Without acceptance as part of our anxiety treatment, the number of ways to treat anxiety, including meditation, medication, repetitive activities, and cognitive behavioral therapy won't work well. We are all different and experience anxiety in different ways. This means each anxiety management method has its own pros and cons for each of us, yet no anxiety treatment can be completely effective without one key ingredient: Acceptance. 

I was diagnosed with schizophrenia in school during 1998. I’ve spent the time since then rebuilding my life while getting re-diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder along the way. I remember that period as a terrible time for me and it doesn’t get any happier as American culture launches a nostalgia kick for the 1990s. I’ll always love Tori Amos’ records, but it’s not a time I want to revisit. Falling into a psychotic episode changed me forever and, although I love my life now, I don’t want to reminisce about the terrified person I became when I was first diagnosed with schizophrenia at school.

What causes my anxiety? Why am I so anxious? As if anxiety itself weren’t bad enough, not knowing what causes anxiety can make matters even worse. It’s natural to want to know just what is making you feel the worry and fear of generalized anxiety disorder, the dread of people and social situations of social anxiety disorder, the unease of separation anxiety disorder, the frights of phobias, or the death-grip of panic disorder/panic attacks. Knowing what causes any type of anxiety can be an important part of the puzzle and can help you move forward. 

  Our mind's response to anxiety affects our self-esteem, sense of control, and how we see the world around us. When we experience anxiety symptoms, our feelings and thoughts get so wound up in the body’s stress response that we may want to run. We want to shed this thing that won’t leave us alone. In my own struggle with anxiety, I’ve found a seemingly counterintuitive response to anxiety that helps me shift my experience and reduce anxiety.

Attending college with a mental illness can be very challenging. The stress of your course load can exacerbate your mental health symptoms. If you’re attending a school away from home, being far from your family or support system can add even more pressure. My time in college was a very long and bumpy road, but when I slowed down and put my mental health first, I was finally able to graduate in 2014. Here’s how I survived college with a mental illness.

I've learned a lot from living with bipolar 2 disorder. I'm sharing what bipolar disorder has taught me. Maybe it will help you.

Could you be an easy target for verbal abuse? Or have you ever wondered why you were verbally abused in a relationship? By that, I don't just mean why your partner was abusive, but more specifically why he picked you as his target. The general consensus seems to be that anyone can fall prey to an abuser, but is that really the case, or are some people more susceptible to emotional abuse and manipulation than others? Are some of us easy targets for verbal abuse?

Depression has been a part of my life since I was 12, and sometimes I think I've heard every depression myth in the book. Unfortunately, a lot of depression myths are prevalent because they are perpetuated in media and sometimes even affect our loved ones. Learning to tune out myths about depression helped me understand myself more.

My name is Shelby Tweten and I’m the new coauthor of Mental Health for the Digital Generation. I have struggled with mental illness as long as I can remember. I am diagnosed with bipolar type II as well as borderline personality disorder, but I was wrongly diagnosed for years. I first went to therapy when I was eight years old. Originally labeled as depressed, when I was 14, I was put on medication that later threw me into a medically-induced manic episode. After being diagnosed with bipolar when I was 17, I decided to audition for American Idol. On the show, I talked about my struggle with bipolar and how music helped me get through it. With all that going on and still being in high school, staying on medication was hard for me. When you're good, you think you're fantastic, which leads you to think you can handle life without your medication. This is wrong.