Finding Your Marbles
A Mental Health Survival Guide

Last week I was talking to a friend of mine who was having trouble starting a healing journal. He had kept a journal before, but he was finding it difficult to use a journal as a healing tool.

I believe in the healing power of creative expression, and especially in the power of writing. Writing allows you to have a safe place to explore your own emotions and feelings, and it has an incredible way of helping you connect with your inner self. I think that if you learn to write, and you learn to trust your writing, you will be well along the path to recovery.

In this article, I am going to share some of the things that I did to get started with my healing journal, and I’ll also share some of the tricks I use to “protect” my writing.

Continue reading “How To Start A Healing Journal” »

Because I am “in the business,” I spend a fair amount of time reading self-help blogs and sites. Most of these sites mean well, and their authors sincerely do want to help other people get rich, lose weight, or manage their time. Some, however, are not so good, and can present a real danger to anyone suffering from a mood disorder or mental illness.

In this article, I will talk about self-help websites, how they can benefit you in your recovery, and what pitfalls you should avoid.

Continue reading “How to Avoid the Dangers of Self-Help Websites” »

Just a quick note that I will be appearing on “Get Real Girls” on FM 107.1 in Minneapolis this Saturday at 8:30 AM (Central Time), so if you’re able to tune in, why not check it out. I’ll be talking about my article “How to Cry” and the challenges that men face dealing with [...]

Continue reading “FYM Radio Interview Saturday at 8:30 AM Central Time” »

The other day I had a terrible experience on one of the mental health forums where I am a member. A few members launched an attack on me, something that occurs all too common on any forum, but on a mental health forum they can be particularly disruptive. After I was unsuccessful in my attempts to get the members to withdraw their attack, I wrote to the forum administrators to complain.

Their response caught me off guard, to say the least:

You are known to be outspoken so you shouldn’t be surprised when you get attacked by other members.name withheld

Well.

Continue reading “What To Do When You are Being Bullied” »

For me, one of the toughest things about recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety has been learning how to manage triggers.

If you’ve got PTSD or you have panic attacks, you know what I mean by triggers; those little things that, once your “anxiety brain” gets hold of them, send you into a downward spiral of fear, panic, and sometimes, even depression.

My worst trigger is child abuse. If I see a news story about an abused child, or even if I overhear someone talking about an abused child, my pulse rate just shoots up. If the abuse is sexual, then all bets are off and I have to take action to manage the trigger before I get anxious.

I do a couple of little things to manage triggers and minimize the effects that they have on me. They may work for you.

Continue reading “What To Do When You Are Triggered” »

I love sticky notes. I think they are one of the greatest inventions of all time.

I use them everywhere. Right now, in my office, I have at least 10 that I can see in front of me, and another dozen or so more scattered around the room. I’m a bit crazy about them.

If you have a mental illness, sticky notes can be a real lifesaver. By using them, you can leave yourself important little messages that will be right there when you need them. I think that once you start using sticky notes to manage your life, you’ll wonder how you ever got by without them.

So grab a pen, and a pad of sticky notes, and lets go.

Continue reading “How to Use Sticky Notes to Make Your Life Easier” »

Isabella Mori, who is a therapist in Vancouver, has written a great article on the importance of letting go of resentment.

Clinging to bad emotions and angry feelings about people and situations can be very self-destructive, and it also drains you of the valuable energy that you need to stay healthy. In other words, letting go of your resentments is good for your mental health.

Isabella gives some great tips on how to confront and deal resentment, from meditation (my favorite) to “imagination.” (which might soon become my new favorite)

If you find that you just can’t let go of your negative feelings, or that you can’t shake your anger towards another person, then you should give Isabella’s article a read.

Continue reading “Link: Letting Go of Resentments” »

For me, one of the worst aspects of depression was how much it affected my ability to make decisions. I’m a “take charge” kind of guy, and I felt absolutely helpless when I was so paralyzed by my depression that I couldn’t even make simple decisions. And tough decisions? Forget it!

Last summer I was reading “What Color is Your Parachute” by Richard Bolles, and I found a great decision making tool. With a bit of tinkering, I have come up with my own version of the tool, and now I use it all the time to help me make tough decisions. I wish I had it 5 years ago when I was still depressed.

Continue reading “How To Make Tough Decisions When You Are Depressed” »

I used to be terrible at crisis management. When anything bad happened that was outside my control, I would always come apart at the seams. I would start to panic, and I would end up making a huge mess of things and getting myself more depressed and anxious.

At an old job I had, one of my projects was to write up a crisis management plan. When I was finished this project, I began to wonder if I could apply the same skills and techniques that I used at work to my personal life to see if I could do a better job at crisis management. After some experiments and fine tuning, I developed a five-part personal crisis management system. By applying this system, I was eventually able to manage my anxiety during a crisis. I wasn’t as unprepared when things went wrong, and I was able to quickly calm myself down and get the crisis under control.

Continue reading “How To Manage a Crisis” »

Trent over at The Simple Dollar wrote this great article about how to cook family meals when you are exhausted or stressed out. It’s a great (and short) article with lots of good advice. Also make sure you check the comments for more good cooking solutions.

Continue reading “Link: How to Cook for a Family When You are Stressed Out” »