Learning better communication skills can help you end self-harm, and communication does not always have to be verbal. Everything about the way we present ourselves in front of other people is intended, whether consciously or not, as a way to communicate something. Communication is not just limited to verbal interactions. It is not even limited to just deliberate physical movements and facial expressions. Everything from the way we dress, the way we walk, what we order at a restaurant, and even those parts of ourselves we think we are hiding, including -- yes -- our self-harm, are ways of making our thoughts, emotions, and sense of identity socially readable. Self-harm is an unhealthy communication skill, and learning new skills will help you stop self-harming.

Is it motherhood or mental illness that makes me so anxious about my child? My daughter is two and a half, and I'm learning that oftentimes toddlers can be more difficult to deal with than infants. She's very mobile and vocal, and I worry all the time. I know it's natural for parents to worry, but how much anxiety is normal? Just about any thought involving the future makes me nervous. I don't know if every mother feels the same, or if my mental illness intensifies my fears. Maybe you can help me decide if my fears are those of motherhood or mental illness.

Conflict resolution skills are important because interpersonal conflict can be tricky, but there are simple skills you can use to resolve conflict with ease. Recently, I employed my best conflict resolution skills when I accompanied my sister to her wedding dress fitting. Anyone who has planned a wedding knows how stressful it can be. There is so much pressure to put it all together, and emotions can run high. It is helpful to expect some conflict and to be prepared to use healthy conflict resolution skills.

Food affects my depression and anxiety and not in the best of ways. I haven't always had a healthy relationship with food. For me, I have found that what I eat affects the way I feel, and how I feel affects what I eat. As with a lot of things, it can easily spin into a downward spiral if not watched carefully ("Which Foods Help Your Depression?"). Read this article to learn more about how my food choices affect my depression and anxiety. 

Did you know you can short-circuit your anxious thoughts? You can, and I'll tell you how.

Almost every time we talk about mental health, we use mental illness to refer to a mood disorder. Although this term is correct (as it refers to an unhealthy condition that requires some type of treatment), it could make some of its patients feel inferior to the disease. So perhaps it would positively impact our wellness journeys to simply call these illnesses mental health conditions. To learn more about my views on this topic, read this article.

People underestimate how powerful compassion is for getting through tough times. Sure, facing hard realities is a necessary part of recovery and tough love can be beneficial. But, ultimately, I believe it's the power of compassion that'll help us through the hardest moments and that it's the most beneficial to those with mental illness and their loved ones.

Intrusive thoughts can sometimes accompany obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety disorders like generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Intrusive thoughts are disturbing to experience, and they can cause extreme stress and heightened anxiety. They can invade the mind without warning; further, they can be dark and downright terrifying. The previous post examined what the intrusive thoughts of OCD and anxiety are and are not. (Quick review: intrusive thoughts are not a sign that you or someone you know is a terrible person.) Now let's explore how to deal with these intrusive thoughts so you can reduce anxiety and discomfort.

I'd like to discuss ways you can protect your mental health while we cope with depression because World Mental Health Day is Wednesday, October 10, 2018. Depression itself is stressful enough on our brains, but then certain outside factors exist that can make things worse. How can we avoid, or limit, these stress-inducing situations and people that can worsen our depression? I've discovered some strategies that protect your mental health and work for me, and I'd like to share them with you.

My anxiety has caused me to take more time off work, and I couldn’t be happier. This is a refreshing change. Too often, this blog has become a catalog of instances when anxiety leads to hardship. Perhaps this is to be expected. But anxiety can, counterintuitive as it may seem, lead to valuable insights not often shared by those without it, as is the case here when I took some time off of work to handle my anxiety.