Mental Health

One of the most challenging things to do, especially if you identify as a "giver" more than a "taker," is allowing yourself to receive support. Letting your guard down, allowing others to support you, and being vulnerable can be uncomfortable for anyone, but they are essential components of addiction and mental illness recovery. Recovery can often feel isolating, lonely, and impossible without allowing yourself to do these things. Part of recovery is learning how to allow yourself to receive support from your treatment team, therapist, family members, and friends.

Trying to always be perfect is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Even when you feel you have reached perfection, there is always another part of yourself that still needs work. Although you may know perfection is impossible to attain, it can still feel like it is something to strive for, and you may struggle to let go of the concept of perfectionism. The good news is that you do not have to keep up with the ever-revolving door of perfectionism forever. With the proper therapy, you can understand why you are attached to perfectionism and learn how to let it go. When you stop trying to be perfect, you can start being yourself.

Anxiety can be a normal human response to stress. However, suppose anxiety begins to impact your ability to cope with stress and manage day-to-day activities. In that case, you could be living with generalized anxiety disorder, which one of our therapists can help you navigate. Living with anxiety can cause you to feel overwhelmed by uncertainty, fear, and racing thoughts. You may also experience physical symptoms such as a fast heartbeat, stomach issues, and headaches. These things can leave you feeling decentered and disconnected from yourself and your body. By recentering yourself after spiraling with anxiety, you can become grounded in your body and anchored in the present moment again. Here are some tips to help you regain control of your emotions when dealing with anxiety.

Expressing gratitude is a practice of appreciating what you are grateful for in your life. Perhaps expressing gratitude may feel like it is too simple to make a difference in how you feel and perhaps seems inaccessible during challenging times. However, it is a practice that can increase your overall quality of life. When practiced consistently, it can reap positive effects on your mental health and wellness.

Have you been curious about creating the right wellness routine for yourself?

If you struggle with perfectionism, you may also experience higher levels of stress, anxiety, and burnout. Maybe it feels like no matter what you do, it will never be enough. Perfectionism is associated with having high expectations of yourself that you likely would not expect of anyone else. It is also a way of regulating uncomfortable emotions, such as a fear of failure or a sense of shame and loneliness that may be present when not living up to specific standards.

The school year comes packed with numerous stresses, and as the semester continues marching forward, these stresses can become more and more prevalent. Tests, quizzes, and one's own academic goals can cause a great deal of anxiety, with many students looking for any way to alleviate these feelings. Unfortunately, this can also lead to a dangerous relationship with addictive substances, compromising one's health while inhibiting one's ability to strive towards academic success.

Even if it is just for five minutes, a morning routine can help you move through your life with greater ease and presence. Having productive habits at the start of each day does not just include important practices like getting up at the same time and making your bed. It also involves checking in with yourself and setting your intentions for the day.

Like recovery from mental illness, fitness is not the same for everybody. Believing so can hinder you from finding a routine that feels good and works for you. Fitness can look different for everyone and even look different for you each day, depending on the needs of your mind and body at the time.

Have you ever thought about beginning a meditation practice?

One of the significant barriers to effective self-care is an individual’s feeling that they are somehow being lazy if they take time for themselves. However, there are several key differences between taking time for self-care and laziness.

Self-acceptance is the ability to accept your positive and negative attributes. It allows you to believe in your capabilities and protect yourself from negative criticism. With self-acceptance, you feel safe being yourself and expressing yourself in ways that make sense and feel good for you.