Am I sure I have ADHD? How I remembered I was neurodivergent and learned Self-Compassion Again.
That’s it. No more just maybe figuring it out when it comes to living with myself. I can’t. And it’s ok BECAUSE I know I’m neurodivergent. I have ADHD. I honestly, truly, pretended so good that I don’t in front of others that I forgot for a moment. Or 2 Years. Or I just wanted to forget so that it would be easier. But it made is so, so, so much harder. Mxiety has ADHD and that’s how it is.
What The World Needs for Mental Health Advocacy Has Changed: A 6 Years Retrospective
This World Mental Health Day marks the 6 year anniversary of starting Mxiety as a blog with live streams dedicated to advocating for openness in mental health. Inevitably, this means nostalgia, introspection, and thoughts about the future have made home in my mind for the time being. Here they are laid out to make sense from
Asking for Validation to Cope With Feeling Like You're Not Doing Enough
You don’t have to wait for validation for your turn to feel. You can control how long you wait and how much you put up with while you do. Even if others need you. If you have not given to yourself, what you’re offering them is a husk of a person left after everyone else has already had their turn to pick your emotions dry.
Authenticity Means Something Different to Everyone
I feel like Authenticity is the new buzzword experts love to sell as the social media growth hack with little specifics as to what it means. Here’s my take…
Quiet That Inner Critic: It's Not Your Voice, It's Not Your Burden
The voice in your mind telling you that you’re a failure, that you don’t matter, that you are stupid or ugly, isn’t yours to carry around anymore.
Letter to Myself 10 Years from Now. Mxiety 2031
10 years from now it will be June 16, 2031 (HOLY SH) and I will be 40 years old (ALSO HOLY SH) which is silly a thing to write since you already know what date and year it is, I should just get to the all the good stuff and questions and reminders I have for you. I know you’re gonna cry too, so I hope you grabbed tissues.
Why We Need Multiple Avenues of Care For Mental Health Beyond Therapy
I honestly never would have thought I would write this piece because for so long, I held therapy as a panacea for mental health problems.
Affirmations For Streamers: to ease Imposter Syndrome, Depression, Jealousy and more
Research shows that repeating positive self-affirmations over time, along with other treatments, can help with developing a more positive attitude towards yourself and the world around you.
Here are the ones that I use daily for the conditions I live with: ADHD, Anxiety and Depression
Comparing Yourself and Caring Too Much? It Might Be Emotional Fatigue
Emotional fatigue is a syndrome that comes from having too many things that require an emotional response from you happening in a short period of time. It’s also been called “compassion fatigue” and the symptoms very much intersect with those of depression.
5 Qualities That Help Me As a Twitch Streamer (That I Used to Hate About Myself)
And it’s not like there is one brand of streamer. In fact, that is my point. Were you made fun of for being too quiet as a kid? Maybe you would make a stellar ASMR streamer! Were you great at identifying birds? Well, you can be an amazing ornithologist now with other people like you watching live as you go find cool rare birds. As long as your behavior doesn’t hurt others, being yourself is freakin’ awesome.
The Mental Health Concerns of Online Content Creators on Social Media
“The mental health risks people take in being an online personality become more prominent as their popularity grows. There is a lot of pressure to be “on,” be “perfect,” and be everything your audience wants you to be. You feel pressure to give them what you know they want - more content - and the hunger for that content never ends.”
4 Distractions to Get Through Social Isolation During COVID-19
I wanted to create a list of things that can be easily done for those of us who are looking to make this quarantine period productive, especially for those who struggle with depression and anxiety when motivation is fleeting. It’s so hard not to focus on the bad stuff!
Things to do to soothe your new Corona virus anxiety
In this blog, I detail ideas my community and I came up with during one of my live streams for things to do during quarantine to avoid COVID-19 panic and feeling cabin fever.
Gifts I Would Love to Receive As Someone Living With Anxiety and Depression
Although I am extremely fortunate in my life right now with how my family understands my mental health challenges, my prior family would shame me for being “needy” or “too sensitive" making it important that I made my self-care inconspicuous. That’s why I wanted to offer a list of gifts that are incredible on their own, but great discrete mental health helpers too.
Tips to Reduce Airplane and Travel Anxiety
“You just need to get out more,” is not a solution to mental illness. That is not how our minds work. Unbalanced chemicals and similar issues will remain with you, no matter where you are. Yes, getting out there helps your mind reach new spaces, and for some, might even be the long-needed jolt, but that is by far, not the case for all.
Guest Post: Why Paris Gramann Wanted To Raise Mental Health Awareness
Since I had been a kid, I always had a fairly easy time sticking up for other people. If someone was getting made fun of, I would gently speak up that the comment or verbal “poking fun” was hurtful.
Why Does Social Media Upset Us And What Can We Do?
If I am feeling ok, I don’t mind seeing prettier-than-life things, in fact, I often feel they inspire me. However, if I am a bit down on myself, the fire gets worse from the added coal of upward comparison. Is that anyone else’s fault? Not exactly. I compare myself enough to people in real life, that confronting more things I am bad at online becomes downright exhausting.
How I Stopped Comparing Myself To Others and Decided I Was Good Enough
So what actions did I take? First, I set up some long-term goals. These were loose and a bit broad like a bucket list for the rest of my life.
6 Ways I Get Through Depression Low Points
Depression: the exact symptoms vary from person to person, but the isolation comes standard. There are plenty of good articles out there about finding solutions for the excessive lows that accompany this mental illness, but this one will be a bit different. I will not tell you what you’re doing wrong, and I will not tell you that you HAVE to do XYZ to feel better.
How To Talk About Mental Health Safely: A Guide for Streamers
Online, you are not just a content creator but also a community leader. After over a year, 50+ interviews, and countless hours of preparation, combined with my training as a mental health first aid provider, a NoStigmas ally, and an Ambassador for Takethis.org, I’m at a place where people solicit my advice and help on how to advocate for mental health.