can continue my education with greater strength and confidence.

Reflecting back, I chose to write about this topic because it reflects my personal experience. Managing studies alongside family responsibilities can be stressful, and I have directly experienced how academic pressure can affect mental health.

I wanted to write about this to share my experience and highlight the importance of supporting mental well-being, especially for adult students.

References

Barbayannis, G., Bandari, M., Zheng, X., Baquerizo, H., Pecor, K. W., & Ming, X. (2022). Academic stress and mental well-being in college students: Correlations, affected groups, and COVID-19. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. 886344. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.886344

del Pino, M.-J., & Matud, M. P. (2024). Stress, mental symptoms and well-being in students: A gender analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. 1492324. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1492324

Gallardo-Lolandes, Y., Alcas-Zapata, N., Acevedo Flores, J. E., & Ocaña-Fernández, Y. (2020). Time management and academic stress in Lima university students. International Journal of Higher Education, 9(9), 32–40. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v9n9p32

Iqra. (2024). A systematic review of academic stress intended to improve the educational journey of learners. Methods in Psychology, 11. 100163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metip.2024.100163

Pascoe, M. C., Hetrick, S. E., & Parker, A. G. (2020). The impact of stress on students in secondary school and higher education. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25(1), 104–112. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2019.1596823

Author Bio

Judith Adikari is a psychology student at the Open University of Sri Lanka who is passionate about mental health awareness and personal growth. Her writing is inspired by her own experiences as an adult learner balancing education, family responsibilities, and emotional well-being. She hopes her work will encourage greater understanding of mental health in everyday life.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Functional Depression: The Silent Struggle behind Everyday Normalcy

Depression is often associated with visible symptoms such as isolation, sadness, or an inability to function. However, not all cases present this way. Functional depression refers to individuals who continue to meet daily responsibilities such as going to work, maintaining relationships, and fulfilling social roles, while silently experiencing depressive symptoms. This often-overlooked condition highlights the complexity of mental health.

Introduction

Depression is often associated with visible symptoms such as isolation, sadness, or an inability to function. However, not all cases present this way. Functional depression refers to individuals who continue to meet daily responsibilities such as going to work, maintaining relationships, and fulfilling social roles, while silently experiencing depressive symptoms. This often-overlooked condition highlights the complexity of mental health and the importance of early recognition.

Functional depression is not formally recognized as a diagnosis in clinical manuals such as the DSM-5-TR, but it is widely used to describe individuals who maintain their daily responsibilities despite experiencing depressive symptoms. These individuals may continue working, studying, or fulfilling family roles while dealing with low mood, sleep disturbances, lack of motivation, and difficulty concentrating.

One of the main challenges of functional depression is that it often goes unnoticed because individuals appear “fine” on the outside, their condition may be overlooked by others or even minimized by themselves. This can delay proper diagnosis and treatment, increasing the risk of symptoms worsening over time.

From a clinical perspective, mental health professionals emphasize that a key factor in diagnosing depressive disorders is functional impairment. When emotional distress begins to significantly affect social, occupational, or academic performance, it may indicate a more severe condition that requires immediate attention.

Early detection is essential. Warning signs such as social withdrawal, expressions of hopelessness, or talking about death should not be ignored. In more severe cases, symptoms like psychosis or suicidal behavior require urgent intervention.

Despite increasing awareness, mental health care remains largely reactive rather than preventive. Promoting regular mental health check-ups could help identify early symptoms and reduce long-term consequences.

Why Functional Depression Often Goes Unnoticed

One of the defining characteristics of functional depression is its invisibility. Individuals experiencing it are often able to meet external expectations, which can create the illusion that everything is under control. They go to work, complete tasks, and maintain social roles, making it difficult for others to recognize their internal struggle.

This external functionality can lead to internal invalidation, where individuals downplay their own symptoms because they believe they are “not doing badly enough” to seek help. As a result, many cases remain undiagnosed and untreated.

Additionally, societal expectations around productivity and resilience can reinforce this pattern. In environments where constant performance is valued, taking a break or acknowledging emotional distress may be perceived as weakness. This further contributes to the normalization of burnout and untreated depression.

The Importance of Early Detection

Early detection is key to preventing functional depression from worsening because individuals often continue with their routines. Symptoms may go unnoticed until they become more severe. Warning signs such as social withdrawal, persistent sadness, or expressions of hopelessness should not be ignored. Recognizing these signals early allows for timely intervention and reduces long-term impact.

Seeking Help and Breaking the Stigma

Seeking professional help is essential, yet many individuals delay doing so due to stigma or the belief that their symptoms are not “serious enough.” However, mental health should be treated with the same importance as physical health. Proper diagnosis and treatment, whether through therapy, medication, or both, can significantly improve quality of life. Encouraging open conversations around mental health can help reduce stigma and make it easier for people to seek support.

Conclusion

Functional depression highlights the complexity of mental health, showing that not all struggles are visible. Even when individuals appear to function normally, they may be experiencing significant emotional distress. Recognizing early signs, promoting prevention, and encouraging professional support are essential steps to improve well-being and reduce long-term impact.

I chose this topic because functional depression is often overlooked despite being very common. Many people struggle silently while maintaining their daily responsibilities, which makes it harder to identify and address. As a content creator in health, I believe it is important to raise awareness about these less visible mental health conditions and encourage early detection and open conversations.

References

Malhi, G. S., & Mann, J. J. (2018). Depression. The Lancet, 392(10161), 2299–2312. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31948-2

Otte, C., Gold, S. M., Penninx, B. W., Pariante, C. M., Etkin, A., Fava, M., Mohr, D. C., & Schatzberg, A. F. (2016). Major depressive disorder. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 2, 16065. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2016.65

Hasler, G. (2010). Pathophysiology of depression: Do we have any solid evidence of interest to clinicians? World Psychiatry, 9(3), 155–161. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2051-5545.2010.tb00298.x

Friedrich, M. J. (2017). Depression is the leading cause of disability around the world. JAMA, 317(15), 1517. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.3826

World Health Organization. (2021). Depression. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression

Author Bio

María Camila Sánchez is a journalist, content manager, and editor specialized in health communication and digital content. She has experience creating and managing editorial and social media content for platforms, reaching large audiences through informative and accessible storytelling. Her work focuses on translating complex topics into clear, engaging content that supports education and awareness.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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The Pressure to Always Be Productive and Its Impact on Mental Health

The Pressure to Always Be Productive and Its Impact on Mental Health

Introduction

In a world that constantly rewards productivity, many people feel pressured to always be doing something. Being busy has become a symbol of success, while rest is often seen as laziness. This mindset, driven by what is commonly known as “hustle culture”, has shaped the way we work, think, and even value ourselves. However, behind this constant need to produce lies a growing mental health concern. The pressure to always be productive can lead to stress, burnout, and a loss of balance, making it essential to rethink how we approach work and personal well-being.

The pressure to always be productive is deeply rooted in modern culture, especially with the rise of social media. Every day, we are exposed to messages that glorify hard work, long hours, and constant achievement. Phrases like “no days off” or “rise and grind” create the illusion that success only comes from relentless effort. Over time, this narrative can make people feel like they are never doing enough, no matter how much they accomplish.

This constant pressure can take a serious toll on mental health. When individuals push themselves without allowing time to rest, they often experience chronic stress, anxiety, and eventually burnout. Burnout is not just about feeling tired. It can lead to a lack of motivation, decreased creativity, and even physical symptoms. For creatives and professionals who rely on their mental energy, this can be especially damaging.

Another issue is the misconception that being busy means being productive. Many people fill their schedules with tasks to feel accomplished, but this doesn’t always lead to meaningful results. In fact, without proper rest and reflection, the quality of work tends to decline. True productivity is not about doing more, but about doing what matters most in an effective and sustainable way.

To counter this, it is essential to develop a healthier relationship with work. Setting clear boundaries between work and personal time is a crucial first step. This might include taking regular breaks, defining working hours, and allowing yourself to disconnect without guilt. Additionally, practicing self-awareness helps individuals recognize when they are reaching their limits and need to pause.

Ultimately, maintaining mental health requires balance. Rest should not be seen as a reward after exhaustion, but as a necessary part of the process. By shifting the focus from constant activity to intentional action, individuals can protect their well-being while still achieving their goals.

The Rise of Hustle Culture and Constant Productivity

The rise of hustle culture has played a major role in shaping how people perceive productivity and success. With the growth of social media and digital platforms, we are constantly exposed to messages that glorify working harder, longer, and without rest. Influencers, entrepreneurs, and even peers often share highlights of their achievements, creating the impression that success is only possible through nonstop effort.

This environment can make it difficult to separate healthy ambition from harmful pressure. What starts as motivation can quickly turn into comparison, where individuals feel they are falling behind if they are not constantly working or improving. The idea of taking a break becomes uncomfortable, even guilt-inducing, because it seems like everyone else is moving forward while you are standing still.

Over time, this mindset reinforces the belief that self-worth is directly tied to productivity. Instead of valuing rest as part of a balanced life, many begin to see it as a weakness. This creates a cycle where people push themselves beyond their limits, often ignoring signs of mental and emotional exhaustion just to keep up with unrealistic standards.

Understanding the influence of hustle culture is the first step toward breaking free from it. By recognizing that what we see online is often curated and incomplete, it becomes easier to challenge these expectations and create a healthier, more sustainable approach to productivity.

The Impact of Constant Productivity on Mental Health

The constant pressure to stay productive can have serious consequences for mental health. When individuals feel the need to always be working or achieving something, they often ignore their own limits. Over time, this leads to chronic stress, as the mind rarely gets the chance to rest or recover. What may start as a desire to be disciplined and successful can gradually turn into anxiety and emotional exhaustion.

One of the most common outcomes of this cycle is burnout. Burnout goes beyond simple tiredness. It is a state of mental, emotional, and sometimes physical depletion. People experiencing burnout may feel unmotivated, detached from their work, and unable to perform even basic tasks with the same level of energy or creativity. This is especially harmful for professionals and creatives who depend on clear thinking and inspiration.

Additionally, the pressure to constantly produce can create a persistent sense of guilt. Even during moments of rest, individuals may feel like they should be doing something “more productive”. This makes it difficult to truly relax, reinforcing the cycle of stress and fatigue. Over time, this pattern can affect self-esteem, as people begin to measure their worth based solely on how much they accomplish.

Recognizing these impacts is essential. Mental health cannot be sustained under constant pressure, and ignoring these signs often leads to deeper and more lasting consequences. Acknowledging the need for balance is not a sign of weakness, but a necessary step toward maintaining both well-being and long-term productivity.

Redefining Productivity and Embracing Balance

Redefining productivity is essential for building a healthier and more sustainable approach to work and life. Instead of measuring productivity by how busy we are or how many tasks we complete, it is more valuable to focus on the quality and purpose of what we do. True productivity is not about constant activity, but about making intentional choices that align with our goals and well-being.

One of the key steps in this shift is learning to embrace balance. This means recognizing that rest is not a distraction from progress, but a fundamental part of it. Taking breaks, setting boundaries, and allowing time to recharge can significantly improve focus, creativity, and overall performance. When we give ourselves permission to pause, we return to our work with more clarity and energy.

Another important aspect is developing self-awareness. Understanding personal limits and recognizing early signs of stress or fatigue can help prevent burnout. Rather than pushing through exhaustion, it becomes possible to adjust routines and expectations in a way that supports long-term consistency.

Additionally, redefining productivity involves letting go of unrealistic comparisons. Everyone has a different pace, different goals, and different circumstances. By focusing on personal progress instead of external pressure, individuals can build a more positive and sustainable relationship with their work.

Ultimately, embracing balance allows for growth that is not only effective but also healthy. It creates space for both achievement and well-being, proving that success does not have to come at the cost of mental health.

Conclusion

In a world that constantly pushes the idea of doing more, it is easy to lose sight of what truly matters. The pressure to always be productive may seem like a path to success, but without balance, it often leads to stress, burnout, and a decline in overall well-being. Recognizing the impact of this mindset is the first step toward change.

By challenging the beliefs shaped by hustle culture and redefining what productivity means, it becomes possible to build a healthier relationship with work. Productivity should not come at the expense of mental health, but rather exist alongside it. Rest, boundaries, and self-awareness are not obstacles to success—they are essential components of it.

In the end, sustainable success is not about constant motion, but about intentional progress. When we allow ourselves the space to rest and recharge, we create a foundation for both personal growth and long-term fulfillment.

I chose to write about this topic because it reflects a reality that I, like many others, experience in today’s fast-paced, highly demanding environment. The pressure to always be productive is often normalized, especially among young professionals and creatives, making it easy to overlook its negative impact on mental health.

From my own perspective, I’ve seen how the constant need to improve and deliver can become overwhelming, sometimes leading to stress and mental fatigue. This made me realize how important it is to talk about balance and to question the idea that our value is directly tied to how much we produce.

I believe this topic is important because it encourages people to reflect on their habits, prioritize their well-being, and adopt a more sustainable approach to work and life.

References

de Oliveira, C., Saka, M., Bone, L., & Jacobs, R. (2022). The role of mental health on workplace productivity: A critical review of the literature. PharmacoEconomics, 21(2), 167–193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40258-022-00761-w  

Dewa, C. S., Loong, D., Bonato, S., & Trojanowski, L. (2014). How does burnout affect physician productivity? A systematic literature review. BMC Health Services Research, 14, 325. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-14-325

Johnson, J., Hall, L. H., Berzins, K., Baker, J., Melling, K., & Thompson, C. (2018). Mental healthcare staff well-being and burnout: A narrative review of trends, causes, implications, and recommendations for future interventions. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 27(1), 20–32. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12416 

Leitão, J., Pereira, D., & Gonçalves, Â. (2021). Quality of work life and contribution to productivity: Assessing the moderator effects of burnout syndrome. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(5), 2425. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052425  

O’Connor, K., Muller Neff, D., & Pitman, S. (2018). Burnout in mental health professionals: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence and determinants. European Psychiatry, 53, 74–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2018.06.003  

Author Bio

Pedro Gabriel De Assis Silva is a Graphic Designer specializing in visual communication, image editing, and video editing for digital platforms. Alongside his creative work, he is currently pursuing a Psychology degree, which deepens his understanding of human behavior and mental health. By combining design and psychology, he aims to create meaningful and impactful content that connects with people on a deeper level. He is particularly interested in topics related to productivity, well-being, and personal development, bringing both practical and reflective insights into his work and writing.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Love, Loss, and Psychological Healing

The Emotional Impact of Love and Loss

Introduction

Love, loss, and psychological healing have been a difficult journey for me. I struggled through painful emotions and challenging moments that felt overwhelming. It was a hard battle, but I found the strength to keep going, and in the end, I made it through.

Love and loss can change you in ways you don’t expect. When I went through my own loss, it felt like everything slowed down, and the pain was always there, no matter what I tried to do. Some days were heavier than others, and even the smallest things felt difficult. I often felt lost in my own thoughts, unsure of how to move forward or if things would ever feel normal again. But healing, I learned, isn’t something that happens overnight. It comes in small, quiet moments, like allowing yourself to feel, to cry, or to talk about what hurts, which is part of the process. Slowly, I began to understand my emotions instead of running from them. There were still hard days, but little by little, they became easier to face.

This journey taught me that it’s okay not to be okay sometimes. The pain didn’t disappear completely, but it softened. And through it all, I found a strength in myself that I didn’t know I had. I realized that even after everything, I was still here, still moving forward, and that, in itself, is healing.

The Emotional Impact of Love and Loss

When love becomes loss, it leaves a deep emptiness. I felt a constant heaviness and struggled with memories that reminded me of what was gone. Accepting that absence was painful, but I realized it was a necessary part of healing.

Finding Strength Through Healing

Healing wasn’t something that happened all at once. It came slowly, in small and quiet moments. I began to take things one day at a time, allowing myself to feel instead of hiding from the pain. Some days were still difficult, but I started to notice small changes, such as feeling a little lighter, finding brief moments of peace, trying to do things I love, and returning to hobbies I had let go of before.

Over time, I discovered strength within myself that I didn’t know I had. I learned that healing doesn’t mean forgetting the past, but learning how to live with it. Step by step, I began to move forward, realizing that even after everything, I was still growing and becoming stronger.

Growing Beyond the Pain

As time passed, I began to see that my pain was not just something that hurt me, it was also something that changed me. I started to understand myself better, becoming more aware of my emotions and how I handle them. The experience, though difficult, helped me grow in ways I never expected. I realized that moving forward didn’t mean leaving everything behind, but carrying the lessons with me. The pain became less heavy, and in its place, I found strength, resilience, and a deeper appreciation for life. In the end, I wasn’t just healing, I was becoming a stronger version of myself.

Conclusion

Love and loss are experiences that leave lasting marks on the heart, but they also shape who we become. My journey wasn’t easy, and there were times when the pain felt unbearable. But through it all, I learned that healing is possible, even if it takes time and patience. I may still carry pieces of that loss with me, but they no longer define me. Instead, they remind me of my strength and how far I’ve come. In the end, I didn’t just survive the pain, I grew from it, and that growth is what continues to guide me forward.

I chose to write about love, loss, and psychological healing because it is something I have lived through, not just something I understand from a distance. This topic holds a part of my story, the pain I carried, the moments I felt lost, and the quiet strength it took to keep going. Writing about it allows me to give a voice to feelings that are often hard to express. It also comes from a place of honesty and healing. By sharing my experience, I’m not only acknowledging what I’ve been through, but also reminding myself how far I’ve come. Maybe, in some way, my words can also reach someone else who feels the same, letting them know they are not alone in their struggle.

References

Boelen, P. A., Olff, M., & Smid, G. E. (2019). Traumatic loss: Mental health consequences and implications for treatment and prevention. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 10(1), 1591331. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2019.1591331

Hilberdink, C. E., Ghainder, K., Dubanchet, A., Hinton, D., Djelantik, A. A. A. M. J., Hall, B. J., & Bui, E. (2023). Bereavement issues and prolonged grief disorder: A global perspective. Global Mental Health, 10, e32. https://doi.org/10.1017/gmh.2023.28

O’Connor M. F. (2019). Grief: A brief history of research on how body, mind, and brain adapt. Psychosomatic Medicine, 81(8), 731–738. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000000717

Seiler, A., von Känel, R., & Slavich, G. M. (2020). The psychobiology of bereavement and health: A conceptual review from the perspective of social signal transduction theory of depression. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 565239. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.565239

Szuhany, K. L., Malgaroli, M., Miron, C. D., & Simon, N. M. (2021). Prolonged grief disorder: Course, diagnosis, assessment, and treatment. Focus, 19(2), 161–172. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20200052

Author Bio

Joziane Yazbeck is a thoughtful and reflective writer with a strong interest in mental health awareness, particularly in the areas of love, loss, and emotional healing. Drawing from personal experiences, their work focuses on expressing honest emotions and shedding light on the quiet struggles many people face but often do not speak about. Through their writing, they aim to create a sense of understanding, connection, and comfort for readers who may be going through similar challenges. Their goal is to use words as a way to heal, inspire, and remind others that they are not alone.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Bipolar Hijinks and the Mystery of the Brain

A person with type 2 bipolar disorder struggles with a lot more depressive and hypomanic episodes.

Introduction

Despite the roaring fascination in the mood/personality disorder department, there is a lot of misinterpretation in what these things actually are. Although looking at articles by experts may yield some ideas about what these disorders are, you can’t truly understand them unless you have them. Even then, having the said disorder won’t magically make everything understandable. Dear readers, as you can guess, the person writing this has bipolar 2 disorder, and I don’t understand anything either.

In the beginning, it feels like the changing of the seasons. Though seemingly natural, it can be devastating, especially if the people around you just assume it’s your personality quirk without understanding the underlying struggles. Yet eventually it turns ugly; the older you get, the worse it becomes. Either the dam breaks, an ultimatum is issued, or forced interference is needed. The diagnosis follows soon after. The discovery of a name that labels what you have opens doors that were never perceived until now. You have it. You are Bipolar. Memories of Reddit stories, books, TV shows, and movies hit you with various media interpretations of this illness. What now? Were you truly a monster all along? As time passes, you accept it, understand it, and live with it. Finally, after all these years, you find out why you are this way! Only to discover that the journey has only begun.

Before the Discovery

I believe that a good chunk of uncommon mental disorders is more common than you think. Psychology is still considered a new form of science, and a lot of stigma comes with it, specifically related to mental health challenges. Many live their lives unaware of what is happening on the inside, with only the assumption that what they are going through is normal. The “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule from the 1990s not only applied to the military but also reflects the attitudes of many people who are less accepting of mental illness. In my experience, growing up in Thailand, there aren’t many resources to help with diagnosis or therapy. Navigating through the world with bipolar is rough. Navigating it with no medication is torture. Though many may point out patterns, denying that something is wrong can be crippling. The thing that finally convinced me to go to a psychiatrist was after I left Thailand for Europe. The breaking point for me was buying 200 euros’ worth of Uber Eats in a single night and not eating any of it. It wasn’t my worst maniac-spending issue, but the straw that broke the camel’s back.

The Discovery and Looking Back

In most cases, you never really understand what is going on in your head, and when you finally get that diagnosis, the world switches lenses. Sure, the pills and such can be overwhelming, but what I think is the most spiraling notion of getting the diagnosis is comparing your experience with others, wondering if other people you once knew might be like you. It can be isolating. Internet forums and memes on your situation may help alleviate pressure for a bit, but it’s just like having a bag of potato chips for dinner. Never fulfilling. Some turn bipolarity into their entire personality, and some hide the fact that they have bipolar disorder, whilst others embrace it and live a relatively normal life. Yet, the fact that the media depictions of bipolar disorder can be extreme and misinformed can truly scare others when faced with the fact that they have bipolar disorder.

Bipolarity and Beyond

So, you have a bipolar disorder, what now? The pills keep the bipolarity at bay whilst slowly unravelling your mind with the therapist, which is productive and highly recommended. A cure is not going to be possible for a while, and yet the trouble is far from over. Anti-psychotics and the like alter the mind and body for better or for worse, and yet not taking them leads to a lot of grief. Though despair of being reliant on medication for the next few years and beyond, this is when the most important part comes in, i.e., balance. Are you gaining weight due to the pills? Check with your doctor and see if your thyroid is OK. Every action has its equal and opposite reaction. It’s a balancing act of the body and mind! You don’t have to exercise excessively or diet your life away. Eventually, you’ll be OK.

Conclusion

Though it is a messy road ahead, I believe in you! It is hard, it is exhausting, and you may end up spending 4K on a trip to Disneyland due to forgetting to take your pills. It gets better. From the beginning, where the only thing you get are clues and rough context, to the diagnosis and beyond, learning that you are undoing what you were taught by the media and beyond, you are doing great. Just remember that if your body is getting wonky due to the pills, check with your doctor and see if they can help you get back on your feet again!

I have bipolar type 2. I struggled with it for many, many years, and I wanted to show that the readers are not alone in this. Bipolar II disorder is characterized by recurring episodes of major depression and hypomania, which is a milder form of mania that doesn’t typically result in significant functional impairment. In contrast, Bipolar I disorder involves more severe manic episodes lasting at least seven days, often requiring hospitalization. While individuals with Bipolar I may experience these extreme highs and lows, those with Bipolar II spend more time in depressive episodes overall. The mood swings in Bipolar II tend to be less intense but can still severely impact daily life. Understanding these differences is crucial for proper diagnosis and treatment.

References

Bonnín, C. del M., Reinares, M., Martínez-Arán, A., Jiménez, E., Sánchez-Moreno, J., Solé, B., Montejo, L., & Vieta, E. (2019). Improving functioning, quality of life, and well-being in patients with bipolar disorder. International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, 22(8), 467–477. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijnp/pyz018 ‌

de Filippis, R., Menculini, G., D’Angelo, M., Carbone, E. A., Tortorella, A., De Fazio, P., & Steardo, L., Jr (2022). Internalized-stigma and dissociative experiences in bipolar disorder. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 953621. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.953621  

Favre, S., & Richard-Lepouriel, H. (2023). Self-stigma and bipolar disorder: A systematic review and best-evidence synthesis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 335, 273–288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.05.041

Latifian, M., Abdi, K., Raheb, G., Islam, S. M. S., & Alikhani, R. (2023). Stigma in people living with bipolar disorder and their families: A systematic review. International Journal of Bipolar Disorders, 11(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40345-023-00290-y

Perich, T., Mitchell, P. B., & Vilus, B. (2022). Stigma in bipolar disorder: A current review of the literature. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 56(9), 1060–1064. https://doi.org/10.1177/00048674221080708  

Author Bio

Morgane Mahler is an artist who has lived with Bipolar 2 her entire life. She spent her years in Thailand, struggling with the illness, and finally got diagnosed when she moved to Europe, where psychological care is more open.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Animal Instinct – How Female Biology and Socialization Inform Responses to Sexual Assault

Women and men's mental health

Introduction

In my junior year of high school, I was drugged and sexually assaulted. In the moments before I lost control to the substance, I felt the intense urge to punch my assailant in the eye. I lifted my fist, wrapped my knuckles tight in my palm, then realized I was not moving at all. I thought I might scream. The sound felt like it was moving through molasses, which filled my whole body. I remember having the thought in the moment that there was no reaction now that could save me. My body must have had that thought before I did, as it shut down entirely. I experienced complete physical and vocal immobility. This response, commonly referred to as the “freeze” response, is a psychological reaction called tonic immobility. Paralysis is frequently reported in the immediate aftermath of sexual assault, yet our socialization delineates the “ideal victim” as the woman who fights her attacker tooth and nail. What happens when our brain, our body, and our socialization send conflicting signals?

When studying physiological responses to a threat, we most commonly examine the sympathetic responses associated with the fight-or-flight response. Sympathetic responses raise heart rate and trigger bursts of energy, enabling the body to either attack or flee with an adrenaline boost that increases the chances of survival. Freezing, on the other hand, is a parasympathetic response that slows the heart rate and promotes energy restoration. Sympathetic responses happen in an instant, while parasympathetic responses tend to take longer to kick in. Why, then, do those who freeze report a sudden loss of mobility? Why, in this specific instance, is a parasympathetic response behaving like a sympathetic one? And what does our society assume about women who “play possum”?

The freeze response differs from the fawn response, which is characterized by appeasement behaviors aimed at calming the aggressor and may involve flattery and compliance. This response often occurs when individuals perceive that resisting could escalate the threat, leading them to attempt to bond with or please the aggressor as a survival strategy. Both responses illustrate how biological and social conditioning influence human behavior in the face of danger, highlighting the complexities of trauma reactions and societal perceptions of survivors. Like the freeze response, fawning is also parasympathetic and involves behaviors aimed at de-escalating a threatening situation.

Why Women Freeze and Fawn

While both men and women are prone to stress responses, women are much more likely to freeze, while men are more likely to fight. There are a plethora of hypotheses as to why, but 2 major factors seem to play the largest part, i.e., biological gender roles and social conditioning towards violence. Biologically and historically, women are primed to respond to threats with a caretaking mindset, which over time became a rigid stereotype, urging women to take up a “break the glass ceiling” mindset.

As the predominant nurturers in their communities, women’s responses are not “escape at all costs,” but “escape with as little harm to my offspring.” We are biologically trained to de-escalate, whether that’s by making yourself immobile or befriending the threat, an explanation for the prevalent “fawn” response, when a victim appeases their assailant at all costs. Women with children cannot fight. You cannot throw a hook with a baby in either arm. Biologically speaking, the average woman will be physically overpowered by the average man. The fact that we are indulging in this thought is in itself problematic, as men and women must be at complementary ends, not comparative ones.

On paper, there is no point in fighting. Men, on the other hand, are not hardwired towards damage control. They are biologically hunters and soldiers. Their survival affects only themselves. Their only goal when responding to a threat is to destroy it, while women must destroy it with as little impact on their environment and family unit as possible. Social conditioning is also a major player to consider. We raise our boys to be strong, brave, and aggressive. We promote playground roughhousing and arm wrestling, crowning the strongest boy the best. Girls, opposingly, are raised towards fulfilling service and caretaking roles. We teach our girls to fit in a box, to make themselves small, to not disrupt. Men are taught to shout, to kick, to deceive, to push for what they want at all costs. Why would women, when faced with a threat, fight? We are raised to be as small as possible. Flailing and screaming and hitting are not dainty. Not in the slightest. Thus, the society indirectly demands raising children who blend gender roles, or the system collapses when more and more people choose not to bear children.

The Model Victim Survivor

A 1990 study by the U.S General Accounting Office states that the perpetrators of serious sexual assault against a White victim were much more likely to receive a harsh sentence than a perpetrator of a serious sexual assault against a Black victim. Racial bias is inextricably linked with our understanding of victimhood. Common rape myths also impact our view of sexual assault as a whole. Victims who did not verifiably fight back against their assailant are less likely to be viewed as credible in the eyes of a jury. Cases in which the victim is perceived as having partaken in activities that raise their blameworthiness (e.g., dressing in revealing clothing, consumption of drugs and/or alcohol, traveling alone/at night, working in “unsavory” fields such as sex work) have also been frequently dismissed by jurors and judges alike.

Keeping this in mind, we start to pick apart why the female victim’s nervous system chooses simply (or not so simply) to freeze. Our biological condition says placate, our social condition says be polite, our body tells us to flee, and our experience with the justice system says we must fight to be believed. Thus, we freeze. Freezing is a highly successful de-escalation tactic for female victims. It is a reaction honed by years of evolution, yet it is the response most frequently scrutinized by jurors. Our contradicting societal conceptualizations of sexual assault make the “model victim” a logical impossibility. Rape myths are so deeply ingrained, not only in our culture but in the institutions of racism, misogyny, and classism. It takes active deconstruction on the part of legal agencies to ensure an unbiased trial for a woman, especially one who’s “high risk” for being labeled promiscuous, stupid, or glib. 

Physiological Overload

With all these facts in mind, we can begin to understand what happens in the mind and body that causes women to freeze. Tonic immobility is, in fact, not solely rooted in the parasympathetic or sympathetic responses. It is caused by a strong sympathetic response that triggers extreme muscle tension, which occurs simultaneously with a parasympathetic response that slows the heart rate. The body is quite literally trapped in limbo between two responses, and essentially experiences an overload and ceases normal function. This cessation of function can also help begin to explain the large gaps in memory experienced by trauma survivors. The body is firing on all cylinders to survive, and the brain takes this as a cue that this experience may be more harmful to remember than to forget. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is a highly effective survival tactic for female assault victims to enter a state of tonic immobility, despite the numerous societal factors stigmatizing the response. The brain, the body, and the culture all work in tandem to inform our response to a threat, and it is important to note that in no instance is a survivor consciously “choosing“ a response. Their body takes over and scans past experiences responsible for conditioning to decide the best route to survival in a matter of seconds. Freezing is not a source of shame; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. A freeze response means your body truly used every single tool at its disposal to keep you alive. Tonic immobility is not a failure to act. It is the most complicated and sophisticated action of them all.

As noted in the introductory paragraph, I experienced a sexual assault during my junior year of high school. I also experienced serious assaults in my childhood and first year of college, and in every instance except the last, my response was to freeze. I have spent a lot of time researching and understanding why my body chose this response, and I believe other survivors would find it comforting to know that the freeze response is not your body’s betrayal, but its gift; a gift of time to choose the next effective move. 

References

Ahrens C. E. (2006). Being silenced: The impact of negative social reactions on the disclosure of rape. American Journal of Community Psychology, 38(3-4), 263–274. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-006-9069-9

Avcı, M., & Arı, E. (2023). Examining the effect of awareness-raising efforts and rape myths on attitudes toward survivors of sexual assault. Sexual Offending, 18. e9965. https://doi.org/10.5964/sotrap.9965

Campbell, R., Dworkin, E., & Cabral, G. (2009). An ecological model of the impact of sexual assault on women’s mental health. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 10(3), 225–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838009334456

O’Doherty, L., Whelan, M., Carter, G. J., Brown, K., Tarzia, L., Hegarty, K., Feder, G., & Brown, S. J. (2023). Psychosocial interventions for survivors of rape and sexual assault experienced during adulthood. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 10(10), CD013456. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD013456.pub2

Roelofs K. (2017). Freeze for action: Neurobiological mechanisms in animal and human freezing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, Biological Sciences, 372(1718). 20160206. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0206

Schmidt, N. B., Richey, J. A., Zvolensky, M. J., & Maner, J. K. (2008). Exploring human freeze responses to a threat stressor. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 39(3), 292–304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2007.08.002

Author Bio

Izzy Marie is currently a B. A. student at Marymount Manhattan College and a lifelong lover of writing and journalism. Izzy is also a prominent mental health and sexual violence prevention activist and a political playwright. 

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Men’s Mental Health: The Silence We Grow Up With

Men and Women's Mental Health

Introduction

Men are taught very early in life to “be strong.” Not strong in the sense of being emotionally aware, but strong in the sense of staying silent. In India, we grow up hearing things like “लड़के रोते नहीं हैं (boys don’t cry),” “be a man,“ or “handle it yourself.“ Over time, this doesn’t just become advice; it becomes conditioning. We stop expressing, stop sharing, and slowly stop understanding our own emotions. Men’s mental health in India is not ignored because it doesn’t exist. It’s ignored because it is never spoken about, not at home, not in schools, not even among close friends. That silence comes at a cost.

The problem is not that men don’t feel. The problem is that men are not allowed to feel openly. From a young age, vulnerability is often seen as weakness. A boy who cries is told to toughen up. A man who opens up is often dismissed or joked about. Over time, men learn to suppress instead of express. This suppression shows up in different ways — anger, frustration, withdrawal, or complete emotional numbness. Many men don’t even realize they are struggling because they have never been taught how to identify what they feel.

In a country where responsibilities often come early, to earn, to provide, to “be the man of the house“, the emotional burden increases, but the support system does not. Since conversations around mental health are still limited, especially for men, most choose silence over vulnerability.

Why Men Struggle to Open Up

One of the biggest reasons is conditioning. From childhood, boys are taught to solve problems, not to talk about them. Emotional expression is rarely encouraged. Over time, this builds a habit of internalizing everything. Another factor is fear of judgment. Many men feel that opening up might make them look weak, incapable, or less respected, especially in front of family or peers. Even in friendships, conversations often stay on the surface. There is bonding, but not always emotional depth. So when things get heavy, many men simply don’t know where to go.

How This Silence Affects Men

When emotions are constantly suppressed, they don’t disappear. Instead, they accumulate. This often leads to stress, anxiety, anger issues, or burnout. In some cases, it affects relationships, work performance, and overall well-being. Many men end up dealing with everything alone, which can make problems feel much heavier than they actually are. The lack of safe spaces to talk also leads to unhealthy coping mechanisms such as avoiding conversations, isolating oneself, or distracting with work or habits instead of addressing the root issue.

Changing the Narrative: Small but Important Steps

Change doesn’t need to start at a large scale. It can start with small, honest conversations. It starts with normalizing the idea that men can talk about their feelings without being judged. That checking in on a friend is not “extra“, it’s necessary. Families can play a big role by allowing boys and men to express themselves without immediately correcting or dismissing them. Even among friends, creating a space where it’s okay to say “I’m not okay“ can make a huge difference. Most importantly, understanding that asking for help is not a weakness; it’s awareness.

Conclusion

Men’s mental health in India is not a new issue. However, it’s an unspoken one. For years, silence has been passed down as strength. But real strength lies in expression, in understanding, and in being honest about what we feel. If we want things to change, the conversation needs to start in our homes, in our friendships, and within ourselves, because staying silent might feel easier, but it is never healthier.

I chose to write about this topic because I have personally seen how men around me, i.e., friends, family, even myself at times, hesitate to talk about what we feel. It’s not that the emotions are not there, it’s just that we don’t grow up learning how to express them. Most of us deal with things silently, thinking that’s what strength looks like. I believe this needs to change, and even starting a small conversation around it can make a difference.

References

Camacho-Ruiz, J. A., Galvez-Sánchez, C. M., & Limiñana-Gras, R. M. (2026). A narrative review of men’s mental health: The role of stigma and Ggender-differentiated socialization. Behavioral Sciences, 16(2), 262. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16020262

Meghrajani, V. R., Marathe, M., Sharma, R., Potdukhe, A., Wanjari, M. B., & Taksande, A. B. (2023). A comprehensive analysis of mental health problems in India and the role of mental asylums. Cureus, 15(7), e42559. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.42559

Murthy R. S. (2017). National mental health survey of India 2015-2016. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 59(1), 21–26. https://doi.org/10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_102_17

India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative Mental Disorders Collaborators (2020). The burden of mental disorders across the states of India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990-2017. The Lancet, Psychiatry, 7(2), 148–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30475-4

World Health Organization. (2017). Depression and other common mental disorders: Global health estimates. World Health Organization. https://iris.who.int/server/api/core/bitstreams/6bab42bc-df0f-4f68-a86d-28ebedb85e42/content

Author Bio

Vansh Raj is an operations and customer experience professional currently working with Zostel, India’s largest chain of backpacker hostels. With hands-on experience across 100+ properties, he specializes in solving real-world operational challenges and improving customer journeys. Alongside his professional work, he is deeply interested in human behavior, experiences, and conversations that often go unheard.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Mental Health and Positivity for Cancer Survivors

Mediastinal Cancer that Originated in the Thymus

Introduction

I was diagnosed with advanced cancer after giving birth to my third child one month early. I was 32 years old and would never have imagined that the symptoms I was having meant that I had an 8 cm diameter growth of cancer in the centre of my chest. The doctors gave me a maximum of eight weeks to live, and it would not be a great quality of life. I want to discuss and explain how I rationalised and had the mental strength to survive beyond the eight weeks I was given.

Mediastinal Cancer that Originated in the Thymus

I believe that a positive mindset and refusal to feel sorry, sad, or pity for oneself is key to a successful recovery. I also believe that cancer treatment and all the chemicals and the side effects are part and parcel of the process of getting better.

I genuinely believe that recovery from serious illness, such as cancer, is clearly fundamentally to do with the doctors and the treatment and the people around you; however, if you don’t believe that you can fight and survive a potentially tragic and life-ending diagnosis, then you might as well give up! I was in the hospital with a 19-year-old who had the same cancer that I did, straight after giving birth to my third child. Not only was I weak from the traumatic pregnancy, but I was also older than most of those who are unfortunate to be diagnosed with such an aggressive cancer. I was also petrified at the thought of not being able to see my children grow up.

There is no one way to rationalise or mentally deal with your potential mortality.

However, I do believe that your outlook and gratitude, not only for the lengths to which the doctors go, but also for the care provided by your friends and family, are invaluable.

Beacon of Hope

I spent a lot of time lying in a hospital bed attached to poison or poisons, which you are told will apparently help your body to fight and kill the cancer, and hopefully survive. That said, nobody tells you that the toxicity of the cancer treatment chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy all cause permanent damage and profoundly harmful side effects. I had pneumonia 5 times in the space of six months. And nobody prepared me for the fact that I would feel so weak and exhausted, permanently nauseous, and so fragile. On top of that, I felt like a burden to my entire family. Plus, my children, especially my eldest daughter, were horrified by my baldness and my rapid weight loss.

We all know what cancer is, and most people know at least one person or more who has died because of cancer. Why does no one explain what cancer is and how it kills you?

I think the children should be taught what cancer is, how it grows, and how it kills you. Also, how the medication used to treat cancer is toxic and damaging, and it’s basically a race between the cancer and the chemotherapy and radiotherapy as to which doesn’t kill you first. I also think that people need to know that a positive outlook and refusal to give up are so important and a significant part of the survival rate.

I find it sad when I hear people discussing friends, relatives, children, and anyone they know who has just been diagnosed with cancer, and how people refer to it as the big’C’!

One third of the people on earth will at some point be diagnosed with some form of cancer. I don’t want to normalise it, but I also don’t want to demonise it. It’s just part of living or potentially surviving, and people need to understand how it occurs, how they fight it, and how you can help fight it with positivity and a desire to live, and not just give up. Strangely enough, women give birth every day. When I had my first child, I had no idea of any of the details, not even my mother told me. It is overwhelming that there are many embarrassing moments, more pain than I think any man could survive, yet they still smile when the baby is placed on their chest. My point being, we are happy to discuss so many things, such as bullying, manners, studying, and the importance of doing well. However, nobody explains some of the most devastating, confusing, and profoundly mentally and physically challenging experiences that people will ever confront.

I chose to write about this topic because I almost lost my life, and it was very mentally and physically draining. Unfortunately, most people do not know how to deal with illness and what to say because they don’t understand what is involved in trying to survive a serious illness. The amount of platitudes people say or tell you is one of the most irritating aspects of being severely sick or potentially mortally ill. As an example, I regularly received cards from friends wishing me to get well soon. Which, frankly, is not only insane but insulting. I didn’t catch a cold. I was diagnosed with an 8-week death sentence!

Conclusion

I think it’s probably slightly unusual for a patient to be so inquisitive about the treatments and the potential negative side effects. Sadly for my oncologist, I was one of those annoying patients. I wanted to understand everything: why they were taking blood and what they were testing it for, why they had to take my bone marrow, the name of my (or acronym!) chemotherapy, and why all the chemotherapy drugs were different colors? Why was I so exhausted after every radiotherapy session, and why did the immunotherapy make me feel violently sick? What survival odds did they give me, percentage-wise? (I think in retrospect that was one question I probably did not need or want to know the answer to, it was shockingly low!😳). Of course, I’m aware and understand that a lot of patients would prefer to live in blissful ignorance, which obviously should be respected. However, if a patient wants to know their prognosis and understand their treatments, I think that doctors should be able and willing to explain in simplistic and understandable terms what the patient can expect to endure and experience throughout the treatment.

In school, children are taught many things, some practical, some not so practical. It will come as no surprise that I was a student hungry for knowledge. I genuinely enjoy learning and understanding how things work and why things are the way they are. However, I feel we need to adjust how children are educated! We haven’t adjusted our education system at the same rate as the world is changing. Children these days face so many distractions and so much competition, yet we still educate them the same way we did decades ago.   Children need more practical life/survival skills and interpersonal skills.   

I am genuinely fearful as to how AI is going to change the world, and not in a positive way. As useful as it is, it is making people more lazy and less inclined to be inquisitive and ask questions, read books, and try to understand subjects and do research, because it’s too easy to ask AI to do the work for you.

References

Fayette, D., Juríčková, V., Kozák, T., Mociková, H., Gaherová, L., Fajnerová, I., & Horáček, J. (2023). Cognitive impairment associated with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and chemotherapy. Neuroscience Letters, 797, 137082. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2023.137082

Morante-Sainz, I., Ruiz-Pérez, I., & Maldonado-Martin, S. (2026). Effects of physical activity and exercise interventions in health-related variables in Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients during clinical treatment: a systematic review and single-arm meta-analysis. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 66(3), 453–463. https://doi.org/10.23736/S0022-4707.25.17121-1

Øvlisen, A. K., Jakobsen, L. H., Kragholm, K. H., Nielsen, R. E., de Nully Brown, P., Dahl-Sørensen, R. B., Frederiksen, H., Mannering, N., Josefsson, P. L., Ludvigsen Al-Mashhadi, A., Jørgensen, J. M., Dessau-Arp, A., Clausen, M. R., Pedersen, R. S., Torp-Pedersen, C., Severinsen, M. T., & El-Galaly, T. C. (2022). Mental health among patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma: A Danish nationwide study of psychotropic drug use in 8750 patients and 43 750 matched comparators. American Journal of Hematology, 97(6), 749–761. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajh.26538

Smith, S. K., Zimmerman, S., Williams, C. S., & Zebrack, B. J. (2009). Health status and quality of life among non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivors. Cancer, 115(14), 3312–3323. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.24391

Tao, R., Chen, Y., Kim, S., Ocier, K., Lloyd, S., Poppe, M. M., Lee, C. J., Glenn, M. J., Smith, K. R., Fraser, A., Deshmukh, V., Newman, M. G., Snyder, J., Rowe, K. G., Gaffney, D. K., Haaland, B., & Hashibe, M. (2022). Mental health disorders are more common in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma and may negatively impact overall survival. Cancer, 128(19), 3564–3572. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.34359

Author Bio

Sarah Nicola was born in Oxford, England, on the 7th of November 1971. She moved to Zambia with her parents and sister in 1974 and attended primary school until the age of 11. She was then sent to an all-girls boarding school in England. The school was highly academic and extremely competitive. After completing her A-levels, she took a year off before attending university to work with the British embassy in Cyprus. She then started university at Oxford Brookes University, studying art history; however, because the fees were expensive and her parents were not able to contribute, she ended up accepting a modeling contract, which was extremely lucrative. However, her family was not happy, so she started working in the car parts industry and attending night school. After seven years, she met her future husband in the south of France, and they married and had three children.

Sadly, the marriage did not survive, partly due to her husband’s inability to cope with Sarah’s illness, including the fact that Sarah reassessed what she wanted out of life and realised when she was three years into remission that she couldn’t rely on her husband’s emotional support. Sarah felt that if her life partner fell apart when she needed him most, she couldn’t rely on him to be supportive as they grew older. Sarah and her husband separated in 2007 and finally divorced in 2009 after an extremely acrimonious and painful divorce process. This included not only her husband but also his whole family, who were trying to gain custody of the three children. Sarah won full custody against all odds. The children are now 26, 24, and almost 22. All three went to university, and two achieved their master’s. The third child is currently doing her master’s. It has not been easy because my ex-husband refused, and the court upheld that request to pay me any maintenance. He did pay the minimal amount for each child, however, our son, who stayed back a year, was still living at home until he was 19, and his father stopped the maintenance to support his son living with me.

Due to all the treatments Sarah received to cure the non-Hodgkin lymphoma, she now has lung fibrosis, myocardiopathy, ulcerative colitis, and diverticulitis, just a few of the side effects of the severe treatments. Sarah knows that the alternative would have been death almost 22 years ago.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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From Struggle to Strength: A Journey Through Eating Disorder Recovery

An eating disorder doesn’t always look the way people expect. It can hide behind routines, smiles, and everyday life.

Introduction

Eating disorder recovery is not something that happens overnight. It’s messy, painful, and often begins long before anyone else notices. For many, it’s a quiet struggle that slowly takes up more and more space until one day, it becomes impossible to ignore.

An eating disorder doesn’t always look the way people expect. It can hide behind routines, smiles, and everyday life. It can exist for years without being fully acknowledged, even by the person experiencing it. And when it finally comes to light, it often brings with it a harsh realization of just how far things have gone.

Recovery begins in that moment of clarity, the moment where something shifts, and the desire to live becomes stronger than the urge to disappear. It’s the decision to fight, even when everything inside feels exhausted. It’s also the realization that you are more than your disorder, even if you’ve forgotten who you were without it.

No one recovers alone. Behind every step forward, there are often people, friends, family, or even small moments of connection, reminding you of who you are and what you’re worth. Sometimes, recovery starts because someone else reached out when you couldn’t.

This is why awareness matters. Eating disorders don’t always look obvious, and the people struggling are not always able to ask for help. Reaching out, checking in, and speaking up when something feels off can make a difference, sometimes more than you realize.

Recovery is not a straight line. It’s a long road back to yourself. But it is possible. It starts with choosing to stay.

Recovering dynamics are not just about food, weight, or numbers. It’s about unlearning patterns that once felt like control, but were slowly taking everything instead. It’s about sitting with discomfort instead of escaping it, and allowing yourself to feel things you may have spent years avoiding.

There are days when recovery feels empowering, where choosing nourishment, rest, and presence feels like reclaiming pieces of yourself. Then there are days when it feels heavy, when the thoughts are loud, and when old habits seem easier, safer, and more familiar. Both are part of the process.

One of the hardest parts is facing the question: Who am I without this? When something has been part of your life for so long, even if it’s destructive, it can feel like losing a part of your identity. Recovery then becomes not only about healing, but about rediscovering yourself, your values, your joy, your relationships, and the life you want to live.

It also means learning to accept support and letting people in, even when it feels uncomfortable. Trusting that you don’t have to carry everything alone because recovery is not meant to be a solo journey is something that grows stronger when shared with others who care.

There is no perfect way to recover. No linear timeline. No moment where everything suddenly feels easy. However, with time, patience, and support, the things that once felt impossible slowly become manageable. And the life that once felt distant starts to come back into reach.

Recovery is choosing, again and again, to move toward life, even on the days when it feels hardest.

The Moment Everything Became Real

For a long time, it didn’t feel like a crisis. It felt manageable, like something I could control, something that didn’t really define me. From the outside, life went on as usual. But internally, things were slowly getting louder, heavier, and harder to ignore.

The shift didn’t happen all at once. It crept in gradually, until one day it was undeniable. The thoughts were no longer just background noise—they were constant. The habits were no longer small—they were consuming. And the line between “being in control” and losing myself completely had quietly disappeared.

That Was the Moment Everything Became Real

It wasn’t just about recognizing the problem, but understanding the seriousness of it. Realizing how much it had taken, how far it had pushed me, and how close it had come to costing me everything. It’s a confronting place to be because once you see it clearly, you can’t unsee it.

But that moment, as terrifying as it is, also holds something important. It’s the beginning of awareness. Without that awareness, recovery can’t begin.

Choosing to Fight for Life

After everything became real, there comes a choice. Not a one-time decision, but a choice that has to be made over and over again. Choosing recovery isn’t loud or dramatic. It’s often quiet, uncomfortable, and filled with doubt. Nonetheless, it’s there, in the small moments, where you decide to keep going.

Choosing to fight for life means going against thoughts that have felt like truth for a long time. It means doing the opposite of what feels safe. Eating when your mind tells you not to. Resting when you feel like you haven’t “earned” it. Speaking up when everything in you wants to stay silent.

It’s exhausting. And at times, it can feel like you’re losing more than you’re gaining. Because the disorder once served a purpose—it gave a sense of control, structure, maybe even comfort. Letting go of that can feel like stepping into the unknown without anything to hold on to.

But slowly, something begins to shift. The space that was once filled with rules and restrictions starts to open up. There’s room for other things: connection, laughter, and presence. Small glimpses of life that remind you why the fight is worth it.

Choosing recovery is, at its core, choosing yourself. Even when it’s hard. Even when it doesn’t feel natural yet. Even when you’re not fully convinced it will work.

Because somewhere along the way, the desire to live becomes stronger than the need to disappear.

Learning to Accept Help

One of the most difficult parts of recovery is not the food, the routines, or even the thoughts. It’s letting other people in. After spending so long dealing with everything internally, it can feel unnatural, even uncomfortable, to suddenly share what’s been hidden for so long.

There’s a kind of vulnerability in being seen like that. In admitting that you’re struggling. In saying out loud that you can’t do this alone. For many, that’s one of the hardest steps to take.

But recovery was never meant to be a solo journey.

Letting people in doesn’t mean losing control—it means creating support. It means allowing others to stand beside you when things feel overwhelming. Whether it’s friends, family, or professionals, these connections become an anchor in moments where everything else feels uncertain.

Sometimes, it’s the people around you who remind you of who you are when you’ve forgotten. Care for a think, who sees the parts of you that still exist beyond the disorder? Who stays, even on the days when you feel hardest to reach?

Accepting help is not a sign of weakness. It’s a step toward healing. Even if it feels unfamiliar at first, it can become one of the strongest foundations in recovery.

Conclusion

Recovery is not about becoming a perfect version of yourself. It’s not about never struggling again or having everything figured out. It’s about finding your way back to yourself, to your life, and to the things that make it worth living.

There will be setbacks. Moments where it feels like you’re back at the beginning. However, that doesn’t erase the progress you’ve made. Healing is not linear, and every step forward—no matter how small—still counts. What matters is continuing to choose life. To keep showing up, even on the hard days. To hold on to the parts of you that still want more, even when the voice of the disorder gets loud. Over time, those parts will grow stronger.

Recovery is possible. Not easy, not quick but real. Even if you’ve lost yourself along the way, you are still there. You always have been.

I didn’t choose to write about this because it’s easy. I chose it because it’s real, because it’s something that has lived quietly inside me for a long time, shaping my thoughts, my habits, and the way I see myself.

For years, it felt like something I had to carry alone. Something I couldn’t fully explain, and maybe didn’t even fully understand myself. And in many ways, it became normal. That’s the scary part, how something so destructive can start to feel familiar, even safe. At some point, staying silent started to feel heavier than speaking up. I chose to write about this because I know what it feels like to struggle in a way that isn’t always visible. To smile, to show up, and still feel like something is slowly falling apart underneath the surface. I know I’m not the only one who has felt that way.

I also chose to write this because of the people around me, because of the ones who saw me, who reached out, who reminded me that I’m more than this. Writing this is, in some way, my way of holding on to that, of reminding myself, on the hard days, why I’m choosing to fight. If someone else reads this and recognizes a part of themselves in it, they won’t feel quite as alone. Maybe it will make it just a little bit easier to speak up, to reach out, or to believe that things can change. That’s why this matters to me.

References

Giel, K. E., Behrens, S. C., Schag, K., Martus, P., Herpertz, S., Hofmann, T., Skoda, E. M., Voderholzer, U., von Wietersheim, J., Wild, B., Zeeck, A., Schmidt, U., Zipfel, S., & Junne, F. (2021). Efficacy of post-inpatient aftercare treatments for anorexia nervosa: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Eating Disorders, 9(1), 129. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-021-00487-5

Zipfel, S., Giel, K. E., Bulik, C. M., Hay, P., & Schmidt, U. (2015). Anorexia nervosa: Aetiology, assessment, and treatment. The Lancet, Psychiatry, 2(12), 1099–1111. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(15)00356-9

Chiu, H. P., Huang, M. W., Tsai, S. Y., & Hsu, C. Y. (2023). A retrospective study of pharmacological treatment in anorexia nervosa: 6-month and 12-month follow-up. BMC psychiatry, 23(1), 126. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-04604-3

Mairhofer, D., Zeiler, M., Philipp, J., Truttmann, S., Wittek, T., Skala, K., Mitterer, M., Schöfbeck, G., Laczkovics, C., Schwarzenberg, J., Wagner, G., & Karwautz, A. (2021). Short-term outcome of inpatient treatment for adolescents with anorexia nervosa using DSM-5 remission criteria. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 10(14), 3190. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10143190

Monteleone, A. M., Pellegrino, F., Croatto, G., Carfagno, M., Hilbert, A., Treasure, J., Wade, T., Bulik, C. M., Zipfel, S., Hay, P., Schmidt, U., Castellini, G., Favaro, A., Fernandez-Aranda, F., Il Shin, J., Voderholzer, U., Ricca, V., Moretti, D., Busatta, D., Abbate-Daga, G., … & Solmi, M. (2022). Treatment of eating disorders: A systematic meta-review of meta-analyses and network meta-analyses. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 142, 104857. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104857

Author Bio

Lea Storm is a nursing professional with a strong interest in mental health, particularly within the field of eating disorders and recovery. Through both personal insight and professional experience in healthcare settings, the author brings a compassionate and reflective perspective to complex and often stigmatized topics. With a background in patient care across multiple specialties, the author is dedicated to raising awareness, promoting understanding, and contributing to a more open conversation around mental health. This piece is written as part of an ongoing journey toward recovery, with the intention of creating connection, reducing stigma, and reminding others that they are not alone.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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The Three-Year Window: What Parents of 9-Year-Old Girls Need to Know Right Now

Introduction

If your daughter is nine years old, you have approximately three years before one of the most critical developmental windows in her life starts to converge. I know that sounds dramatic. I want it to. Especially since the research on this is detailed, and most parents have no idea it’s happening.

Between the ages of nine and thirteen, girls are building their self-esteem, confidence, and friendship patterns that they will carry into adulthood. This isn’t a warm fuzzy claim. It is backed by decades of developmental research showing that this window is a non-negotiable period for psychological scaffolding. What gets built here holds. What gets missed here is very hard to recover.

The single biggest factor in whether your daughter flies or tanks during this window is not her friend group, her grades, or how many activities she’s enrolled in. It’s you. Around approximately age thirteen, children are still primarily co-regulating with their parents. They look to you to figure out how safe the world is, how capable they are, and whether their feelings make sense. After thirteen, the primary regulator shifts to their peer group. Which means right now, in this moment, you have access and influence that you may not have in three years. Many parents spend that window managing behavior rather than building confidence. How do we then bridge that gap in the parent-child relationship?

Spend 15 High-Quality Minutes With Your Tween Every Day

I know what you’re thinking. You are already with your daughter. You drive her everywhere. You make her lunches. You sit at the same dinner table. That is not what I’m talking about.

High-quality time with a tween looks different than what most parents default to. It is not time spent asking about homework. It is not side-by-side screen time. It is not the car ride where you’re on your phone at red lights. It’s fifteen minutes of fully present, agenda-free connection where you follow her lead completely. You play what she wants to play. You watch the YouTube video she’s been trying to show you for three weeks. You ask her opinion and then actually listen to the whole answer without solving anything.

This matters neurologically. The prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for decision-making, emotional regulation, and self-concept, is still very much under construction in nine-to-twelve-year-olds. The development of the prefrontal cortex continues into middle age. It relies on co-regulation from a calm, attuned adult to function well. When your daughter gets consistent, predictable, unconditional time with you, her nervous system learns that she is safe. And from that felt sense of safety, confidence grows. Not from trophies. Not from praise. From fifteen minutes a day of you actually being there. Start tomorrow. Put your phone in another room. Sit on the floor if she’s on the floor. Let her run it entirely. You will be shocked at what comes out of her when the agenda disappears. Please note that these fifteen minutes are important in addition to quality parent-child play dates, which usually go on for longer.

Talk About Girl Culture Directly

This is the part most parents skip because it feels uncomfortable. We want to protect our daughters from the hard stuff. The research and my years of working directly with families of tween girls tell a different story. Girls whose parents actively discuss what is happening in girl culture are significantly better equipped to navigate it.

Your nine-year-old is already navigating relational aggression. The friend who won’t share her markers but takes your child’s stationery. The girl who was nice last week and cold this week. The group chat that shifts without warning. Girls at this age are managing levels of social complexity that would genuinely overwhelm most adults, and they do so without fully developed systems that hold space for their developing brains.

What your daughter needs is for you to make difficult discussions speakable without the listener, i.e., you or another guardian, blocking up or solving it immediately. You don’t have to have all the answers. You just have to create space for her to talk without jumping straight to advice or problem-solving. When she tells you someone was mean, your first job is to stay curious. What did that feel like? What did you do? What do you wish you’d done? You are not there to fix her social life. You are there to be a thinking partner while her brain is still learning how to think through hard things. However, bullying is another issue that is not discussed in this article. In that scenario, please equip your daughter with information about bullying psychology and contact a professional or an authority figure.

The families I work with who do this consistently, who make girl culture, friendship dynamics, boundaries, and relational aggression regular dinner table topics, raise daughters who come to them with the hard stuff in middle school. The families who don’t open dialogues in a safe space often find out what happened years later when their daughter is in crisis. The window to build that trust is now, while she still wants to tell you things.

Monitor Her Relationship With Achievement

This one is subtle and it is everywhere. Parents of nine-year-old girls are often very focused on capability. How is she doing in school, in sports, in her friendships. And I get it. We want our kids to thrive. But research on girls in this age window consistently shows that achievement pressure is one of the key drivers of the confidence collapse that happens in late tweenhood.

Here is what the data shows. Girls begin to pull back from visible risk-taking around age eight. They stop raising their hands in class. They begin to define their value by whether they are good at something rather than whether they enjoy it. The girl who was enthusiastically wrong all the time at seven becomes the girl who will not answer unless she is certain at ten. That shift is not just academic. It is the beginning of a pattern in which looking capable matters more than actually trying, and in which a girl’s sense of self becomes dangerously tied to external performance markers.

What this means practically is that what you praise matters. If the majority of your praise is tied to outcomes, grades, scores, or placements, you are inadvertently reinforcing the belief that her value is conditional. Research on praise consistently shows that specific, process-focused praise builds resilience in ways that outcome praise simply does not. “I watched you keep trying even when that problem was frustrating” will do more for your daughter’s confidence than “you got an A.” And over three years, that difference compounds in ways that are measurable.

Watch what you celebrate in your home. Watch what you ask about first when she walks in the door from school. You are shaping what she learns to value about herself.

Conclusion

I want to be direct with you. The confidence window is not a metaphor. It is a biological and developmental reality, and it is happening right now in your home, on ordinary weekdays, in fifteen-minute pockets of time you are either using or missing. Your daughter does not need a perfect parent. She needs a present one. One who sits on the floor sometimes. One who discusses the hard stuff in girl culture instead of hoping she figures it out. One who praises the trying rather than only the landing. You have three years of maximum influence. That is both the urgency and the opportunity.

I work with parents of children between the ages of eight and twelve, and the research on the tween developmental window is one of the most important and most under-communicated findings in developmental psychology. Parents consistently underestimate their own impact during these years and overestimate their children’s independence. My work is grounded in helping parents understand that they are the most powerful co-regulating force in their child’s life during this window, and I write about this because I believe every parent of a nine-year-old girl deserves to know what is at stake and what is actually in their hands.

References

Blakemore, S. J., & Mills, K. L. (2014). Is adolescence a sensitive period for sociocultural processing? Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 187–207. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115202  

Crick, N. R., & Grotpeter, J. K. (1995). Relational aggression, gender, and social-psychological adjustment. Child Development, 66(3), 710–722. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131945  

Crick, N. R., & Nelson, D. A. (2002). Relational and physical victimization within friendships: Nobody told me there’d be friends like these. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 30(6), 599–607. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020811714064  

Ettekal, I., & Ladd, G. W. (2015). Costs and benefits of children’s physical and relational aggression trajectories on peer rejection, acceptance, and friendships: Variations by aggression subtypes, gender, and age. Developmental Psychology, 51(12), 1756–1770. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000057  

Robins, R. W., & Trzesniewski, K. H. (2005). Self-esteem development across the lifespan. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14(3), 158–162. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00353.x  

Twenge, J. M., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2002). Age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, and birth cohort differences on the Children’s Depression Inventory: A meta-analysis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111(4), 578–588. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.111.4.578  

Additional Resources  

Hurley, K. (2018). No more mean girls: The secret to raising strong, confident, and compassionate girls. TarcherPerigee.  

Jackson Nakazawa, D. (2022). Girls on the brink: Helping our daughters thrive in an era of increased anxiety, depression, and social media. Harmony Books.  

Wiseman, R. (2002). Queen bees and wannabes: Helping your daughter survive cliques, gossip, boyfriends, and other realities of adolescence. Crown Publishers.

Author Bio

Dr. Chelsey Hauge-Zavaleta holds a PhD in Education with a certificate in Educational Neuroscience. She is the founder of Positive Parenthood, a research-based parent education company she runs alongside her mother. Dr. Chelsey specializes in supporting parents of children aged eight through twelve, with a particular focus on nervous system co-regulation, cooperation, and tween development. Her work has been featured in USA Today, NBC, Motherly, and PopSugar. She lives in California and works with families across the United States and internationally. Find her at www.positiveparenthood.org and on Instagram at @drchelsey_parenting.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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The Power of Discipline vs. Burnout: The Importance of Balance

you are on the path to healing yourself

Introduction

Discipline is often celebrated as the cornerstone of success, whether in fitness, work, or personal growth. We are taught to push harder, stay consistent, and never settle. However, behind the drive for constant self-improvement lies a hidden challenge, i.e., burnout. Even when we love what we do, the pressure to perform every day can weigh heavily on our mental health. In my own journey of building strength, creating content, and growing an online presence, I’ve felt the tension between striving for progress and needing rest. Understanding how to balance discipline with self-care is essential, not just for long-term results, but for maintaining mental well-being along the way.

1. The Fine Line Between Discipline and Overworking

Discipline is about consistency, focus, and pushing yourself to grow. Nonetheless, over time, it can become a burden if it turns into relentless pressure. For me, some days I wake up thinking, “I have to train harder, create more content, and optimize every detail.” That mindset, while productive in the short term, can make even small setbacks feel like failures. The key is understanding that discipline should serve you, not control you.

2. How Constant Pressure Affects Mental Health

When you’re always striving to improve, it’s easy to ignore mental fatigue. The brain needs rest just like muscles do. Personally, I’ve noticed that periods of overwork bring frustration, irritability, and sometimes a loss of motivation. Burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It creeps in, often disguised as normal “hard work.” Recognizing the signs early is crucial. These may appear as difficulty concentrating, feeling emotionally drained, or losing enjoyment in activities you normally love.

3. Signs You Might Be Heading Toward Burnout

Burnout often manifests subtly at first. You may notice a loss of motivation for tasks that once energized you, along with feelings of physical fatigue despite getting enough rest. Constant stress and overthinking about your progress can become prevalent, and you might even experience a sense of guilt when taking time off. Personally, I realized I was burnt out when my workouts, which used to be enjoyable, turned into just another item on my checklist. That’s when I realized I needed a break.

4. The Importance of Mental and Physical Recovery

Recovery isn’t weakness, it’s strategy. Taking rest days, meditating, or even following a light workout routine helps recharge both the body and mind. Personally, I now intentionally schedule rest periods, knowing that stepping back allows me to perform better later. Recovery also creates space for creativity and reflection, which is essential when you’re building something meaningful like a fitness brand or an online presence.

5. Building Sustainable Habits Instead of Extreme Routines

Sustainable habits are small, consistent actions that support long-term growth without sacrificing mental health. For example, instead of forcing myself to train two extra hours every day, I focus on quality over quantity and maintain a consistent schedule. I also plan my content and workouts in ways that allow flexibility so I can take breaks without guilt. Discipline then becomes a tool, not a trap.

6. Balancing Drive and Self-Care

Ultimately, the goal is balance. Discipline gives us direction and progress, but self-care protects our mental and emotional health. In my own life, I’ve learned to respect my limits, celebrate small wins, and give myself permission to rest. This mindset shift has allowed me to grow consistently while avoiding burnout, a lesson that applies to fitness, business, and personal development alike.

For me, the moment I realized burnout was approaching was when training stopped feeling fun, and my mind was constantly racing with “what’s next?” That was the wake-up call to slow down, take rest seriously, and restructure my routine. Recognizing these signs early can prevent burnout from derailing your progress, both physically and mentally.

Discipline is the engine that drives progress. It’s what gets you to the gym when you don’t feel like it, what pushes you to create content consistently, and what keeps you focused on long-term goals. In my own journey, I’ve seen how discipline transforms results, both physically and professionally.

More importantly, there’s a tipping point. When discipline becomes relentless, it can start to feel like a burden rather than a tool. Some days, I catch myself thinking, “I have to train harder, post more content, and improve every detail,” and the pressure becomes overwhelming. Instead of feeling motivated, I feel trapped by expectations I set for myself.

The key difference between healthy discipline and overworking lies in awareness and boundaries. Discipline is sustainable. It drives progress without depleting your energy or mental health. Overworking, on the other hand, is unsustainable and often leads to frustration, fatigue, and even burnout. Recognizing the difference early is essential because the line between being productive and being overwhelmed is often thinner than we think.

Pushing yourself to improve constantly can feel productive, but it takes a hidden toll on your mental health. From my own experience, when I was focused on training harder, creating more content, and growing my brand all at once, I started noticing subtle changes in my mood and energy. Tasks that used to feel exciting began to feel like chores, and even small setbacks became frustrating.

Constant pressure can lead to stress, irritability, and mental fatigue. Your mind, like your body, has limits, and ignoring them can slowly drain your motivation. Burnout doesn’t announce itself. It creeps in quietly. You might find yourself overthinking every detail, losing focus during workouts, or feeling guilty for taking a short break.

The most important lesson I’ve learned is that progress and mental well-being don’t have to be at odds. Recognizing the signs of mental strain early, like fatigue, lack of motivation, or irritability, allows you to adjust your routine before burnout sets in. Discipline should fuel growth, not come at the expense of your mental health.

Burnout often sneaks up quietly, especially when you’re used to pushing yourself hard. From my own experience, the warning signs weren’t dramatic. They were subtle changes in how I felt mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Some common signs include:  

  • Loss of Motivation: Tasks that once energized you, like workouts or content creation, start feeling like chores. I noticed I was going through the motions without excitement.
  • Persistent Fatigue: Feeling drained even after rest or sleep, as if your energy reserves are constantly low.
  • Frustration or Irritability: Small obstacles feel overwhelming, and patience wears thin.
  • Overthinking or Guilt: Constantly feeling that you’re not doing enough, or stressing over minor setbacks.
  • Physical Symptoms: Tension, headaches, or disrupted sleep often accompany mental strain.

Conclusion

Discipline is a powerful tool. It drives growth, builds strength, and helps us achieve goals we never thought possible. However, without balance, it can quietly turn into burnout, affecting both mental health and long-term performance. From my own experience, the key is to recognize the signs early, respect inner limits, and prioritize recovery as much as effort.

Sustainable progress doesn’t come from pushing harder every day; it comes from consistent, focused action combined with rest and self-care. By balancing drive with mindfulness, you can continue to grow physically, mentally, and professionally, without sacrificing your well-being. Remember that discipline should serve you, not control you. When you honor both your goals and your mental health, success becomes not just achievable, but truly sustainable.

I chose to write about “Discipline vs. Burnout” because it’s something I’ve personally struggled with. In my journey of fitness, content creation, and building an online brand, I constantly push myself to improve and achieve more. Over time, I realized that the same drive that fuels progress can also create mental strain if not balanced properly. I wanted to share this topic because it’s relatable to anyone pursuing growth, whether in fitness, work, or personal development, and to highlight the importance of balancing discipline with mental well-being.

References

Camara, A. M., & Parker, G. (2025). A review of longitudinal studies assessing personality and burnout. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 189, 76–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.05.064

Ochentel, O., Humphrey, C., & Pfeifer, K. (2018). Efficacy of exercise therapy in persons with burnout: A systematic review and meta‑analysis. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 17(3), 475–484. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30116121/

Wilczyńska, D., Qi, W., Jaenes, J. C., Alarcón, D., Arenilla, M. J., & Lipowski, M. (2022). Burnout and mental interventions among youth athletes: A systematic review and meta‑analysis of the studies. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(17), 10662. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710662

Parker, G., & Russo, N. (2025). Burnout: At times a physical state. Australasian Psychiatry 34(2), 194–197. https://doi.org/10.1177/10398562251395535

Snarr, R. L., & Beasley, V. L. (2022). Personal, work‑, and client‑related burnout within strength and conditioning coaches and personal trainers. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 36(2), e31–e40. https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0000000000003956

Author Bio

Niko Neparidze is a fitness content creator, armwrestler, and online entrepreneur passionate about health, nutrition, and personal development. He creates content and digital resources that inspire people to improve their physical performance while maintaining mental well-being. With experience in strength training, fitness coaching, and building online brands, Niko shares practical strategies to balance discipline, growth, and self-care in everyday life.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Art Therapy as an Intervention for Stress and Burnout in Young Adults

Introduction

Burnout has become one of the most talked-about mental health concerns among young adults, yet most of the conversation stays at the surface. People know they’re exhausted, emotionally drained, and losing motivation, but the solutions offered tend to be generic: “Take a break.” “Practice self-care.” “Set boundaries.” While those suggestions aren’t wrong, they often fail to address what’s happening beneath the surface. Young adults, especially those balancing academic demands, early career pressure, and financial uncertainty, need interventions that go beyond talk-based approaches. Art therapy offers something different. It creates a space for emotional processing through creative expression rather than verbal articulation alone, which can be particularly effective for people who struggle to name what they’re feeling or have normalized their own exhaustion to the point where they no longer recognize it as a problem.

The relationship between chronic stress and burnout is well-documented in the psychological literature. Still, less attention is paid to how burnout manifests in populations not yet in full-time employment. University students and early-career young adults often experience burnout symptoms that mirror those found in professional settings, i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment. The difference is that these symptoms are frequently dismissed as “normal” parts of being young and busy. Art therapy, as a structured therapeutic intervention, uses creative processes like painting, drawing, collage, and other visual arts within a facilitated environment to help individuals externalize internal experiences. Unlike traditional talk therapy, it provides a tangible output that the person can see, reflect on, and discuss. This makes it especially useful for populations who may resist conventional therapy or who feel they don’t have the language to describe their emotional state.

Understanding Burnout Beyond the Workplace

Most burnout research originates from occupational psychology, particularly the work of Christina Maslach, whose Burnout Inventory has been the standard measurement tool for decades. However, burnout is not exclusive to the workplace. The Maslach Burnout Inventory has been adapted for student populations (MBI-SS), recognizing that academic environments produce similar patterns of exhaustion and disengagement. Young adults today navigate an intersection of academic pressure, social comparison amplified by digital platforms, financial stress, and, in many cases, caregiving or work responsibilities alongside their studies. When these stressors accumulate without adequate coping mechanisms, the result can look functionally identical to occupational burnout, including fatigue that rest doesn’t fix, cynicism toward activities that once felt meaningful, and a growing sense of inefficacy. Recognizing burnout in this population is the first step. The second is offering interventions that feel accessible and non-threatening, which is where creative approaches gain relevance.

How Art Therapy Works as an Intervention

Art therapy is not arts and crafts. It is a regulated therapeutic modality, facilitated by trained professionals who intentionally use creative processes to address psychological needs. In the context of burnout, art therapy works on several levels. First, it activates sensory and motor engagement, helping shift the person out of cognitive overload, one of the defining features of burnout. When someone is painting or working with clay, their nervous system responds differently than when they are sitting in a chair describing their problems.

Second, the creative process allows for symbolic expression. A person might not say “I feel trapped,” but they might paint a figure surrounded by walls without consciously planning to. That image then becomes a starting point for reflection and therapeutic dialogue. Third, art therapy groups create a sense of shared experience. Participants realize they are not the only ones struggling, which directly counteracts the isolation that burnout tends to produce. Research has shown that even brief, structured art therapy workshops can produce measurable reductions in perceived stress and emotional exhaustion when administered with validated pre- and post-assessments.

Making Art Therapy Accessible to Young Adults

One of the biggest barriers to mental health support among young adults is the perception that therapy is not for them, that it requires a diagnosis, a referral, or a level of distress they haven’t “earned.” Art therapy, particularly in workshop or group formats embedded within educational or community settings, significantly lowers that barrier. It doesn’t require participants to identify as someone who needs help. It frames the experience as a creative workshop with a wellness component, thereby reducing stigma and increasing the willingness to participate. Universities, community organizations, and even workplaces can integrate short-format art therapy programs as preventive interventions rather than reactive ones. The key is working with trained facilitators who understand both the therapeutic framework and the specific pressures facing young adults today. When done well, these programs give participants tools they can continue using on their own, such as journaling through drawing, using color as an emotional check-in, or simply recognizing that making something with their hands changes how they feel in their body.

Conclusion

Burnout in young adults is not a trend or a generational complaint. It is a measurable psychological phenomenon with real consequences for academic performance, relationships, and long-term mental health. Art therapy offers a pathway into emotional processing that doesn’t depend on verbal fluency or prior therapy experience. It meets people where they are, gives them something concrete to work with, and creates space for reflection that feels less clinical and more human. As mental health systems continue to evolve, integrating creative interventions into prevention strategies for young adults is not just a nice idea. It is a practical response to a growing need.

This topic is deeply personal to me. I am currently completing my Licenciatura in Psychology at Universidad de Iberoamérica in Costa Rica, and my thesis research focuses specifically on art therapy as an intervention for stress and burnout in young adults. I also hold a diplomado in art therapy and recently facilitated a workshop titled “Refugio Creativo” as part of my data collection, using validated instruments such as the PSS-14 and MBI-SS. Beyond the academic side, I have experienced burnout firsthand while managing multiple professional roles and completing my degree simultaneously. Writing about this topic comes from both research and lived experience, and I believe that perspective matters when we talk about mental health.

References

Engel, T., Gowda, D., Sandhu, J. S., & Banerjee, S. (2023). Art interventions to mitigate burnout in health care professionals: A systematic review. The Permanente Journal, 27(2), 184–194. https://doi.org/10.7812/TPP/23.018

Ho, A. H. Y., Tan-Ho, G., Ngo, T. A., Ong, G., Chong, P. H., Dignadice, D., & Potash, J. (2021). A novel mindful-compassion art-based therapy for reducing burnout and promoting resilience among healthcare workers: Findings from a waitlist randomized control trial. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 744443. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.744443

Jue, J., & Kim, S. (2023). Exploring the relationships among art therapy students’ burnout, practicum stress, and teacher support. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1230136. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1230136

Liu, C., Xie, Y., Xu, Y., Song, Z., Tang, J., Shen, J., Jiang, Z., Shen, C., Zhan, X., & Zheng, C. (2024). Assessing the stress-relief impact of an art-based intervention inspired by the broaden-and-build theory in college students. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1324415. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1324415

Tjasink, M., Keiller, E., Stephens, M., Carr, C. E., & Priebe, S. (2023). Art therapy-based interventions to address burnout and psychosocial distress in healthcare workers: A systematic review. BMC Health Services Research, 23(1), 1059. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09958-8

Author Bio

Fernanda Arias Solís is a psychology student completing her Licenciatura at Universidad de Iberoamérica (UNIBE) in Costa Rica, with a diplomado in art therapy from Instituto Nacional de Neuroeducación A.C. in Mexico. Her thesis research focuses on art therapy as an intervention for stress and burnout in young adults. She is also the COO and Co-founder of Blockchain Jungle, LATAM’s largest Web3 conference, and Head of Operations at a developer ecosystem based in Austin, Texas. She holds a technical degree in graphic design and published her first book at 18. She is bilingual in Spanish and English.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Combating Depression after Life Falls Apart

Introduction

I was 23 years old when I was told to choose between giving up on my sport or having a dangerous heart surgery. I decided to go through with the operation and immediately got worse. I thought my life was more or less over, but I managed to turn things around and do something good with it.

I had a rare heart disease that is more than 10 times the risk of me having a heart attack or a stroke. As an athlete, that is far from ideal, so I had to undergo surgery to fix whatever it was that was wrong with me. After not getting better for a long time, I had to change my outlook on life. I started looking for blessings rather than focusing on what had been taken from me in life, and all of a sudden, my life turned around. Today, I am advocating a positive mindset and seeking the good things in life rather than what weighs you down.

Fighting Depression with a Change of Perspective

I know how hard it can be to see things from a positive perspective when life weighs heavily on your shoulders. My father always told me that something good always comes out of the bad. However, years ago, I saw this video that completely changed the way I look at life. If you walk into a room only focusing on the furniture, you are going to miss all the beautiful art hanging on the walls. What I mean by that is, if you only focus on everything that is going wrong in your life, all the positives are going to slip right under your nose without ever getting noticed.

Working through the Tough Times

Nothing feels harder than trying to fight through life when everything seems to be against you. You want to curl up into a ball and do nothing, hoping that whatever problem you have will just disappear if you wait long enough. Unfortunately, life has a funny way of not letting you forget about the things you need to take care of. Never blame yourself for needing to take a break, but once you feel less overwhelmed, get back in the fight and do something about what is bothering you.

Grabbing the Problems by the Horns

Did you know that in the savannah, when the big scary buffaloes are sensing a massive storm ahead, their first instinct is not to run away from it? No, the buffaloes take action and run straight towards the thunder, the rain, and the wind. Through years of experience, they have learned that running away from the problem only hurts more because eventually the storm catches up with them and they have to endure it longer. Running face forward into the storm might hurt more in the moment, but once you are through the hustle, you do not have to worry about it again.

Conclusion

What I want you to take away from all of this, if I had to choose something specific, is that it is okay not to be okay. We all face problems, but you are never alone in this fight. We all go through life in one way or another. My advice to you is to try and look for the positives, even when life seems dark. Take a step back when things get overwhelming, but once you have your energy back, fight the problem head-on, and do not rest until you are through on the other side.

I have gone through a lot of hardship in life, and I have the competency to help others who are struggling as I have. If I can help save or improve someone’s life, I want to do so every day of my life until I am no longer able.

References

Chien, C. H., Huang, X. Y., Hsu, S. P., Yen, Y. H., Pan, H. S., & Yen, F. C. (2022). Self-efficacy and positive thinking as predictors of health-related quality of life in women with stress urinary incontinence. BMC women’s health, 22(1), 444. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-022-02025-0

DuBois, C. M., Lopez, O. V., Beale, E. E., Healy, B. C., Boehm, J. K., & Huffman, J. C. (2015). Relationships between positive psychological constructs and health outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disease: A systematic review. International journal of cardiology, 195, 265-280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2015.05.121

Kubzansky, L. D., Huffman, J. C., Boehm, J. K., Hernandez, R., Kim, E. S., Koga, H. K., … & Labarthe, D. R. (2018). Positive psychological well-being and cardiovascular disease: JACC health promotion series. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 72(12), 1382-1396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2018.07.042

Taherkhani, Z., Kaveh, M. H., Mani, A., Ghahremani, L., & Khademi, K. (2023). The effect of positive thinking on resilience and life satisfaction of older adults: a randomized controlled trial. Scientific reports, 13(1), 3478. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30684-y

Tamminen, N., Kettunen, T., Martelin, T., Reinikainen, J., & Solin, P. (2019). Living alone and positive mental health: A systematic review. Systematic reviews, 8(1), 134. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-019-1057-x

Author Bio

Linus Kahl is a 25-year-old Swedish male who has been an athlete his entire life. He grew up early after the loss of his older sister, and he has gone through hardships in life after being declared medically dead for over 15 minutes when his heart stopped during a dangerous surgery. Kahl is now dedicating his life to try and make a positive change in people’s lives by sharing his experiences as well as methods on how to fight the negative thoughts we all have.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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From Waves to Darkness: The Tragic Journey of a Talented Surfer Battling Drug Addiction

Introduction

I lost a friend to suicide after several of us tried to save him for years. After two overdoses, we relocated him first to Bali to pursue his surfing passion, and then to an ashram in India, but we lost him off the roof of a hotel in Thailand. He had read the books, listened to the motivational speeches, transformed his life, and changed his name, but the darkness still took him.

Zeek was a talented surfer who had a ranked number in the junior category in his native, South Africa. Once he started travelling with the competitions, nightclubs, alcohol, and drugs took over his life. Dealing drugs to support his own habit, he associated with gangsters even though his stepfather was a police officer, married to his reformed prostitute mother. After two overdoses and near-death experiences, he cleaned up, changed his name, and was my surfing instructor. His focused, knowledgeable, and psychologically advanced methods gained him many fans, including a group of us who engineered his move to Bali to surf the waves he had always dreamed of and to coach surfers from all over the world. Unfortunately, financial pressures drove him back to dealing drugs in a country with the death penalty for such transgressions, to an intervention and attendance at an ashram in India, a rebirth through music at which he was beginning to excel, and then an unexpected suicide from a roof in Thailand after an argument with his girlfriend. What else could we have done? How did this happen to him?

“A tribute to our friend Zeek who passed away this week, and to whom I owe the gift of learning to surf (properly!) – https://youtu.be/W6_xDGP_1D8“

The Early Life of an Addict

Family shame, school, success at the sport of surfing, talent, progress, acceptance, persistence, success, and recognition. 

Family shame surrounded him like a shadow, constantly reminding him of the expectations he felt he needed to overcome. His school life was a mix of challenges, but it was also where his passion for surfing carved out his path amidst the chaos. With every wave he caught, he must have felt a surge of freedom that fueled his determination to improve his skills further. His surfing talent began to flourish, attracting the attention of both peers and coaches who recognized his potential. Progress didn’t come easily. Countless hours spent practicing, falling, and getting back up were crucial in honing his craft. Acceptance from his friends and mentors served as a guiding light, showing him that he was valued for who he was, not just his achievements. However, whether he believed it enough to ride the wave of darkness is another question. He must have known that persistence was key in facing both the tides of the ocean and the tides of life, teaching him to embrace every setback as a stepping stone. How much can a person embrace when depression and suicidal ideations start taking shape? Eventually, his hard work paid off, as he achieved both personal success and recognition in the surfing community, transforming his narrative of shame into one of triumph.

Exposure to Drugs

Travelling, inadequate supervision, peer pressure, social status, money, image, loss of control, loss of direction, addiction, overdose, police stepfather, and a loving but rejecting mother.

He wanted to fit in, but as much as he tried to play the part, the chatter of superficiality drowned out any sense of belonging. It was during one of those nights, swirling in a haze of smoke and laughter, that he started losing control. a little distraction, the promise of euphoria. It pulled him down a path he never intended to tread. The thrill morphed into addiction, and suddenly, he found himself caught in a cycle he couldn’t break. Each high was a fleeting moment of clarity followed by a deeper plunge into darkness, leading to an episode of overdose.

His mother had always been loving, though she carried her own burdens, which led to her rejecting him and suppressing his needs for a caregiver. Every episode of abandonment ignited a deeper sense of disappointment simmering beneath the surface. That rejection stung more than anything. His stepfather, being a police officer, did not help either. That must have come with its own can of worms.

A New Life in Bali

Zeek stood at the edge of the beach, the waves lapping at his feet, feeling the tug of the tide echo the turmoil inside him. He had always loved traveling, but later it seemed more like an escape than an adventure. The thrill that once ignited his spirit had dimmed, replaced by a sense of aimlessness that haunted him more and more each day, driven by fear of losing love. A sense of love and belonging that all the new possibilities in Bali, people who believed in him, consolidation of support, excitement, a new level of excellence in his sport, attention, rewards, friends, or risk-taking could not bring him.

Conclusion

Maybe some people can’t be saved. Even with all the right help and well-meaning friends and family, they will inevitably seek out the conditions for their own destruction, despite so many people wanting them to stay. 

I chose to write about Zeek because it still bothers me that this happens to people, and I question myself if I could have done more to prevent what happened to him. I feel guilty because I have, at times, become angry over these failures, particularly because he was not appreciated or loved enough. 

If a loved one or someone you know is struggling with suicidal ideations, kindly reach out for help.

References

Doering, S., Probert-Lindström, S., Ehnvall, A., Wiktorsson, S., Öberg, N. P., Bergqvist, E., … & Waern, M. (2024). Anxiety symptoms preceding suicide: A Swedish nationwide record review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 355, 317-324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.03.118

Hajirnis, A., & Hunt, J. (2025). A review of suicide in boys. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics, 34(4), 693-706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2025.05.012

Lak, M., Shakiba, S., Dolatshahi, B., Saatchi, M., Shahrbaf, M., & Jafarpour, A. (2025). The prevalence of suicide ideation, suicide attempt and suicide in borderline personality disorder patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis. General Hospital Psychiatry, 95, 52-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2025.04.005

Large, M., Corderoy, A., & McHugh, C. Is suicidal behaviour a stronger predictor of later suicide than suicidal ideation? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 2021;55(3):254-267. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867420931161

Riera-Serra, P., Navarra-Ventura, G., Castro, A. et al. Clinical predictors of suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and suicide death in depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 274, 1543–1563 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-023-01716-5

Author Bio

A commercial helicopter pilot and creative writer with one produced movie, The Legend of Room 327, available on Amazon Prime, Mike McDougall is fascinated by the stories that inspire us to greater things, more open minds, shared experiences, and a better understanding of each other.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Resilience and the Illusion of Escape: Why You Can’t Outrun Yourself

Introduction

Many people believe that a change in circumstances will improve how they feel. A new place, a new routine, a different lifestyle. This can take many forms. Changing jobs, entering a new relationship, or traveling somewhere far from home. For a while, this often creates relief. Things feel lighter, more manageable, as if something has shifted. However, over time, something familiar tends to return. Not in an obvious or dramatic way, but as a quiet, persistent feeling that was never fully addressed.

In many cases, people are not moving towards something, but away from something. A change in environment or lifestyle can provide temporary relief. It creates distance and reduces immediate pressure. However, relief is not the same as resolution. What remains unprocessed does not disappear. It resurfaces, often in subtle ways. The same patterns, thoughts, and emotional responses reappear, even in a different context. This is where it becomes clear that external change alone is not sufficient.

At the same time, not every internal experience requires complex analysis. In many situations, the first meaningful step is simpler. Instead of trying to fix or avoid discomfort immediately, it is more effective to develop the ability to stay with it. I mean, observing internal experiences without reacting to them or judging them prematurely. Creating distance between oneself and the emotion allows for clarity. Resilience develops here. Not in eliminating discomfort, but in being able to experience it without losing stability. The mind tends to follow established patterns.

Over time, repeated thoughts and reactions create familiar pathways. These pathways become automatic. Even when someone temporarily changes direction, the underlying patterns remain. If new patterns are not reinforced through repetition, the mind returns to what it already knows. Hence, new environments or experiences, on their own, rarely lead to lasting change. Without consistent internal work, old patterns re-emerge, even in entirely new surroundings. Real change requires the deliberate development of new patterns over time. At the same time, how people approach this process varies depending on what they are facing.

Some benefit from reflection or meditation. Others focus on structure, physical health, or nutrition. Some work with psychologists, while others explore complementary approaches. There is no single correct method. In most cases, meaningful progress comes from a combination of factors that reinforce one another. Compare this to cooking. A single ingredient may sustain you, but it rarely creates a satisfying result. It is the combination that makes the difference. The same applies to mental health. Different inputs, perspectives, and forms of support work together over time.

It is also important to assess one’s environment. Living conditions, work structures, and relationships directly influence mental well-being. They are part of the equation, even if they are not the sole cause. In some cases, emotional distress is not only internal, but also a response to external conditions that are not supportive. Recognizing this is not about avoiding responsibility. It is about making informed and appropriate adjustments. At the same time, the topic of resilience itself requires responsibility. If symptoms are persistent, unclear, or significantly affect daily functioning, they should be professionally assessed. Consulting a qualified psychologist or medical professional ensures that underlying conditions are properly evaluated. Self-reflection is valuable, but it does not replace professional care when it is needed.

The Illusion of Escape

Changing external circumstances can create a sense of relief, but this relief is often temporary. It reduces immediate pressure but does not address the underlying patterns that shape how a person thinks and feels. As a result, familiar emotional responses tend to return, even in completely new environments. What appears to be progress can, in many cases, be a delay when the progress does not improve the quality of life simultaneously.

Learning to Stay Instead of Avoid

A key shift occurs when a person stops trying to avoid discomfort, begins to observe it, and stays with the feeling using mindfulness. This does not mean suppressing or overanalyzing emotions, but developing the ability to experience them without immediate reaction or judgment. Over time, this creates distance between the individual and the emotional state, allowing for greater clarity and stability. This capacity is a central component of resilience, in which one responds to distressing stimuli rather than reacting to them.

Healing as an Integrated Process

There is no single method that works for everyone. Sustainable change usually emerges from a combination of approaches, including reflection, physical care, structured routines, and professional support when needed. These elements reinforce each other over time. Similar to a balanced composition, it is the interaction among different rhythms that creates a more complete and lasting tune.

Conclusion

A single factor rarely determines mental health. It emerges from the interaction between internal processes and external conditions. Understanding one’s inner experience is essential, but so is recognizing the influence of environment, lifestyle, and relationships. Sustainable change begins when both dimensions are addressed together, not by escaping discomfort, but by developing the capacity to engage with it in a stable and constructive way.

I chose to write about this topic because this pattern is consistently observable across different contexts. There is a common assumption that changing external circumstances will lead to lasting internal change. While this can create temporary relief, it often does not address underlying patterns. At the same time, it is important not to reduce mental health to internal factors alone. External conditions, daily structure, and social environments all play significant roles. The interaction between these elements is often overlooked, yet it is central to understanding how sustainable change occurs.

References

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1994). Ecological models of human development. In T. Husén & T. N. Postlethwaite (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Education (2nd ed., pp. 1643–1647). Elsevier. https://www.ncj.nl/wp-content/uploads/media-import/docs/6a45c1a4-82ad-4f69-957e-1c76966678e2.pdf

Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (2011). Acceptance and commitment therapy: The process and practice of mindful change (2nd ed.). Guilford Press. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-00755-000

Hofmann, S. G., Asnaani, A., Vonk, I. J., Sawyer, A. T., & Fang, A. (2012). The efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy: A review of meta-analyses. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 36(5), 427–440. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-012-9476-1

Kashdan, T. B., Barrios, V., Forsyth, J. P., & Steger, M. F. (2006). Experiential avoidance as a generalized psychological vulnerability: Comparisons with coping and emotion regulation strategies. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(9), 1301–1320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2005.10.003

Southwick, S. M., & Charney, D. S. (2012). The science of resilience: Implications for the prevention and treatment of depression. Science, 338(6103), 79–82. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1222942

Author Bio

Niklas Sous is a general manager with a track record of building and scaling B2C and B2B retail operations across Southeast Asia. He has a leading portfolio of 15+ surf and lifestyle brands with deep expertise in team management, account management, marketing, branding, art direction, retail management, product design, clothing production, import/export, and sponsorship strategy.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Breaking the Root Causes of Cognitive Distortions in Anxiety

Introduction

When life hits us in a way we didn’t expect, we experience a shocking feeling of not belonging to, or also the opposite, of belonging to many interests. Sooner or later, you feel trapped in a repetitive cycle that you can’t escape easily. It is here that you need therapy to give you a ladder to come up from this feeling, in any situation where anxiety arises.

We need to understand the conditions that favour anxiety to appear, and once this is clear, we will need to equip ourselves with an “anxiety toolbox” composed of different tools to aid our healthy habits, auto-knowledge, and also emotional intelligence to change irrational thoughts. Through a step-by-step guide, we break the vicious cycle of overthinking, and at the same time, we go through a process from being to doing in real time. This may change how we think and feel about happiness in our lives.

Physical and Psychological Symptoms of Anxiety

Physical symptoms of anxiety can affect the body in a variety of distressing ways. Individuals may experience breathing difficulties, along with tension or pain in the neck and chest. Persistent fatigue and burnout are also common, leaving a person feeling tired most of the time. Muscle discomfort, such as cramps or spasms, can occur as the body remains in a heightened state of stress. Eating patterns may become irregular, with some people overeating while others lose their appetite entirely or eat at inconsistent times. Anxiety can also trigger excessive sweating and sudden sensations of heat in the body. In some cases, individuals may notice ringing in the ears (tinnitus), adding to the overall sense of discomfort and unease.

Psychological symptoms of anxiety can show up in many interconnected ways. People often experience constant worry, overthinking, and even catastrophic thoughts about everyday situations. This mental strain can make it difficult to focus or remember things clearly. There may also be feelings of shame or self-doubt, along with a tendency to overshare or struggle with setting personal boundaries. Perfectionism is common, as well as a habit of overestimating danger while undervaluing one’s own abilities. Many individuals feel a constant need to stay productive without allowing themselves to pause or rest, which can lead to difficulty relaxing or sleeping. Being assertive may feel challenging, and negative thoughts can overshadow any sense of joy. Additionally, there is often a low tolerance for mistakes and a heightened sense of frustration when things don’t go as expected.

Cognitive Distortion

Cognitive distortions refer to the mind’s learned tendency to interpret situations in biased or inaccurate ways, often shaped by schemas developed in early life. These mental patterns influence how both the mind and body respond to everyday experiences, especially in situations that trigger anxiety. As a result, individuals may form incorrect assumptions, such as misjudging others’ intentions or misinterpreting neutral events as threatening. These distortions can intensify anxious feelings and reinforce negative thought cycles. To manage this, it is helpful to pause and question one’s thoughts by asking, “Is this thought based on reality, or is it being distorted by my perception?”

One of the key treatments for anxiety is called cognitive restructuring. It involves identifying and challenging cognitive distortions, the inaccurate or biased thoughts that arise automatically, and replacing them with more balanced, realistic interpretations. By examining the evidence for and against a thought, individuals learn to question assumptions (such as misjudging others’ intentions or expecting the worst outcome) and reduce the intensity of their anxious responses. Over time, cognitive restructuring helps reshape habitual thinking patterns, leading to healthier emotional and behavioral reactions.

Family Roles and Characters about Anxiety

Anxiety often develops and is reinforced over time, and for some individuals, family dynamics can play an important role in this process. Environments marked by patterns such as disrespect, limited emotional expression, lack of support, or emotional neglect may contribute to feelings of insecurity and heightened anxiety. These experiences can shape how a person perceives relationships and responds to stress.

For this reason, it can be important for individuals experiencing anxiety to learn how to communicate with their family in a clear, direct, and honest way. Expressing thoughts and emotions coherently can help reduce misunderstandings and create opportunities for healthier interactions. At the same time, this process can be challenging, as it often involves recognizing and gradually breaking long-standing dysfunctional patterns that have existed within the family for years.

Conclusion

In conclusion, when a person experiences anxiety, it becomes more difficult to think clearly and find effective solutions to problems and challenges in work, personal life, and relationships. Anxiety can lead to avoidance and indecision, making everyday responsibilities feel overwhelming. To support better mental health and stability, it is important to strive for balance across different areas of life, including personal well-being, relationships, family, and work.

Achieving this balance often requires a structured approach. Creating a realistic plan or schedule can help individuals gradually face and overcome the difficulties that anxiety may cause them to avoid. By taking small, consistent steps and building healthier routines, it becomes easier to regain a sense of control and improve overall well-being.

I chose to write about anxiety because of a personal experience that occurred several years ago. An unexpected realization, something that had been hidden for years, suddenly came into our lives, creating a deeply distressing situation. This led to a cycle of negative, depressive, and even paranoid thoughts, which became difficult to manage. Ultimately, the intensity of these experiences made it necessary to seek support from a mental health professional.

References

Emslie, C., & Hunt, K. (2009). ‘Live to work’ or ‘work to live’? A qualitative study of gender and work–life balance among men and women in mid‐life. Gender, Work & Organization, 16(1), 151-172. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0432.2008.00434.x

Ferrell, B. (2018). Curiosity and compassion. Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing, 20(5), 427-428. https://doi.org/10.1097/NJH.0000000000000509

Hickey, T., Nelson, B., & Meadows, G. (2017). Application of a mindfulness and compassion‐based approach to the at‐risk mental state. Clinical Psychologist, 21(2), 104-115. https://doi.org/10.1111/cp.12132

LeDoux, J. E., & Pine, D. S. (2016). Using neuroscience to help understand fear and anxiety: a two-system framework. American Journal of Psychiatry, 173(11), 1083-1093. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16030353

Lefevre, S. (2012). Compassion, curiosity, mindfulness and flow: The conditions of psychotherapists’ positive experience of the therapeutic process. The Wright Institute. https://www.proquest.com/openview/260a7857401663aea534502fb2ebed21/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750

Shaw, S. M., Andrey, J., & Johnson, L. C. (2003). The struggle for life balance: Work, family, and leisure in the lives of women teleworkers. World Leisure Journal, 45(4), 15-29. https://doi.org/10.1080/04419057.2003.9674333

Author Bio

Juan Paul is a creator who sells tutorials on using tech equipment and preparing for industry exams.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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A Personal Journey Through Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Healing, and Resilience through Meaningful Conversations

Introduction

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a mental health condition that can develop after a person goes through extremely difficult or traumatic experiences. This topic is personal to me. PTSD is not just something I understand in theory, but something that has affected the way I experience daily life, emotions, and relationships. Many people imagine trauma as something that stays in the past, but PTSD shows that sometimes the body and mind continue carrying it forward. That is one of the reasons this topic matters so much to me. I believe that speaking honestly about PTSD can help others better understand what people go through and create more compassion around mental health.

PTSD affects much more than memory. For me, it can show up in the way I react to stress, the way I carry tension in my body, and the way I sometimes feel emotionally distant even when I want to be present. It is not always visible from the outside, which is one of the reasons it can be so difficult. People may see someone functioning normally without realizing how much inner effort it takes to feel calm and safe.

What makes PTSD challenging is that it can stay active even after the traumatic event is over. The mind and body can continue responding as if danger is still near. This can affect sleep, focus, relationships, and everyday peace of mind. In my experience, PTSD is not just about painful memories, but also about learning how to live with the effects they leave behind.

At the same time, PTSD has taught me about resilience. It has forced me to become more aware of myself, my emotions, and the importance of healing. Recovery is not simple, and it does not happen all at once, but support, self-awareness, and honest conversations can help. For me, speaking about PTSD is important because it helps turn pain into understanding and reminds others that they are not alone.

How PTSD Affects Daily Life

One of the hardest parts of PTSD is that it can affect ordinary life in ways that other people do not always notice. Simple things such as resting, concentrating, trusting others, or feeling fully relaxed can become difficult. A person may seem fine on the outside while fighting an internal battle, which can create loneliness and frustration, especially when others do not understand what PTSD really feels like.

For me, this topic is personal because PTSD is not only something I talk about, but something I have had to understand from within. That is why I believe it is important to speak openly about it. The more people understand how PTSD affects daily life, the more compassion and support they can offer to those who live with it.

The Hidden Emotional Impact of PTSD

One of the most difficult parts of PTSD is that much of it happens internally. A person may appear calm, strong, or even successful on the outside while struggling with fear, tension, or emotional exhaustion on the inside. This hidden side of PTSD can make it hard for others to understand the full weight of it. In my experience, that can create a feeling of isolation, because people may only see what is visible and not the effort it takes to keep moving forward.

PTSD can also affect the way a person connects with emotions. At times, it may lead to numbness, distance, or difficulty expressing what is really happening inside. This does not mean the person does not care. It often means they are carrying more than others realize. That is why compassion matters so much. The emotional impact of PTSD is not always obvious, but it is real, and it deserves understanding rather than judgment.

Healing, Strength, and Moving Forward

Although PTSD can be painful and exhausting, it does not mean a person is broken. One of the biggest lessons I have learned is that healing is possible, even if it takes time. Recovery is not about forgetting the past. It is about learning how to live with greater awareness, support, and self-compassion. For me, that means recognizing that healing is a process and that strength can exist alongside pain.

Talking openly about PTSD is part of that healing. It helps remove shame and creates space for honesty and connection. I believe that sharing personal experiences can help others feel less alone and more understood. PTSD has affected me personally, but it has also taught me resilience, patience, and the importance of speaking truthfully about mental health. In that sense, healing is not only about surviving trauma, but also about finding meaning and strength beyond it.

Conclusion

PTSD is a deeply personal topic for me because it is connected not only to pain, but also to strength, healing, and self-awareness. It has taught me that trauma does not always disappear when an event is over, and that mental health struggles can remain hidden behind a strong outward appearance. At the same time, I have learned that healing is possible. With support, honest conversations, and patience, a person can slowly rebuild a sense of safety and balance. Writing about PTSD matters to me because it helps give a voice to something many people carry silently. I believe that the more openly we talk about PTSD, the more understanding, compassion, and hope we can create for others.

I chose to write about PTSD because it is personal to me. It is not just a topic I know about academically, but something I connect to on a human and emotional level. I wanted to write about it because many people do not fully understand how deeply PTSD can affect daily life, emotions, and relationships. By writing about this topic, I hope to bring more awareness, honesty, and empathy to the conversation around mental health.

References

Bryngeirsdottir, H. S., & Halldorsdottir, S. (2022). The challenging journey from trauma to post‐traumatic growth: Lived experiences of facilitating and hindering factors. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 36(3), 752-768. https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.13037

Davis, L. L., Urganus, A., Gagnon-Sanschagrin, P., Maitland, J., Bedard, J., Bellefleur, R., … & Aggarwal, J. (2024). Patient journey of civilian adults diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder—a chart review study. Current Medical Research and Opinion, 40(3), 505-516. https://doi.org/10.1080/03007995.2024.2308016

Powling, R., Brown, D., Tekin, S., & Billings, J. (2024). Partners’ experiences of their loved ones’ trauma and PTSD: An ongoing journey of loss and gain. PLOS One, 19(2), e0292315. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292315

Smith, J. R., Drouillard, K. J., Foster, A. M., & Smith, J. (2024). Exploring care and recovery for individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder: a scoping review. Cureus, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.53741

Yehuda, R., Hoge, C. W., McFarlane, A. C., Vermetten, E., Lanius, R. A., Nievergelt, C. M., Hobfoll, S. E., Koenen, K. C., Neylan, T. C., & Hyman, S. E. (2015). Post-traumatic stress disorder. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 1, 15057. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2015.57

Author Bio

Matias Nayblat is an actor, filmmaker, and creator with a strong interest in mental health, personal growth, and storytelling. Through his work and life experience, he explores human resilience, trauma, and healing with honesty and compassion. His perspective is shaped by both artistic expression and personal insight, which inspire him to write about topics that can create awareness, empathy, and meaningful conversation.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Navigating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder through Self-Trust

Introduction

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is often framed as a failure of attention. The issue isn’t a lack of ability. It’s variability. An ADHD brain is not broken. It’s sometimes inconsistent. Brilliant one moment, unavailable the next. Like a high-performance engine that occasionally refuses to start unless conditions are exactly right.

That unpredictability doesn’t just affect output. Over time, it affects something more subtle and more important: Trust in your own system. If productivity were purely about intelligence or effort, ADHD wouldn’t be an issue. Most people with ADHD know exactly what needs to be done. The problem is that knowing and doing are not reliably connected.

It’s less like having no fuel, and more like having a fuel line that occasionally disconnects. Sometimes everything flows. Sometimes nothing does. And frustratingly, willpower alone doesn’t fix the circuit.

Motivation doesn’t follow importance. However, it doesn’t reliably follow interest either. It’s inconsistent and often depends on a mix of urgency, pressure, timing, and mental state.

Which is why both extremes transpire. Trivial tasks can suddenly get done with surprising energy, while important ones remain untouched. However, just as often, even small, simple tasks can feel strangely inaccessible, as if the brain refuses to engage.

Over time, this creates a quiet but persistent friction. Not a dramatic failure. Just a series of small inconsistencies that slowly erode confidence.

When Inconsistency Starts to Affect Self-Trust

One of the consequences of ADHD is the gradual loss of self-trust. If outcomes are inconsistent, it becomes harder to rely on them. Plans feel tentative. Commitments feel less solid, even when intentions are genuine. This isn’t a failure of character. It’s a predictable response to unpredictable output.

Research shows that adults with ADHD are more likely to experience depression. Not simply because of brain chemistry, but because repeated inconsistency reshapes how someone sees themselves. If effort doesn’t consistently lead to results, it becomes tempting to assume the issue is personal.

Rejection Sensitivity Makes It Heavier Than It Needs to Be

On top of that, there is rejection sensitivity. It’s not that feedback is misunderstood. It’s because it lands harder. A short reply, a change in tone, or a neutral comment can feel more significant than it objectively is. Not because the situation is extreme, but because the internal response is amplified.

So the brain tries to make sense of it by:  

  • Replaying conversations.
  • Reading between the lines.
  • Adjusting behavior to avoid it next time.

Individually, these moments seem small. Together, they add weight. When that combines with the already shaky self-trust, things can start to feel heavier than they actually are.

Working with the System Instead of Against It

The instinct is often to try harder. Be more disciplined. Be more consistent. Nonetheless, ADHD doesn’t respond well to force. It’s tempting to see that as a disadvantage. However, that view is incomplete.

The same brain that struggles with routine often excels at pattern recognition, creative thinking, and deep focus when something is engaging. It’s not a slow brain. It’s a selective one. Give it the right conditions, and it performs exceptionally. Give it the wrong ones, and it resists. That’s not failure. That’s specificity.

So the solution is not to push harder, but to reduce friction. That can look like:  

  • Breaking tasks down until they feel almost too small.
  • Externalizing structure instead of relying on memory.
  • Accepting that energy fluctuates and working around it.
  • Designing environments that make starting easier.

It’s less about fixing the person and more about understanding the conditions under which they function best. A system that appears unreliable in one environment can be highly effective in another.

Conclusion

ADHD is not a lack of attention. It’s the difference in how attention, motivation, and emotion are regulated. It doesn’t mean things can’t be done. It means they don’t happen consistently or predictably. That inconsistency is often mistaken for a lack of discipline. In reality, it’s a mismatch between how the brain works and what is expected from it. Once that becomes clear, the focus shifts.

Instead of trying to force consistency, it becomes more useful to build systems that work with fluctuations. Instead of blaming effort, it becomes about reducing friction. Instead of questioning ability, it becomes about understanding conditions. That shift is practical. The shift replaces self-doubt with something more useful, such as a clearer sense of what works, what doesn’t, and why. That’s where things start to become more manageable.

I chose to write about this topic because ADHD is often explained in overly simple terms, while its real impact lies in nuance. The variability, the emotional intensity, and the effect on self-trust are less visible but more defining. By reframing ADHD as a difference in regulation rather than a deficit, it becomes easier to understand and work with, instead of constantly working against it.

References

Barkley, R. A. (2015). Emotional dysregulation is a core component of ADHD. In R. A. Barkley (Ed.), Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A handbook for diagnosis and treatment (4th ed., pp. 81–115). The Guilford Press. ​https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-57877-003

Faraone, S. V., Biederman, J., & Mick, E. (2006). The age-dependent decline of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A meta-analysis of follow-up studies. Psychological Medicine, 36(2), 159–165. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003329170500471X

Girard-Joyal, O., & Gauthier, B. (2022). Creativity in the predominantly inattentive and combined presentations of ADHD in adults. Journal of Attention Disorders, 26(9), 1187–1198. https://doi.org/10.1177/10870547211060547

Martel M. M. (2009). Research review: A new perspective on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Emotion dysregulation and trait models. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 50(9), 1042–1051. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02105.x

Moukhtarian, T. R., Mintah, R. S., Moran, P., & Asherson, P. (2018). Emotion dysregulation in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and borderline personality disorder. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, 5, 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-018-0086-8

Riglin, L., Leppert, B., Dardani, C., Thapar, A. K., Rice, F., O’Donovan, M. C., Davey Smith, G., Stergiakouli, E., Tilling, K., & Thapar, A. (2021). ADHD and depression: Investigating a causal explanation. Psychological Medicine, 51(11), 1890–1897. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720000665

Shaw, P., Stringaris, A., Nigg, J., & Leibenluft, E. (2014). Emotion dysregulation in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 171(3), 276–293. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.13070966

Author Bio

Marie Duthoo is a marketing and communications professional. She is particularly interested in how ADHD influences productivity, emotional regulation, and decision-making. Her work focuses on making complex topics clearer, more practical, and more human.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Passionate about Mental Health

Introduction

Over the years, I’ve come to understand that mental wellbeing isn’t just an individual concern, it’s a collective responsibility. Through both personal experience and professional practice, I’ve seen how conversations about mental health can empower people to take charge of their lives and build stronger, more compassionate communities.

As a Pilates teacher and a former professional ballet dancer, movement has always been central to my life. I’ve learned that the body and mind are deeply connected; when we move with intention, we calm the nervous system, release tension, and create space for emotional healing. Many of my clients come to Pilates seeking physical strength but often leave feeling mentally lighter and more grounded. That transformation is what inspires me every day.

Before teaching Pilates, I spent years thriving in a fast-paced corporate environment. The demands of that world required clarity, focus, and strong mental health hygiene, skills I only fully appreciated after transitioning into wellness. That experience helped me recognize how vital it is for professionals to prioritize mental health, even in environments that don’t always encourage it.

I believe that advocacy and accessibility are two of the most important aspects of improving mental health care. Stigma continues to prevent many people from seeking help, but the conversation is changing. More individuals and organizations are beginning to recognize that mental health is just as important as physical health. As an advocate, I feel driven to continue that momentum, whether by writing, teaching, or simply encouraging open dialogue among peers and clients.

Ultimately, mental wellness is about connection, between mind and body, between people, and between our inner strengths and outer worlds. By continuing to educate, share, and advocate for awareness, I hope to be part of the ongoing effort to create a culture where caring for mental health is seen not as optional, but essential.

Prioritizing Mental Health: Why Advocacy and Awareness Matter

As a single mother of two young children and a former professional ballet dancer in New York City. Mental health is something I value deeply; both personally and through her work as a Pilates teacher. I have seen how movement can be a powerful tool for managing stress, building confidence, and finding balance in everyday life. Before teaching Pilates, I spent years in a demanding corporate environment that required focus, resilience, and mental clarity. Those experiences, combined with my background in dance and motherhood, gives me a unique perspective on what it means to nurture both body and mind.

Corporate Worker Turned Pilates and Mental Health Advocate

Mental health care is evolving. While traditional approaches such as psychotherapy and medication remain essential, more people are discovering the value of alternative therapies, holistic practices that nurture both mental and physical wellbeing. From movement-based disciplines like yoga and Pilates to emerging forms of mindfulness and creative expression, these treatments offer complementary ways to manage stress, anxiety, and depression.

Recent studies emphasize that combating mental illness requires reducing stigma and expanding treatment options across social and cultural contexts. Holistic interventions, especially those rooted in community and self-agency, can play a major role in this shift. Rajabi (2024) found that multi-stakeholder strategies, including family and workplace-based mental health initiatives, produce measurable improvement in attitudes and access to care.

Similarly, building awareness among clinicians about implicit biases and stigma enhances treatment engagement and patient outcomes, especially for those in vulnerable populations such as individuals with eating disorders.

This growing body of evidence underscores how integrating alternative therapies within mainstream care can personalize and strengthen the healing process.

As someone who has spent years teaching Pilates and working with clients managing stress, trauma, and burnout, I’ve witnessed how mindful movement restores balance not just to the body but to the nervous system. The rhythmic, intentional focus on breath and motion cultivates self-awareness which is a foundational skill for emotional regulation. It’s a prime example of how physical practice can be used as psychological support.

The future of mental health care lies in choice, recognizing that healing is not one-size-fits-all. Alternative therapies complement conventional treatments by empowering individuals to engage their bodies, creativity, and environment in the process of recovery. As global awareness grows and stigma continues to decline, these integrative approaches will likely become a core part of how we define mental wellness.

Alternative Mental Health Therapies

Besides traditional talk therapies, I’m also interested in the emergence of alternative plant based therapies and even psychedelic tools to facilitate breakthroughs. I find it so interesting that the stigma of mental health has changed within the past few years and interested in how legislation is lagging with keeping up with the continuous breakthroughs. 

Alternative mental health therapies emphasize whole-person wellness, addressing not just emotional symptoms but the connections between body, mind, and environment. This shift reflects a cultural transformation where people are increasingly willing to experiment with integrative methods, especially as stigma continues to fade and conversations about mental health become more open and inclusive.

Evidence-backed methods such as mindfulness, movement therapy, and creative expression are helping people find balance in everyday life. Yoga and Pilates build emotional resilience through physical awareness, while music and art therapies create safe outlets for self-expression. Nature-based practices like ecotherapy encourage reconnection to the environment, which has been shown to reduce stress and depression.

Besides traditional talk therapies, there’s growing interest in alternative, plant-based therapies, including approaches involving psilocybin (mushrooms), MDMA-assisted therapy, and ayahuasca. Early clinical trials suggest these substances, when administered in controlled therapeutic settings, can help individuals process trauma, anxiety, and treatment-resistant depression. This growing body of research is fascinating not only for its potential to transform mental health care but also for how it challenges long-standing stigmas around both mental illness and “drug” culture.

What’s especially interesting is how the stigma around mental health has changed in recent years, while legislation and regulation still struggle to keep pace with new discoveries. States across the U.S. and countries around the world are exploring frameworks for decriminalization and therapeutic use, but progress remains uneven. This creates an exciting tension between innovation and policy, between what is scientifically promising and what is socially accepted.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the stigma surrounding mental health is evolving as society becomes more open to discussing psychological wellbeing and recognizing its importance. However, progress must continue, everyone deserves equal access to a wide range of effective treatments, resources, and support systems. By promoting understanding, increasing accessibility, and breaking down outdated stereotypes, we can create a culture where seeking help for mental health is viewed as a sign of strength rather than shame.

I chose to write about the stigma surrounding mental health because it’s an issue that affects so many people, yet it’s often misunderstood or ignored. Mental health challenges are a normal part of life, but the fear of judgment prevents many individuals from seeking help or talking openly about what they’re going through. By exploring this topic, I want to encourage more empathy, awareness, and honest conversations about mental health so that people feel supported rather than ashamed.

References

Habeb, M., Ciobanu, A. M., Al-Ani, M., & Mottershead, R. (2025). Stigma in mental health: The status and future direction. Cureus, 17(6), e85398. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.85398

Kågström, A., Guerrero, Z., Aliev, A. A., Tomášková, H., Rüsch, N., Ouali, U., Thornicroft, G., Sartorius, N., & Winkler, P. (2025). Mental health stigma and its consequences: A systematic scoping review of pathways to discrimination and adverse outcomes. EClinicalMedicine, 89, 103588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103588

DeAngelis, T. (2025, September 1). Beliefs about mental health have evolved, but stigma remains. Monitor on Psychology, 56(6), 11. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2025/09/mental-health-stigma

Patel, V., Saxena, S., Lund, C., Thornicroft, G., Baingana, F., Bolton, P., & UnÜtzer, J. (2018). The Lancet Commission on global mental health and sustainable development. The Lancet, 392(10157), 1553–1598. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(18)31612-x

Corrigan, P. W., & Watson, A. C. (2002). Understanding the impact of stigma on people with mental illness. World Psychiatry, 1(1), 16–20. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1489832/

Author Bio

Jessica Bacon is a passionate advocate for mental health awareness and education. With a deep interest in the social factors that shape well-being, she writes to challenge the stigma surrounding mental illness and promote greater understanding of mental health care. Through research and storytelling, Jessica aims to encourage open conversations about emotional wellness and inspire others to seek support without fear of judgment.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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An Introvert’s Guide to Emotional Intelligence

Introduction

When I was a teenager, I really found it difficult to control my feelings, especially because I was highly introverted, but also an older sibling, and my parents weren’t exactly easy on me about my school grades and the way I led my life in general: When I got up, when I went to bed, how I ate.

It was difficult for me to handle frustration when I wasn’t perfect, and I didn’t feel appreciated enough by my family. All of these usually ended in me crying for hours, yelling at my family, and isolating myself.

You Can’t Avoid Emotions

My mom was wise enough to send me to therapy when I was 15 years old, and I’ll always be grateful for that. But the first thing I learned was that emotions are normal reactions to the environment, and that they weren’t wrong in themselves.

You Can Control Your Emotions

I remember there was one thing that always triggered my anxiety, and it was getting lost looking for a place in my city. The therapist gently guided me to rationalize those episodes. Instead of getting desperate, I asked myself, “What could I practically do to get out of that situation?” If I took the situations objectively, they were way smaller than I thought.

I Can Be Emotionally Intelligent

In therapy, I understood that my emotions don’t necessarily control me, but also that they can move me towards improvement, such as generating new skills, like understanding directions in the city, but I also discovered my positive emotions and how to use them to make my life easier. I acknowledged the joy I got from learning new things at school, and school became enjoyable.

Conclusion

I still remember my school years and my therapy fondly because I chose it to be that way. The discovery of emotional intelligence has enlightened my relationships to the point where I feel I have a good marriage because I’m very aware of not following my impulses and bringing the situations down to Earth, and my spouse shares these practices with me.

I chose to write about this topic because it’s dear to my heart, but also because it’s relevant in this day and age when people prefer to follow their emotions to the extreme, and that’s one of the reasons I think mental health is going down among young people.

References

Glassie, S. L., & Schutte, N. S. (2024). The relationship between emotional intelligence and optimism: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Psychology, 59(3), 353–367. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.13108

Rehman, R., Tariq, S., & Tariq, S. (2021). Emotional intelligence and academic performance of students. The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 71(12), 2777–2781. https://doi.org/10.47391/JPMA.1779

White, B. A. A., & Quinn, J. F. (2023). Personal growth and emotional intelligence: Foundational skills for the leader. Clinics in Sports Medicine, 42(2), 261–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csm.2022.11.008

Zhang, Y., & Chen, J. K. (2023). Emotional intelligence and school bullying victimization in children and youth students: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(6), 4746. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20064746  

Zhou, Z., Tavan, H., Kavarizadeh, F., Sarokhani, M., & Sayehmiri, K. (2024). The relationship between emotional intelligence, spiritual intelligence, and student achievement: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Medical Education, 24(1), 217. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05208-5

Author Bio

Laura Ceballos Flórez is a Colombian musician with experience as an ESL instructor to college students and professionals. In her classes, she includes topics such as leadership and soft skills in the business space, with her unique approach as an artist. She also performs Early Music here and there and has a YouTube channel.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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The Quiet Collapse: Living with High-Functioning Anxiety While the World Sees You Smiling

Introduction

On paper, I was thriving. I had a steady job, a small but loyal circle of friends, and a habit of showing up early to everything. I answered emails within minutes, remembered birthdays, and never canceled plans. People called me “reliable,” “calm,” and “together.” What they didn’t see was the two hours of spiraling the night before a casual coffee meetup. They didn’t hear the silent loop playing in my head: You’re not enough. They’ll find out. Say the right thing. Smile. High-functioning anxiety is not a diagnosis in the DSM-5, but it is a lived reality for millions: A quiet collapse happening inside a fully operational exterior. This article is my attempt to name that experience, not to pathologize it, but to let others who feel it know they are not broken. They are not alone. And smiling is not the same as being okay.

High-functioning anxiety exists in the gap between appearance and reality. Outwardly, it fuels achievement: The over-prepared presentation, the meticulously clean apartment, the early arrival. Inwardly, it runs on a fuel of fear: Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of being seen as lazy or incompetent. For years, I thought my anxiety was my ambition. I didn’t realize that ambition driven by terror is not sustainable. The body keeps score. Migraines, insomnia, a low-grade dread every Sunday afternoon, these were not quirks. They were messages. Writing this piece required me to stop interpreting anxiety as a useful engine and start seeing it as a signal that something beneath the surface needed care.

The Performance of “Fine”

I learned to perform “fine” before I learned to identify a panic attack. In high school, I would rewrite a single paragraph five times, not because it was wrong, but because my chest felt tight until I made it perfect. In college, I never missed a deadline, but I also never slept through the night without waking at 3 AM, heart racing over an imaginary email I might have forgotten to send. The performance is exhausting because it is constant. There is no off stage. When a colleague says, “You’re so on top of things,” they mean it as a compliment. But to someone with high-functioning anxiety, that praise feels like a trap: Now I have to keep being this person forever. The most isolating part is that no one believes you when you say you’re struggling. “But you’re so successful,” they say. “You handle everything so well.” And so you learn to stop asking for help, because asking feels like admitting you are a fraud.

When Your Body Forces You to Stop

The collapse did not come as a breakdown. It came as a shingles outbreak at age 28. Then came the digestive issues, the tension headaches that lasted three days, and the moment I stared at a grocery store shelf for twenty minutes because I could not decide which brand of rice to buy. My doctor ran tests. Everything came back normal. “Have you been under a lot of stress?” she asked. I almost laughed. Stress was my baseline. That was the wake-up call: high-functioning anxiety is still anxiety. It still activates the sympathetic nervous system. It still raises cortisol. The only difference is that you keep moving while your body quietly wears down. Learning to listen to physical symptoms, i.e., fatigue, muscle tension, and changes in appetite, became my first real step toward recovery. The body does not lie, even when the smile does.

Unlearning the Addiction to Overfunctioning

Recovery, for me, has not meant removing anxiety completely. It has meant changing my relationship to it. I started small: leaving one email unanswered until morning. Saying “I need to think about that” instead of “Yes, I’ll do it.” Sitting in silence for two minutes without a screen or a task. At first, the stillness felt like danger. My mind screamed, You’re being lazy. You’re falling behind. But over weeks and months, the screaming softened. I learned that my worth is not a productivity report. I learned that rest is not a reward, it is a requirement. I also started therapy, specifically cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), to untangle the belief that anxiety equals caring. Caring does not require suffering. You can be a good friend, a good employee, a good human without running on empty. Letting go of overfunctioning felt like failure at first. Now I see it as the bravest thing I have ever done.

Conclusion

High-functioning anxiety is deceptive because it wears a mask of competence, but competence without peace is not health. It is endurance. If you read this and recognize yourself, please know that you do not need to hit rock bottom to ask for help. You do not need to stop functioning to deserve care. Start with one small truth: tell one person, “I’m actually not okay today.” Write down what your body feels instead of what you think you should feel. And if you can, find a therapist who understands anxiety. You are not your productivity. You are not your performance. You are a person, and you are allowed to be tired. The quiet collapse does not have to be permanent. Recovery is possible. It starts when you stop performing “fine” and start being honest — with yourself first.

I chose to write about high-functioning anxiety because it is the most misunderstood form of mental distress I have personally experienced. For years, I dismissed my own suffering because I was still “successful.” I thought anxiety was only valid if it disabled me. That belief kept me silent and untreated for over a decade. I also see this pattern constantly in high-achieving environments such as academia, tech, healthcare, and creative industries, where burnout is normalized, and vulnerability is mistaken for weakness. Writing this piece is my way of giving language to an invisible experience. If even one person reads this and says, “That’s me,” and then reaches out for help, the vulnerability of sharing this story will have been worth it.

References

Cuijpers, P., Cristea, I. A., Karyotaki, E., Reijnders, M., & Huibers, M. J. H. (2019). How effective are cognitive behavior therapies for major depression and anxiety disorders? A meta-analytic update. World Psychiatry, 15, 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20346

Hofmann, S. G., & Gómez, A. F. (2017). Mindfulness-based interventions for anxiety and depression. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 40(4), 739–749. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psc.2017.08.008

Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R.L., Williams, J.B., Monahan, P.O., & Lwe, B. (2007). Anxiety disorders in primary care: Prevalence, impairment, comorbidity, and detection. Annals of Internal Medicine, 146, 317-325. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-146-5-200703060-00004

McEwen, B. S. (2017). Neurobiological and systemic effects of chronic stress. Chronic Stress, 1, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/2470547017692328

Otten, D., Tibubos, A. N., Schomerus, G., Brähler, E., Binder, H., Kruse, J., Ladwig, K. H., Wild, P. S., Grabe, H. J., & Beutel, M. E. (2021). Similarities and differences of mental health in women and men: A systematic review of findings in three large German cohorts. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 553071. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.553071

Author Bio

Daniel Friedman is a mental health advocate and freelance writer focused on the intersection of emotional well-being and everyday resilience. His work draws from lived experience with high-functioning anxiety and a commitment to reducing stigma around invisible mental health conditions. He believes that honest storytelling is a form of care. Daniel lives and writes remotely, always learning how to rest without guilt.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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The Emotional Exhaustion of Always Being Strong

Introduction

I think about health a lot, and one thing that really affects me is feeling completely drained from always trying to be strong. A lot of people seem responsible and capable, so others think they are doing fine, but after a while, it starts to feel like a weight is on them. They get used to keeping everything going, fixing problems, and helping others, even when they feel like they are falling apart inside. The hard part is that people often say things about being strong, but they do not understand what it means to be vulnerable. So a lot of people suffer in silence, not because they do not have feelings, but because they think they have no room to talk about them. Mental health is important, and emotional exhaustion is a part of it. I think people need to know that it is okay to not be strong all the time and that mental health topics, like emotional exhaustion, need to be discussed more.

Being the one can get really tiring. At first, it looks like you’re really mature, disciplined, and strong. You show up, handle stuff, and keep going. Over time, always being that person can make you feel alone. People come to you for help. They rarely ask how you’re really doing.

This can make you hide your feelings. You stop sharing your struggles because you don’t want to worry others or seem weak.

The thing is, hiding your pain doesn’t make it go away. It can turn into anxiety, make you short-tempered, exhaust you, or make you feel disconnected. Sometimes the strongest people feel the loneliest. They’ve learned to survive, not to show themselves.

I think mental health means being okay with being human. Being strong doesn’t mean being silent. Real strength is knowing when to take a break, ask for help, and say something hurts. Being honest, resting, and expressing your feelings is not weak. It’s healing. When people feel safe to drop the “act they start to reconnect with themselves in a healthier way.

The Loneliness behind Being “The Strong One”

Being the one can be really tough on you after a while. At first, it seems like a thing. You are handling things and getting stuff done. You show up. Keep going no matter what. After some time, it can start to feel very lonely.

People look up to you. They want you to help them or give them advice. They do not usually ask how you are doing. You are the one they depend on. You have to deal with your own problems by yourself. This means you have to hide how you feel so you can still seem strong.

This can go on for a time, and it can make you feel like you are not connected to other people or even to yourself. You might feel like nobody really sees you or understands you. You could feel very tired and sad, even if everything looks okay on the outside. Being the one is not always easy, and it can be very hard on you.

When Strength Becomes Emotional Silence

Over time, being strong all the time can become a habit where you stop talking about your feelings. You do this because you think there is no room for your emotions, not because you do not feel anything anymore. You want to be someone people can count on, so you stay calm and in charge even when you are really struggling inside.

This can create a difference between how you act and what you are really going through. The more you ignore what you need, the harder it gets to know what that is. You might start to feel empty, like you are not really connected to anything, like you are just going through the motions on the outside but feeling nothing on the inside.

It is really important to see that this is happening. When you realize that it is okay to feel things, to talk about them, and to ask for help, that does not mean you are not strong anymore. It means that you are more aware of yourself and better at taking care of your needs. Your emotional needs are important. You should pay attention to them. Recognizing your needs and emotional silence is a big step towards being more balanced and self-aware, and that is what emotional resilience and your emotional needs are all about.

Redefining Strength through Vulnerability

True strength is not about carrying everything by yourself. It’s about knowing when to be open and honest with yourself and others. Being vulnerable helps you connect with others on a deeper level and feel better emotionally. It makes room for people to understand you, support you, and help you heal.

You can start being more vulnerable with certain key steps. For example, you can share your thoughts with someone you trust. You can also set boundaries to protect your feelings. You can just allow yourself to take a break and rest. These honest moments help you get back in touch with your emotions. They also help you stop feeling like you always need to be strong.

Redefining what it means to be strong involves understanding that being means being soft, kind to yourself, and brave enough to be yourself. It means having the courage to let people see the real you.

Conclusion

Being strong doesn’t mean you have to suffer. Resilience is good. Not if it hurts your feelings. It’s okay to feel and say how you feel and ask for help. That’s what humans do.

When we mix being strong with being open, we get along better with ourselves and others. Then we’re not just getting by. We’re living with honest talk, real friends, and peace inside.

I picked this topic to write about because I have been through it myself. There have been times in my life when I had to be the one. I was always trying to take care of everything and everyone. I did not want to show that I was struggling.

I learned that being the one all the time is really tough on my emotions. It is easy to forget about my feelings when I am trying to be strong for everyone else. Over time, I started to understand how bad it is for my mental health to suppress my emotions.

This experience taught me a lot about how important it is to be vulnerable and to understand my own emotions. I think it is crucial to express my feelings in a way. I wanted to write about this topic also because I think many people are going through the same thing as I am. Emotional suppression and mental wellbeing are topics that I care deeply about. I believe that talking about these topics, in a kind and honest way, can really help people.

References

Aldao, A., Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Schweizer, S. (2010). Emotion-regulation strategies across psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(2), 217–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2009.11.004

Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348

Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Understanding the burnout experience: Recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psychiatry, 15(2), 103–111. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20311

Neff, K. D. (2003). Self-compassion: An alternative conceptualization of a healthy attitude toward oneself. Self and Identity, 2(2), 85–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298860309032

Sharma, M., & Rush, S. E. (2014). Mindfulness-based stress reduction as a stress management intervention: A systematic review. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 19(4), 271–286. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156587214543143

Author Bio

María José is a multilingual professional with a background in business administration, operations, and content creation. She has a strong interest in psychology and mental wellbeing, supported by her studies in psychology and psychological emergency response. Her work combines organizational skills, communication, and a passion for understanding human behavior. María José is particularly interested in topics related to emotional resilience, personal development, and mental health awareness. Through her writing, she aims to create meaningful, relatable content that encourages reflection, emotional understanding, and personal growth.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Mitochondria: How Your Psychology Influences Your Cellular Language

Introduction

Mitochondria, the organelle that many of us were taught as the “energy machine” or “powerhouse” of the cell back in school days, are now known to also influence signaling and stress responses. Newly emerging evidence shows that cellular processes involving mitochondria are sensitive to psychosocial factors that shape our external world and, as we now understand, affect our internal environment as well. The same mechanisms that protect us from danger can become harmful over time when consistently active. Just as we get feedback from our boss at work, mitochondria also give feedback based on our environment.

The biological pathways in our bodies translate psychosocial experiences (such as chronic stress, trauma, depression, anxiety, or social connections) into observable cellular and molecular changes. In simpler terms, this means that our bodies convert these experiences into physiological changes. Cells making up our bodies are adaptive and can display emotion-like responses and decision-oriented behavioral patterns when exposed to a stressor. This is sometimes referred to as “cell psychology.”

Researchers are now discovering that mitochondria, beyond being the “powerhouse” of our cells, are also responsible for cellular signaling and stress adaptation (Fagundes, Wu-Chung, & Heijnen, 2025), with these processes directly affecting mitochondrial function. Mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA) is a critical marker used to evaluate mitochondrial health. In response to external stimuli (such as physical endurance training or stress), mitochondrial biogenesis is activated when needed. This number can be measured through saliva or blood, making it a practical biomarker for behavioral analysis.

A recent study done in 2023 demonstrated that mitochondrial function directly impacts cognitive performance (memory formation, pattern recognition, etc.) as well as physical function (San-Millán, 2023). Since mitochondria are responsible for energy production within cells in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), measuring ATP output allows us to directly quantify cellular energy availability.

Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) are byproducts of mitochondrial metabolism, with excess amounts indicating oxidative stress. This is what we take antioxidants for! Elevated ROS levels are directly associated with aging processes and neurodegenerative diseases, serving as strong indicators of cellular damage. Understanding these mechanisms opens new avenues for research in cellular aging and regenerative therapies (ScienceDirect, 2026).

Mitochondria as “Sensors”

Mitochondria do more than generate energy. They act as environmental sensors of the body, based on the internal and external stimuli. Chronic psychological stress can influence mitochondrial function, including ATP production efficiency and mtDNA copy number. These changes reflect adaptive responses to environmental demands.

For example, when faced with persistent stress, mitochondria may initially increase energy output to meet physiological demands. Over time, however, chronic activation can lead to dysfunction, contributing to fatigue, cognitive challenges, or altered mood. This illustrates how mitochondria translate psychological experiences into measurable biological responses. 

Implications of Mitochondrial Health

Mitochondrial function plays a central role in both cognition and physical performance. ATP generated by mitochondria fuels neural signaling, memory formation, pattern recognition, and overall physical endurance.

When mitochondrial function is optimal, it supports brain processes and bodily functions. Conversely, impaired mitochondrial activity contributes to fatigue, brain fog, and diminished cognitive and/or physical capacity. This demonstrates a direct link between mental states, mitochondrial efficiency, and overall health (San-Millán, 2023).

Oxidative Stress and Cellular Aging

Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) are byproducts of mitochondrial metabolism. Under normal conditions, they serve important signaling roles. However, excess ROS leads to oxidative stress, which damages DNA, proteins, and lipids. Elevated ROS levels are directly associated with aging, neurodegenerative diseases, and chronic stress. This is what we take antioxidants for! Antioxidants help neutralize these species while maintaining mitochondrial balance. Chronic psychological stress can increase ROS production, linking mental health directly to cellular damage and accelerated aging processes. Understanding this opens new avenues for regenerative medicine and interventions to support both cellular and psychological wellbeing.

Conclusion

Mitochondria are more than just energy producers. They are also dynamic regulators of cellular communication, stress adaptation, and overall physiological balance. Psychological experiences, from stress and trauma to social experiences, can influence mitochondrial function significantly. Eventually, this translates into measurable changes at the cellular level. Understanding this connection encourages a perspective in which mental health and cellular biology are deeply intertwined. Healing and wellbeing can be supported not only through psychological interventions but also by considering their impact on cellular and mitochondrial health.

I am a cellular and molecular biologist, and this topic is directly an area of my interest based on my studies. My background allows me to interpret mental health through a biological lens. Instead of viewing psychological states as abstract experiences, I see them as patterns of cellular signaling and adaptation. 

References

Dantzer, R., O’Connor, J. C., Freund, G. G., Johnson, R. W., & Kelley, K. W. (2008). From inflammation to sickness and depression: When the immune system subjugates the brain. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9(1), 46–56. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2297

Fagundes, C. P., Wu-Chung, E. L., & Heijnen, C. J. (2025). Psychological science at the cellular level: Mitochondria’s role in health and behavior. Current Directions in Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214251380214

Picard, M., & McEwen, B. S. (2018). Psychological stress and mitochondria: A conceptual framework. Psychosomatic Medicine, 80(2), 126–140. https://doi.org/10.1097/psy.0000000000000544

San-Millán, I. (2023). The key role of mitochondrial function in health and disease. Antioxidants, 12(4), 782. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox12040782

Wu-Chung, E. L., Medina, L. D., Paoletti-Hatcher, J., Lai, V. B., Stinson, J. M., Mahant, I., Schulz, P. E., Heijnen, C. J., & Fagundes, C. P. (2024). Mitochondrial health, physical functioning, and daily affect: Bioenergetic mechanisms of dementia caregiver wellbeing. Psychosomatic Medicine, 86(6), 512–522. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000001312

Author Bio

Pelin Ceyrekbasioglu is a molecular biology scientist with a strong focus on cellular signaling and the intersection between physiology and mental health. Her work centers on translating complex biological processes into a bridge between scientific understanding and real-life human experiences. Her areas of expertise are particularly in mitochondrial biology, stress adaptation, and systems-level regulation. Through her writing, she aims to make science relatable, easy to understand, and meaningful for everyday life.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Why So Many People Feel Guilty When They Rest?

Introduction

Rest should feel natural, yet for many people it feels uncomfortable. Even after a long day, a full week, or an emotionally draining period, stopping can bring guilt instead of relief. People sit down to rest and almost immediately feel the urge to justify it. They check their phone, think about unfinished tasks, or tell themselves they should be doing something more useful.

This feeling is more common than we admit. In many cultures, productivity is treated as proof of worth. Being busy looks responsible. Slowing down can look lazy, weak, or unmotivated, even when rest is exactly what the mind and body need. Over time, this pressure shapes not only our schedules but also our inner voice.

Learning to rest without guilt is not about avoiding responsibility. It is about understanding that recovery is part of a healthy life. Mental wellbeing is shaped not only by how much we can do, but also by how well we allow ourselves to pause.

One reason rest feels difficult is that many people have learned to connect self-worth with output. From school to work, praise often goes to those who do more, respond faster, and keep going under pressure. This can create the belief that being valuable means always being available. In that mindset, rest begins to feel like a delay in achievement rather than a necessary part of balance.

Another reason is that modern life rarely offers true mental space. Even when work ends, attention remains active. Messages continue, notifications appear, and unfinished thoughts follow people into the evening. The body may stop moving, but the mind remains alert. This can create a strange experience in which a person is technically resting but never fully recovering.

There is also an emotional side to guilt around rest. When people finally slow down, they often come into contact with feelings that busyness helped them avoid. Fatigue, sadness, disappointment, and anxiety can become more noticeable in silence. Constant activity can sometimes function as a shield. Rest removes that shield and asks a person to be present with themselves. That is not always easy.

Healthy rest is not laziness. It is maintenance. Just as muscles need recovery after strain, the mind also needs periods of lower demand. Without rest, concentration weakens, patience shortens, and emotional resilience decreases. People may continue functioning outwardly, yet feel inwardly flat, reactive, or detached. In that sense, rest is not the opposite of productivity. It supports sustainable productivity.

Changing the relationship with rest often begins with language. Instead of asking, “Have I earned a break?”, it can help to ask, “What do I need in order to function well tomorrow?” This shift moves rest away from reward and toward responsibility. A rested person is more present, more thoughtful, and more capable of responding well to life.

Small changes also matter. Rest does not always need to be dramatic or perfectly planned. It can begin with ten quiet minutes, a walk without a phone, an evening without pressure to optimize every hour, or permission to stop when the day has already been heavy enough. These moments teach the nervous system that safety is not found only in action, but also in pause.

In the long term, learning to rest without guilt is part of learning to live with greater self-respect. It means recognizing that being human includes limits. A person does not become healthier by ignoring exhaustion. They become healthier by responding to it with honesty and care. Rest is not a sign that someone has failed to keep up. Often, it is the sign that they are finally listening.

Why Rest Often Feels Undeserved

For many people, rest does not feel natural. It feels like something that must be earned. Even after a demanding day, there is often a quiet sense of guilt that appears the moment activity stops. Instead of feeling relief, people begin thinking about what they still have not done, what others might expect from them, or whether they are being lazy. This reaction is not always about the present moment. It is often shaped by years of messages that connect worth with productivity.

From an early age, many people learn to value themselves through output. Praise is often linked to achievement, discipline, and constant effort. Over time, rest can begin to feel like the opposite of value. It is no longer seen as part of health, but as a pause in usefulness. When this belief becomes internal, even necessary recovery can feel uncomfortable. This is one reason so many people remain mentally active while trying to rest. The body may stop, but the mind continues measuring, comparing, and evaluating. Instead of recovery, there is tension. Instead of calm, there is self-monitoring. Understanding this pattern is important because guilt around rest is not a small emotional detail. It can shape long-term wellbeing, resilience, and the ability to recover from everyday stress.

How Constant Productivity Affects Mental Wellbeing

When people feel pressure to remain productive at all times, mental wellbeing often begins to suffer in quiet ways. The problem is not only physical tiredness. It is the gradual loss of emotional space. A person may continue completing tasks, meeting expectations, and appearing functional, while internally feeling drained, detached, or constantly tense. This kind of strain is easy to overlook because it often develops slowly.

Constant productivity can also reduce a person’s ability to notice their own needs. When attention is always directed toward what must be done next, there is less room to ask important questions: Am I overwhelmed? Am I emotionally exhausted? Do I need support, rest, or a change in pace? Without this kind of self-awareness, people may remain in stressful patterns long after their energy has been depleted. Over time, this can affect concentration, patience, sleep, and mood. Small difficulties begin to feel heavier. Minor setbacks feel more personal. Emotional resilience becomes weaker, not because the person lacks strength, but because recovery has been missing for too long. In this way, constant productivity does not always create a stronger person. Often, it creates a more depleted one.

Learning to Rest Without Feeling Guilty

Changing the relationship with rest often begins with a simple shift in perspective. Rest does not need to be treated as a reward for finishing everything. In many cases, everything will never feel fully finished. There will always be another message to answer, another task to complete, or another reason to keep going. If rest depends on perfect completion, it will always feel postponed. A healthier view is to see rest as part of responsible self-care rather than an escape from responsibility.

This shift also requires people to notice how they speak to themselves. Many individuals would never tell a tired friend to ignore their exhaustion, yet they speak harshly to themselves when they need a pause. Replacing self-criticism with honesty can make a meaningful difference. Rest is not a personal weakness. It is a response to being human. Bodies tire, minds become overstimulated, and emotional energy has limits. Learning to rest without guilt can start with small, realistic changes. A quiet break, an evening without unnecessary pressure, a short walk, or a few moments without digital stimulation can help rebuild a sense of inner balance. These moments may seem small, but they teach the mind and body that pause is not failure. Over time, this can strengthen emotional resilience and create a more sustainable relationship with work, expectations, and wellbeing.

Conclusion

Guilt around rest is a deeply human experience, especially in environments where constant activity is treated as a sign of value. Yet rest is not something that weakens mental wellbeing. In many cases, it protects it. When people begin to see rest as part of health rather than a break from responsibility, they create more space for balance, recovery, and emotional resilience. Learning to pause without shame is not about doing less with life. It is about caring for the mind in a way that makes life more sustainable.

I chose this topic to write about because it feels close to everyday life, and also because of a conversation with my teenage son that stayed with me. Before exams, especially, he tends to study for hours, keep working on projects without much pause, and push himself even when he is clearly tired. Like a lot of young people, he sometimes slips into the idea that stopping means wasting time, even when his body and mind are already asking for rest.

When we talked about it, I tried to show him that rest is not the opposite of effort. It actually supports it. When we are exhausted or mentally overloaded, we do not work at our best. It becomes harder to focus, harder to remember things, and even small tasks can start to feel much more difficult than they are. Working nonstop may look productive, but often it just means continuing in a drained state.

We also talked about rest in a more practical way. Instead of seeing it as something that interrupts work, I suggested treating it as part of the plan from the beginning. I think that small changes matter. When rest is included intentionally, it stops feeling like lost time and starts to feel like one of the things that helps us work well. That idea stayed with me, and it is one of the main reasons I chose this topic. I think many people, not just students, need to hear this reminder: Rest is not separate from productivity or wellbeing. It is part of both.

References

Caldwell, J. A. (2019). Fatigue and its management in the workplace. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 96, 272–289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.10.024

Härmä, M. (2006). Workhours in relation to work stress, recovery and health. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 32(6), 502–514. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.1055

Karabinski, T., Haun, V. C., Nübold, A., Wendsche, J., & Wegge, J. (2021). Interventions for improving psychological detachment from work: A meta-analysis. Journal of Occupational Health, 63(1), e12228. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000280

Lovato, N., & Lack, L. (2010). The effects of napping on cognitive functioning. Progress in Brain Research, 185, 155–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-444-53702-7.00009-9

Verbeek, J. H., van der Weiden, A., & Hendriksen, I. J. M. (2019). Interventions to enhance recovery in healthy workers: A scoping review. Occupational Medicine, 69(1), 54–63. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqy141

Author Bio

Andrzej Wierzbicki is a non-fiction writer focused on clarity, structure, and thoughtful communication. He writes articles, essays, and long-form content that make complex ideas more accessible to a wider audience. His work often explores wellbeing, responsibility, and the human side of modern life. He is particularly interested in writing that combines reflection, readability, and practical insight.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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How Childhood Experiences and Dynamics Shape Adults

Introduction

The human brain starts developing as early as when the child is a foetus. The feelings a child experiences and the experiences they have in the early years shape them and their personality. It just gets reinforced by the family they are around. It continues to get reinforced so hard that, sometimes, when the family dynamics are not ideal or, more so, traumatic, the child goes on to become an individual they didn’t plan to become. When life or reality hits them, that’s when they realise how far they’ve come and how they didn’t plan all of this, which gives them regret, which gives them hopelessness.

That’s why childhood experiences, as early as the child being a foetus, are super important.

Childhood is where we first learn what love, safety, and acceptance feel like. A child does not question their environment; they absorb it. If they grow up feeling heard and supported, they often carry a sense of confidence into adulthood. But if they grow up around fear, neglect, or constant pressure, those feelings don’t just disappear. They stay, often quietly shaping how the person thinks and reacts later in life. For example, someone who was often criticised as a child may grow up doubting themselves, even when they are doing well. Similarly, a child who had to take on responsibilities too early may struggle to relax or trust others. These patterns become so normal that people don’t always realise where they come from. It is only later, when they face challenges in relationships or work, that they begin to connect their present behaviour with their past experiences.

Emotional Patterns Carry Forward

The way a child learns to deal with emotions often stays with them as they grow up. If a child’s feelings were ignored or brushed aside, they may not really know how to express themselves later in life. They might go quiet during arguments or avoid tough conversations completely. On the other hand, if they were shouted at or punished for showing emotions, they might grow up feeling anxious or overly sensitive. These reactions don’t come out of nowhere; they are things we learn over time. As adults, many people don’t understand why they react the way they do in certain situations. It can feel confusing. But often, these patterns started in childhood. Once people start noticing this, it becomes a little easier to work on it and slowly change.

Relationships Are Deeply Affected

Childhood experiences strongly influence how people form and maintain relationships. A person who grew up feeling secure is more likely to trust others and communicate openly. But someone who experienced inconsistency or hurt may struggle with trust. They might fear abandonment or push people away before getting hurt. Sometimes, people even find themselves repeating similar unhealthy relationship patterns without understanding why. These behaviours are often rooted in early experiences with caregivers. Understanding this connection can help individuals build healthier and more stable relationships over time.

Healing Is Possible with Awareness

Even though childhood has a strong impact, it does not define a person completely. People can grow, unlearn, and change. The first step is becoming aware of how past experiences are affecting present behaviour. This can happen through self-reflection, conversations, or even therapy. Once a person understands their patterns, they can slowly start making different choices. Healing is not quick or easy, but it is possible. Over time, people can learn to respond differently, build healthier habits, and create a life that feels more in control and aligned with who they truly are.

Conclusion

Childhood experiences have a deep and lasting impact on who we become as adults. The way we think, feel, and respond to situations is often shaped by things we went through early in life. While these patterns can sometimes hold us back, understanding them gives us the power to change. It helps us make sense of our reactions and take small steps towards becoming better versions of ourselves. Childhood may shape us, but it does not have to define us forever. With awareness and effort, people can grow, heal, and create a life that feels more stable and fulfilling.

I chose this topic to write about because it is very personal to me. Growing up, I was raised by a single parent who was emotionally unavailable. As the older sibling, I had to take on responsibilities early and grow up faster than I should have. At that time, it felt normal, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve started to realise how much of my childhood I missed out on.

Only recently, I began to understand how these early experiences have shaped the way I think, feel, and handle situations in my adult life. This made me reflect on how deeply childhood can influence a person, often in ways we don’t notice until much later.

References

De Venter, M., et al. (2020). The associations between childhood trauma and work functioning in adulthood. Journal of Affective Disorders, 276, 378–386. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2020.70

Fares-Otero, N. E., et al. (2025). Child maltreatment and resilience in adulthood: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291725001205

Hughes, K., et al. (2017). The effect of multiple adverse childhood experiences on health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Public Health, 2(8), e356–e366. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2468-2667(17)30118-4

Umar, M. (2025). The impact of adverse childhood experiences on post-traumatic stress disorder in adulthood: A systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-025-07090-x

Xiao, Z., Baldwin, M. M., Wong, S. C., Obsuth, I., Meinck, F., & Murray, A. L. (2023). The impact of childhood psychological maltreatment on mental health outcomes in adulthood: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 24(5), 3049–3064. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380221122816

Author Bio

Aparna Abhishek Iyer is a content marketer and has created and worked with different brands for five years. She loves storytelling. She loves to explore how content brings growth to a business, and she has worked with different formats of content, whether it’s written, long-form, short-form, or videos.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Coping with Anxiety in a Fast-Paced Digital World

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced digital world, staying constantly connected can take a toll on our mental wellbeing. Notifications, emails, and social media updates create a continuous stream of information that can feel overwhelming, leaving many of us anxious and mentally drained. Understanding how these digital pressures affect our minds is the first step toward finding balance and managing anxiety effectively.

For me, anxiety often arises when I feel pressured to keep up with constant online demands. Long hours scrolling through social media or responding to messages can create a sense of mental clutter and tension. I’ve discovered that managing these feelings requires intentional actions. Practicing mindfulness, such as deep breathing or short meditation breaks, helps me stay present and reduces racing thoughts. Journaling my worries allows me to process emotions instead of letting them build up. I also set clear boundaries with my digital devices, designating tech-free periods during the day. Physical activity, like walking or stretching, further relieves tension and restores focus. These strategies combined have made it easier to navigate the demands of a connected world while maintaining emotional balance.

Understanding Digital Anxiety: How Constant Connectivity Impacts Mental Health

In our modern digital environment, being constantly connected can significantly affect mental health. Notifications, emails, and social media updates create a never-ending stream of information that keeps the mind alert and on edge. This constant stimulation can lead to feelings of restlessness, overwhelm, and anxiety. Personally, I’ve noticed that even brief moments of screen exposure can trigger tension, making it hard to focus or relax. Recognizing these triggers is essential, as it allows us to identify when digital engagement is contributing to stress and take steps to create healthier boundaries for our mental wellbeing.

Practical Strategies for Managing Anxiety in a Digital World

Managing anxiety in a digital world requires intentional and consistent strategies. For me, mindfulness practices such as deep breathing or brief meditation sessions help calm racing thoughts and bring focus to the present moment. Journaling also provides a space to process worries and reflect on emotions, preventing them from building up internally. Setting clear boundaries with devices, like scheduling tech-free periods or limiting social media use, reduces mental clutter and promotes balance. Additionally, regular physical activity, whether walking, stretching, or exercising, helps release tension and improve overall mood. By combining these approaches, it becomes possible to navigate a connected world while maintaining emotional stability and mental clarity.

Building Long-Term Habits for Digital Wellbeing

Creating lasting habits is key to maintaining mental wellbeing in a digital world. I’ve learned that consistency matters more than perfection. Setting daily routines that include mindfulness, journaling, and designated screen-free times helps make these practices automatic rather than occasional. Tracking progress and reflecting on how these habits impact mood and focus reinforces their value. Over time, these small, intentional actions build resilience against digital stress, allowing me to engage online without feeling overwhelmed. Prioritizing long-term strategies ensures that managing anxiety becomes a sustainable part of life rather than a temporary fix.

Conclusion

Living in a constantly connected digital world can easily contribute to anxiety, but it is possible to manage and reduce its impact through intentional practices. By recognizing triggers, setting boundaries, practicing mindfulness, journaling, and incorporating physical activity, we can regain control over our mental space. Building these habits consistently allows for long-term resilience, helping us engage with technology in a balanced and healthy way. Ultimately, acknowledging anxiety and taking proactive steps empowers us to maintain emotional wellbeing while navigating the demands of modern life.

I chose this topic to write about because anxiety from constant digital connectivity is a personal and relatable experience. Living in a world where work, social media, and online communication never stop, I’ve noticed how easily stress and mental fatigue can build up. Writing about it allows me to reflect on strategies that genuinely help, while sharing insights that others facing similar challenges can apply to improve their mental wellbeing.

References

Aldbyani, A., Chuanxia, Z., Alhimaidi, A., & Li, Y. (2025). Mindfulness and problematic smartphone use: Indirect and conditional associations via self‑regulated learning and digital detox. BMC Psychology, 13, 1131. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359‑025‑03485‑3

Ranabhat, C. L., Marion, J. W., & Jakovljevic, M. (2025). Association between social media use and self‑reported anxiety and/or depression: Results from 113 countries. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207640251393415

Sun, L. (2023). Social media usage and students’ social anxiety, loneliness and well‑being: Does digital mindfulness‑based intervention effectively work? BMC Psychology, 11, 362. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359‑023‑01398‑7    

Vagka, E., Gnardellis, C., Lagiou, A., & Notara, V. (2024). Smartphone use and social media involvement in young adults: Association with nomophobia, depression anxiety stress scales (DASS) and self‑esteem. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(7), 920. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21070920

Vahedi, Z., & Saiphoo, A. (2018). The association between smartphone use, stress, and anxiety: A meta‑analytic review. Stress and Health, 34(3), 347–358. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2805

Author Bio

Christopher Edeh is a passionate mental health advocate and emerging psychologist with a keen interest in understanding how modern digital lifestyles affect emotional wellbeing. With experience in research and practical strategies for managing anxiety, Christopher is committed to promoting mental health awareness and empowering individuals to build resilience in today’s fast-paced, connected world.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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GG’s 12 Wellness and Health Journey Pointers

GG’s 12 Wellness and Health Journey Pointers

Hey there! You can call me GG. 🙂

The idea of mental health found a place for itself in my mind only when I was in my college. Until then, health entirely meant the physical aspect. Long story short, I was in a chaotic state while pursuing my engineering degree at NIT Trichy. My first and second years were gruelling, harsh and had a devastating impact on my mental state. I had a multitude problems from every front I could imagine – academics, career, relationships, and the protagonist of the story was existential crisis.

If what I am talking about here seems obscure, let me give you some background. I was an extremely studious person throughout school. Thanks to a sudden bombardment of existential questions and figuring out the meaning of it all, I lost my interest towards scoring high right at the perfect moment. Fortunately, my previous work paid off and helped me get a place in a good college. However, this state of mind followed me till college, and it was just the beginning.

Fear dawned within me. Actually, that’s an underplay. Fear and confusion “reigned” over me. My confusion: “What am I going to do with my life? What do I really like? What is the purpose?”, and all that sort of stuff. I just couldn’t bring myself to stability at that time. Days, months, in fact, years passed by as I was stuck in this state.

The Turning Phase

On one hand, I did enjoy my days there – Outings, late night talks and mini-adventures. The carefree nature I once imagined I could never have, also thrilled me. However, it were those same factors (people) that put me into depression for the first two years. Depression. Yes. Not sadness, depression. It wasn’t particularly people, but my thoughts which led to that state. I realize this as I reflect back now.

The turning phase came when I realized that this problem was not going to solve by itself. At the same time, this was something that I can tackle. My first break came as I began ranting about this to a close friend of mine. That lifted down a humungous weight off my chest. Next, I started listening to motivational stories – note, not motivational videos of people screaming, “Do this, do that!”, but inspirational stories of real-life people. I changed my eating habits, started pursuing new hobbies, went out, talked with more people. I was trying to figure out my passion, whilst reassuring that it’s going to be okay even if you’re late in discovering it. As time flew, I started noticing changes. A lot of them. I started becoming more stable, had lesser fear than before and felt a lot more at ease.

12 Wellness and Health Journey Pointers That I Follow Till Day

What I mentioned here was merely the nutshell of the things that I did and the time and patience it took for the internal transformation. If I were to list down the few key things of my journey so far, they would be:
1. Remember that it’s going to be okay.
2. You’re not alone in this battle.
3. Try sharing it with someone, if you’re comfortable with it.
4. Eat well. Eat healthy. ENJOY eating.
5. Do all the good physical stuff – yoga, breathing, exercises (it was dancing in my case).
6. Read, watch or listen to a lot of good stuff (remember, what type of content you consume is extremely important).
7. Consume relaxed content (the previous point was to focus more on inspirational or educational stuff). Stuff like music, anime and gaming always cheered me up.
8. Have a person you can look up to either in your personal life or some famous personality.
9. If you have ANY addictions in any form, try to get rid of them as early as possible (at the very least, reduce them).
10. Go out. Travel. Near or far, if you have the chance to go out, just go to that mountain or beach or forest, and enjoy the beauty of nature.
11. Start a new hobby. Few which I enjoy – writing, photography, cooking and dancing.
12. Interact more with people.

Also, get yourself around good people. I don’t mean to say some people are bad, but some relationships can be really toxic. For example, someone might applaud hustle culture, but that might not be suitable to you. Another example, you might be in a circle where everyone has a partner, but you personally feel that it isn’t the best time for you to get into one. Basically, end or loosen ends with toxic relationships that pressure you to do something you don’t like and surround yourself with people who can energize you, motivate you and keep you smiling.

These are some of the things that I did which eventually helped me to have a more healthy and stress-free state of mind. I really do hope and pray that this article is in some way helpful to you, the reader.

P. S. Hearty kudos to the team for the idea, vision and the work behind the Wellness and Health Journey.

Best wishes & peace :D!

Author Bio

GG holds an MBA degree and works for a top-tier IT company.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Thoughts on Social Media Posts about Mental Health

To make sense of your sadness and then heal from depression, negative memories, anxiety, health issues

It wasn’t too long ago that I saw something on Instagram that caught my attention. It was a post by an old college classmate of mine which said something along the lines of, “If you are ever feeling low, if you have something on your mind, please reach out to me and we can talk about it.” Now that post irritated me and I guess it’s just my anger issues cropping up but nonetheless, that post was thought provoking and I am here to tell you why.

I have had my fair share of mental health issues and I continue to work on them. I seek therapy often and I find that it helps me recognize and resolve the many issues that I face. And I want to stress on the important role therapy plays in deciphering, recognizing and resolving many mental health concerns and I want to make this clear, if you have issues that you find overwhelming, please visit a registered therapist and seek professional help. Do not fall prey to social media posts where untrained, attention seeking netizens claim to be there to help you. They have no idea what they are doing and more importantly you are confiding your deepest fears with them and this kind of granular personal information needs to be handled securely by a professional and not someone who puts up a post (unless they are from the professional background).

Therapy involves a lot of confidentiality and a lot of work. People who are not trained will not be able to handle such sensitive information nor have the right tools to efficiently protect your data. Many times speaking to untrained people can seem like a futile exercise and may add to the stress that you are facing. Those who think they can resolve people’s issues by declaring via social media that they are available to lend an ear – until and unless you are a trained health professional, don’t try to “resolve” someone’s mental health issues without proper training and experience. This could also be stressful personally. I would compare such a situation to giving a monkey the responsibility of maintaining a nuclear reactor, it is bound to cause a meltdown and if Chernobyl is anything to go by then there is no coming back from it.

I understand that mental health comes at a very steep price and these prices render it unaffordable for the majority of people and with stigma surrounding therapy you might feel like you do not want to seek help and put tags on your issues such as depression or anxiety but trust me a therapist is better suited to understand and resolve the issues that you face at the earliest and there are many pocket friendly ways in which you can seek professional help in your country.

I understand that it is a tough time and you don’t have to look too far for help.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

 

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Grief in Progress

Grief in Progress

My mind has never been a particularly “kind” place. Mistakes accumulate and failures persist. The sense of never-being-quite-good-enough lingers, and makes sure any new venture I start is heavy with the need to be perfect from the very beginning. To deal with this, I had a lot of mechanisms. I socialised, and drowned out the voice in my head with the quiet support of friends. I kept myself busy by picking up projects and setting deadlines for myself. I have 2 different To-Do List Apps, and at least 3 different notebooks tracking my tasks. At school, I tracked self-worth in grades received, events conducted, and teacher’s praise. When I started working as a teacher, my self-worth was contingent on how my students did, and I often thought of myself as the only factor contributing to their indifference/success in learning, completely sidestepping the multiplicity of factors that affected those students investments.

When the pandemic came around, I lost one of my coping mechanisms and I had a lot of time to myself. A lot of time to think about my mental space, and a lot of time to realise that the way I preferred to deal with my emotions was to not deal with them at all. Instead I rationalised and compartmentalised so that I never actually had to “feel” at all. I just needed to come up with explanations, I just needed to remain in control. When things happen, as they do, instead of allowing myself to feel guilt, sorrow, rage, frustration, I came up with excuses for why my emotions weren’t valid, or I would think of ways to suppress it all. I wanted to be different from my parents, so emotionally volatile, that I would rather feel nothing at all than drown in the depths. But the thing is, it’s also hard to feel joy and compassion and love if you have trained yourself to not let your emotions overwhelm you.

My therapist says that emotions remain in your body, that you can feel stress somewhere, anxiety somewhere else. If that’s true, my self-hatred rests between my ribs, always ready to knock me breathless when I am already down. My anxiety rests between tense shoulders, always ready to come to the forefront of any situation, and in a stomach that I hadn’t even realised I keep clenched, and in teeth that find themselves grinding, and in feet and hands that will not stop fidgeting and in my thoughts, “What if?”. I pushed my emotions down for years, but they stayed, making homes for themselves in my body, stubborn in their relentless need to be felt.

This year, grief has been so very loud. There have been so many endings. The suffering I have witnessed among communities, the struggle to stay ‘productive’, moving back to a broken home, and the constant fear of impending sickness– this is a year in which grief cannot be ignored.

So if you are grieving, for whatever reason or cause, know you aren’t alone. I grieve with you, and for you. Take your time, and let it overwhelm you. Your sorrow has a place in the world.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

 

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Nikita’s Journey into Therapy

Nikita’s Journey into Therapy

For Anney

Needless to say, last year has been an absolute shit show. It was quite literally the most stressful I’ve ever been in my life and getting out of it has taken a lot of conscious effort. 

In March of 2020, right before the lockdown in India, I had a pretty sorted life. I had a job I loved, a wonderful apartment, a great set of friends and a loving partner. But in a matter of months literally everything unravelled. 

It began with my parents getting no income because of the lockdown. I was stuck in my hometown away from where I’ve been living for the last 6 years. I used to work for a travel company, so while I was lucky to still have a job (especially since about 40% of my company was furloughed), I hated the role I was given due to the reorganization that consequently happened. I was suddenly in a long distance relationship with no prep and things were just hard. No one really saw it coming and no one knew how long it was going to last for. 

3 months later, there was still not much change in the situation. But I went back to Bangalore where I was living and met my boyfriend and started looking for another job. I luckily got a much better offer and things were beginning to look better for me. However things at home were getting worse and there was a lot of guilt associated with staying alone and spending so much money when I could be back home and support my family that has 4 adults. So after much protest from my boyfriend, I packed all my things and moved back home. 

That put a real strain on my relationship. Things at home was very stressful and I became the mediator between all the adults fighting at home. Literally everything made me cry and I felt helpless and my boyfriend started shutting me out at this very point which ultimately pushed me over my limit. I knew I needed help and my friends were wonderful. They were always there for me if I wanted to talk. But if you are anything like me, even that started making me feel guilty because I didn’t want to depend on them too much, because I’m sure they had things happening in their life too and I was in no situation to support them. 

I finally turned to therapy. I just needed someone to talk to. To help me sort out all the stress, anxiety and fear I was feeling. When I started therapy I knew a break up with my boyfriend was inevitable and it did happen. I was depressed for the next couple of months and I was constantly crying and lost a lot of weight. And this was not something I could talk about with my family. I had completely lost sight of who I was as a person which was a huge shock in itself, because I have always had a very strong sense of self. 

I had very flexible working hours and I was anyway working from home, so it was becoming hard to differentiate day and night, weekdays and weekends. Therapy was something that I started looking forward to. It was a much needed pause to an otherwise endless blob. Recollecting the past week helped when there is an active listener making note of everything that I say and guiding me through it, one step at a time. Therapy really helped me go back to who I was. It helped me figure out what I can compromise on and what I cannot. It helped me set boundaries and not feel guilty about things that were not my fault. It helped me accept the fact that I cannot control everything happening around me and it really just helped me during a very hard time in my life. 

This was 7 months ago and a lot has happened since then. My parents are still financially strained, but things are better after making some hard decisions. I took a solo trip for a month, just to get a change in environment that really really helped me. By A LOT. I applied for my masters and am all set to begin in the next few months. After struggling with my new job in the beginning with everything else that was happening in my life, it’s currently going really well. My ex boyfriend also reached out to me wanting to fix things and while that is gonna take more time, we are working on figuring things out. 

The past year was difficult but I have learnt a lot about myself as a person. It came with a lot of hard lessons and through it all, I have continued therapy. 

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.

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Tjard’s Apprenticeship as an Electrician

Tjard’s Apprenticeship as an Electrician

Hello! I am Tjard and I have lived on the island of Sylt in Germany all 20 years of my life. If I would not live here I would probably be way happier. I am fine with any pronouns used on me but feel uncomfortable at the idea of expressing myself about it here. I have some reasons for this like my uncle(that lives on the “property”) who just before my apprenticeship started, “warned” me about a “man” who outside of work hours wears dresses. Also, the co-worker I am on tour with most of the time, once told me he would be very disappointed in seeing me date a man. He is my direct neighbour. He is hard to deal with most days and drains me. I theoretically like what I work as and it can be really rewarding and get me really really happy. I am an electrician’s apprentice. I like the diagnosis and repair of home appliances and love to see “historic” home appliances on which this is the easiest.

I understand the need for more efficient appliances, maybe just more sustainable but what I see in modern devices does not seem in any way more sustainable to me. They use more electronic components which are prone to failure and are “repaired” by replacement. This is expensive and resource intensive. Our global recycling does not recover all resources and is energy intensive. I am pretty certain that the longevity of the historic devices outweigh the environmental harm done by their “excessive” use of water and electricity. The need of our capitalist system to grow has incentivised companies to lower the lifetime of devices and make it harder to repair them. It is really depressing to see/hear how people’s right to repair their own property has limited everyone. They should have easy access to repair tutorials and resources to do so.

I decided to learn about electronics around the age of 13 and started working at the age of 19. There are a couple of reasons for this. My family had financial hardships in the past and this job pays decently and feels really secure to me understandably. The interest in physical labour here has dropped so far that there is serious lack of personnel everywhere so it will be easy to find employment anywhere and will get me to a point where I can go to uni without needing to go into debt. I always had some interest in this and it just gives me even further independence by being able to fix any electrical problems I personally encounter with ease.

One recommendation I have for anyone that has come this far is to go to their distribution box and look if there is any device that says “test it regularly”, and well, just test it. They might also be built into sockets primarily in bathrooms. This would probably be a residual circuit breaker (RCD) and it is one of the few ways to protect people from death by electrocution and I find them really important.

This post has been written over around 2 hours. I like writing about myself and will continue with introducing myself further and going over to the previous chapters of my life at high school, which I could probably write many thousands of words over and still continue with this topic but I think 500 words of my incoherent rambling is more than enough.

 

Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.