We strengthen our physical core to build resilience to injuries, to protect your inner organs, and to improve balance and stability. In the same way, we can work our mental core to build resilience to the stormy winds of life, to protect our minds, and to improve balance and stability. Photo by Annie Spratt *This post…
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Not Everyone Suffers From Mental Illness, But Everyone Has Mental Health #GetLoud
Extremely common and damaging misconceptions: I have good mental health. After all, I don’t have a mental illness. People with mental illness and myself are fundamentally different. I don’t need to go out of my way to be kinder to myself or practice meditation or whatever. I don’t have a mental illness, so why should…
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4 Steps to Process Negative Emotions
For the majority of my life, I’ve been a heavy self-criticizer. I’m sure many people out there are the same way. When I would feel negative emotions, I would direct them toward myself and berate myself endlessly. It never made sense to me – why would I ever be worthy enough to feel any of…
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11 Cognitive Distortions for Students
I’m a university student in a program that has an admission requirement of a 90% average from grade 12 in high school. I absolutely love my program, but I have heard oh so often from my mental health professionals that it is a breeding ground for mental health issues. I attribute it to the fact…
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Poem: A Third-Year’s Soul
As the year comes to a close, it is only natural to look back at the past in order to determine future steps. To be honest, I struggled immensely with the idea of continuing to post on this blog over the past few months. I experienced the longest peaceful spell I’ve had since these struggles…
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Taking a semester off – 7 changes from my mental health break
I’ve been feeling a bit uninspired lately and decided it might be a great time to reflect on my mental health break from January to now (in July). Specifically, I wanted to record all the positive changes I’ve made in my life so far in as condensed a form as possible. This will be a…
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Creating a Crisis Plan
When do you use a crisis plan? First, let’s define for ourselves what a ‘crisis’ means. I think the definition differs per individual, and each individual must find out what they consider to be a crisis. But for myself, a crisis begins after attempting my coping strategies on my own. It occurs when I find…
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Bullet Journal – Activity Tracking for Mental Health
I looked up from my diary, my face streaming with tears. “This is supposed to be therapeutic,” I thought to myself. “Why am I feeling so much worse than when I started writing?” If this is something that you resonate with, then it may be time to reframe how you are approaching your journalling. For…
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The Path to Perfection – Impossible
I sat in the hospital room last Friday, wondering how the heck I had arrived back at the hospital. There were a myriad symptoms, but really, there must have been at least a partial influence from my own expectations. There always was, after all. This time, the doctors told me I actually have a much…
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Are emotions you? Are your thoughts you? What makes you…you?
Sometimes people ask me what depression and anxiety is like. There are a myriad terms that can be used to describe it, but the best analogy I have found yet is that of a theatre performance in your mind. In my own mind, there is always a drama troupe putting on grandiose shows featuring rampant…
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7 Steps to Change Unhealthy Thoughts
Nico, you’ve been sitting here watching Netflix for the last 2 hours. What are you doing? You think this is accomplishing anything? You’re wasting time. You’re not gonna get this time back. How are you ever going to be successful when you’re this lazy? When our thoughts become this muddled by our core beliefs, it…