Although I’ve made posts in the past about what’s helped me get through anxiety, I still find “any advice about what I can do for anxiety,” to be the question I am asked the most on and off stream. So I created a set of quick tips that I have learned. 

I cannot count the number of people I have found on the internet who claim to have medication-free cures, who got better by just eating right, exercising, talking to their pastor. You name it, someone has written a way to get around mental illness without having to do the dreaded taboo—take a pill.

Having chronic, diagnosed depression and anxiety means sleep is often an elusive concept. It also means that’s it’s incredibly crucial I get my full rest, otherwise the exhaustion makes it a lot harder to tackle the following day’s intrusive thoughts.Here’s the list of best practices I have collected over the past ten years that have helped me cope. I hope something in the following list resonates and perhaps even helps.

We work hard to be kind. Good people don't bully others. But it seems they often don’t mind being bullies to themselves. And that's exactly how self-loathing grows. Who enjoys spending time with someone who offers hatred and bitterness when it’s so much more pleasant to be encouraged, loved and supported? I have found that working on becoming my own friend has helped me in many ways...

Not only is there still a lot of stigma surrounding mental health, but the nature of some illnesses is that it’s easy enough to assume you have it under control, that you’re fine or insert your excuse here. That's why it's hard to argue with someone if they believe they are truly ok.