Thoughts of worthlessness, poor self-image, lack of belief in your own abilities, failure, and social out-casting, can run rampant in the mind and detrimentally impact your ability to function.

I know from first-hand experience the negativity cycle that these thoughts can put you into. When I am suffering from anxiety or depression, these thoughts can become particularly powerful.

They play on a loop in my mind, getting ever louder. The more they play, the more that I am negatively impacted. My functionality drops as I am less and less able to do the things I usually do. These losses ‘prove’ that the voices in my head are right…

The first time I had a panic attack, I thought I was going to die.

There was no exact triggering moment, just a quick, overwhelming onslaught of symptoms. Tight chest, sweating, heart palpations, racing thoughts, and a feeling of impending doom…

Typically the advice to ‘Sleep On It’ it is given when somebody is working themselves up over a decision. The suggestion is offered in the hopes that it will cause the person to take a breath, detach from the situation and approach finalising the decision from a calmer place.

I wish that I had seen the light on this one long ago. It would have saved me countless days of emotional suffering. A review of my past decision making process has taught me that I need to take a step back, calm down and detach prior to taking action.

If I am in a bad place mentally, any problem, challenge or complication has the potential to derail me completely.

I become overwhelmed with the onslaught coming from my mental afflictions combined with the stress of completing the new task. My self-talk becomes negative, directed at my inability to handle the problem, and then at me as a whole for once again ‘losing it’ over something so insignificant.

“Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living and truth loving.” – James E Faust

Unless you are completely honest with yourself, your actions will be out of line with your true purpose. By ‘true purpose’ I am not referring to anything religious or spiritual. I am referring to what you as an individual, given your unique set of genetics and environmental influences, is best set up to do.

It is impossible breathe deeply with a slouched, tense, ‘anxious or depressed’ posture. This physiological change of posture will send a signal to your brain and your mood will begin to change.

So take 10 slow and deep breaths right now. Sounds cliche, but it works. Give it a try!

Why writing a web comic is harder than writing about trauma

I write down what was discussed, and any advice given. I do not want to leave the session and forget what was covered. I am paying for it after all, with my time, money, and mental state…

Want to lose my respect? Attempt to rush my recovery or place my mental health on a (your) time limit…

During therapy, I take notes.

I write down what was discussed, and any advice given. I do not want to leave the session and forget what was covered. I am paying for it after all, with my time, money, and mental state.

Social anxiety is a relationship killer. It makes me bail on connections, say no to almost everything, and fret over small interactions. This ultimately results in people thinking I am rude, that I don’t like them, or that I don’t care.

By squeezing and relaxing each muscle you will relieve any physical tension held in the body.

What you eat directly impacts your metal state. Put simply, the better you eat, the better you will feel.

I spend a lot of my time researching and experimenting to find what works to best guard my mental state. I want to do everything I can to ensure that my mood is stable and that my mental health is improving over time …

Reflecting on my experiences with anxiety leaves me with a one sentence, anxiety killing mantra:

“Anxiety is a liar and it’s taking up too much of my life”.

I want to prove it to you. Consider the following questions:

- When has it ever been as bad as you thought it was going to be?
-How many times have you worried about something that just has never occurred?
-How many anxious thoughts do you have about one thing - could each possible outcome come true?
-How many times were you anxious before an event, only to be completely fine during the event?