What my depression looks like: It is the Jabberwocky.

It rears its ugly head when you least expect. It fights to tear your soul apart and spit it into the flame. Your passion is dulled like an unsharpened knife, but it cuts you piece by piece. You hold your head high but your shoulders slouch. You only have energy to stay on the couch. Tears bottled up inside, but you don’t have the strength to cry your heart out or even stay awake. Hurt so bad, it aches; life so fragile, it breaks. All your past mistakes conglomerate into one big hate: of yourself. Please don’t let this be my fate. I only want to be great again. A dragon lies at the foot of my bed, laying wait until I feel good again, only to find that day won’t come: is this the end?

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My journey comes to a close, but the road of healthy habits does not end. 

Routine behaviors - healthy habits - are a great way to establish a set of regular practices that carry benefits to your mental and physical health. The goal is to make these a natural part of your schedule - as natural as brushing your teeth in the morning. At that point, these natural activities - your healthy habits - can provide a regular stream of feel-good hormones (endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin) that keep your mood up, and your mind engaged on positive emotions. Sounds pretty useful. (more…)

It’s no secret to those of us who deal with anxiety that it’s not just being really, really nervous. Forty million adults deal with anxiety disorders, according to the National Institute of Mental Health , and only 42.2 percent of those people are in treatment. Recently, Psychology Today reported that the American Psychological Association released the 411 from its annual Stress in America study, and the results aren’t comforting: “In January 2017, for the first time in its 10 year history, the survey found a statistically significant increase in stress levels in America, compared to last year.” Troubling as this may be, if you’re reading this article, you’re in luck; there are things you can do to combat your anxiety, and reading poetry is one of them.

The Anxiety and Depression Association of America’s “How to Deal with Stress and Anxiety” handout provides helpful, and more than a few of them point to the power of poetry. Whether you decide to “take a time out” or “slowly count to ten” or “take deep breaths,” poetry can be a piece of your self-care plan. After all, reading poems helps you press pause on life, focussing your attention on the moment (much like practicing yogic breathing). Ready to give it a shot? These seven poems might help.

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I’m on a road: a road to developing a set of healthy habits. And as you read in week 4, this is an uphill battle to which I commit myself. I am finding, however, that I am being kinder to myself as I go along the journey - something we all can do a little more of (in my ever-so-humble opinion).

Routine behaviors - healthy habits - are a great way to establish a set of regular practices that carry benefits to your mental and physical health. The goal is to make these a natural part of your schedule - as natural as brushing your teeth in the morning. At that point, these natural activities - your healthy habits - can provide a regular stream of feel-good hormones (endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin) that keep your mood up, and your mind engaged on positive emotions. Sounds pretty useful. (more…)

I’m on a road: a road to developing a set of healthy habits. And as you read in week 3, this is an uphill battle to which I commit myself. I am finding, however, that I am being kinder to myself as I go along the journey - something we all can do a little more of (in my ever-so-humble opinion).

Routine behaviors - healthy habits - are a great way to establish a set of regular practices that carry benefits to your mental and physical health. The goal is to make these a natural part of your schedule - as natural as brushing your teeth in the morning. At that point, these natural activities - your healthy habits - can provide a regular stream of feel-good hormones (endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin) that keep your mood up, and your mind engaged on positive emotions. Sounds pretty useful. (more…)