Since the past few months, my sleep schedule has gone for a toss. I find myself staying up late even on days when I'm tired, and oversleeping has become the norm. The reason: increased depression owing to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Owing to this, my ability to work has been affected. Today, I am finally ready to accept the fact that I've been sabotaging my writing career. Of course, this year is primarily about survival, but looking back, I have noticed that depression brings with it a tendency to sabotage. Indeed, I am sure you too can think of times when in a depressive state, you did something you later regretted.

For many people with mental illness, mental health medication and recovery go hand in hand. Unfortunately, psychiatric medication comes with a lot of stigma and stress. There are a lot of people who don't understand how psychiatric medication really works or why it's so important for many people in recovery, and their stigmatized view of medication can stick in our brains long after we've heard them say something.

Recovering from self-injury can put a lot of pressure on us. We expect that self-harm recovery is a simple process with no obstacles on the road. However, it’s a complicated journey, and there is no one perfect way to recover. You might stumble once or twice, but that’s okay. You can still continue where you left off.

Feeling overwhelmed from supporting someone with mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but sometimes we can struggle to admit our true feelings. Here’s a little bit about how I felt when my brother was diagnosed with chronic anxiety and depression.

My anxiety presents itself to me in many physical forms. I can pinpoint the exact onset of an anxiety or panic attack if I pay attention to my body's signals. We happen to live in a world dominated by distratction though. Every day we succumb to the mind-numbing fixation of social media scrolling, texting rather than talking and an apparent need for noise. This constant flow of stimulation floods the circuit board that is our mind. Only when we stop to listen to the sounds of our body can our mind truly relax.

Bipolar disorders and anxiety are frequent bedfellows. In fact, anxiety and anxiety disorders occur in more than half of those with bipolar type I, according to the paper, "The Importance of Anxiety States in Bipolar Disorder." And I am one of those who experience anxiety in bipolar disorder. Whether your anxiety comes in the form of a specific disorder, or it's just symptoms of anxiety, I can attest to the fact that anxiety affects bipolar disorder, and it's not in good ways.

Mental health crises can happen anywhere at any moment, such as in a public place. Time and time again, I've seen those public moments captured in photos and videos online, turning a moment of pain into a show that people seem to feel entitled to gawk at and criticize.

The decision to try for a baby is one of the most difficult you will ever make. However you choose to do it, there are about a million things to consider: am I the right age? Mature enough? Financially ready? Am I prepared for the toll this will take on my body, my relationship, my finances, my career? Am I ready to give my heart and soul to this person I haven't even met yet? And for me, there was the big one: is it selfish of me to bring a child into the world given my history of depression and mental illness?

Parenting anxiety doesn't end when a child goes off to college. In fact, experiencing anxiety about college-age kids (young adults) is common. I've had many conversations recently about worries and anxiety around kids going off to college, and I just dropped off my own son at his school for his freshman year. Here's a look at why sending a young adult child can cause anxiety and how not to be consumed with worry despite all of the causes. 

Having a well-crafted set of life goals helps me on my journey to build self-esteem, but it's the baby steps that lead to those goals that make me feel successful. Completing a life goal's final steps may be years away, and focusing on that can be detrimental to healthy self-esteem. Changing my focus to the baby steps I take improved my self-esteem.