I understand age-related anxiety. I’m going to turn 25 on the 21st of January. This is, of course, hardly an advanced age but, still, it feels like kind of a landmark birthday. The Internet is littered with lists of things that you should do and places you should travel to by this age, almost as if it is some sort of cut off date for being young and reckless. And I've never, in all honesty, been all that good at being young and reckless. I’m incredibly cautious and am terrified of most things so the thought of dropping everything and going backpacking in some faraway country is beyond my comprehension. This is, of course, difficult, as photographic depictions of youth in the media generally focus on perfectly slim, young things with seemingly limitless bank accounts leaping from waterfalls and laughing in exotic locations (Body-Image Distortion a Growing Problem Among Women and Men). Age-related anxiety is something I'm experiencing.

It's likely you want to feel confident and happier this year right? Who doesn't? Whether you've set a New Year's resolution, decided on a goal or simply want to feel confident and secure more often, getting clear on why you want these things can help. These 15 questions will help you get clear on what you want and how to feel confident now.

Avoidance is common in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) sufferers when triggered. Wanting to hide or run away from certain situations or avoiding negative emotions that come up is almost automatic for me when I'm dealing with PTSD symptoms. PTSD Symptom avoidance, especially emotional, may work to alleviate feelings of anxiety and panic for the short-term, but in the long run, avoidance can worsen PTSD symptoms and make life more difficult.

It's officially wintertime and a lot of people ask me how they can continue binge eating disorder self-care when they can't do things like go for walks, go to the beach, and enjoy being outdoors. Just because you're inside doesn't mean you can't practice self-care. When you have binge eating disorder, it's important to not only avoid your binge eating disorder triggers, but to take care of yourself as well. Add some new items to your routine and have fun while practicing wintertime self-care for binge eating disorder.

There are many stereotypes about alcoholics that enable denial that developed through years of misinformation, changing research, and biased opinions. These misconceptions about alcoholism, and the people who suffer from it, are arguably the biggest barrier to individuals seeking help. Alcoholics use stereotypes to justify their drinking habits and explain why they cannot possibly be an alcoholic (Identifying and Diagnosing Alcoholism). If the stereotypes about alcoholics were debunked and known to be attributes not exclusive to alcoholics, these excuses would be harder to find. Without stereotypes about alcoholics, it would be harder to enable denial. 

Schizoaffective disorder/schizophrenia and dealing with a crisis can be challenging. My brain is always making up crises. I can’t turn them off even though I know they are part of my schizoaffective and general anxiety disorders. After an initial psychotic episode, I was first diagnosed with schizophrenia, and then re-diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. Schizophrenia involves serious, but treatable, delusions and hallucinations. Schizoaffective disorder is a type of bipolar disorder, with milder symptoms of schizophrenia and a lot of anxiety that so often accompanies bipolar disorder. I make crises out of situations that are certainly uncomfortable but not “the end of the world” in reality. So, as people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, how do we deal with real crises when our brains are used to making every little thing into a crisis?

When you have anxiety, it can be hard to be calm or to feel calm. The anxious brain behaves like a pinball machine: areas, systems, structures, hormones, and neurotransmitters zing anxiety and accompanying thoughts and feelings around and send them ricocheting around our very being. The result is that it seems impossible to be calm with anxiety. You don't have to let anxiety control you. Here are three creative ways to be calm when you have anxiety. 

Dealing with denial in dissociative identity disorder is key. Denial is a defense mechanism we have likely all engaged in at various points in our lives. At times, denial can be a useful method to help us cope. When it comes to your dissociative identity disorder (DID), however, denial can lead to a breakdown in system communication and can hinder treatment efforts.

The New Year brings the opportunity for lots of shame triggers. Do you feel overweight? Underpaid? Messy? It is important to know and identify your shame triggers so you can live a happy life—free of the grip of shame (Perfectionism And Self-Esteem).

For years, I looked into the mirror, and all I could see was my bipolar disorder. I felt worthless. I wondered every day if my family would be better off if they just quit loving me. Maybe everyone would be better off if they forgot to feed me, forgot to look for me, let go of fighting for me. I believed the lies my bipolar disorder told me. I spent all my time and energy staring into a mirror that was lying to me. But now I know that it is possible to put down that mirror. It is possible to find self-love and acceptance when I refuse to listen to the lies of my mental illness, and instead look to the people who love me to help me define my self-worth.