Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person. ~ Albert Einstein Mastering Your Life, Unveiled What does mastering your life really mean? It means visualizing the life you want, mapping it out, and taking intentional steps to create it. I often ask people: what are your interests? What do want out of your career? Where would you like to retire? What brings you joy? Most people respond, “I really don’t know.” More often than not they are struggling emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. The prevailing desire is for inner calm, peace and focus.

The moment my 12-year-old son ran out the front door, I locked it. The temperature that evening was 17 degrees. Bob was wearing basketball shorts, a tank top and no shoes. Earlier he was playing with knives and making threats. My mind struggled as he banged on the door begging me to let him in. Finally, I unlocked the back door to the basement and told him to go around the house. He slept downstairs (behind a locked door) while my family slept safely upstairs. The next day Bob was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Stop lying to yourself and start getting real about what's holding you back from feeling developing healthy self-esteem. Gain self-esteem and get honest with yourself with this vlog.

In childhood I really believed the phrase, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." I learned to smile all the time so that people liked me. I rarely ever complained, since I knew that so many people in the world had things in their lives far worse than I could imagine. It's no wonder that my family and friends only learned about my depression symptoms and feelings when I became actively suicidal.

Throughout my life, I've been known to be a worrier. To be honest, “worrier” is a bit of an understatement. Better descriptors of my worry are generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder. I've lost countless hours of sleep and taken enjoyment out of the most joyful activities simply by worrying and ruminating. Why didn't I do this? Why did I say that? What if this happens? What if that doesn't happen? At one point in my life this was quite problematic for my well-being. Happily, I've overcome this. Of course anxiety flares, and it does it pretty frequently. What’s different now is that I've learned to use anxiety to my advantage. It’s a very effective strategy that you might want to have in your anxiety-fighting toolbox.

Unfortunately combat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders go hand-in-hand for many people. In 2008, almost 22% of Veteran’s Administration (VA) patients were also diagnosed with a substance use disorder and in those hospitalized for PTSD, 70% also had a substance use disorder. And research shows that those who are diagnosed with both disorders have poorer long-term outcomes than those who are diagnosed with either one alone. However, there are treatment process recommendations that can improve the outcomes of combat PTSD and comorbid (co-occurring) substance use disorders.

Within the psychotic mind lies a mysterious place filled with voices and shadowy figures. Therein lies persecution and horror of otherworldly origin. What is it that brings this terror to us? Schizophrenia is a disease that is toxic to our minds, and brings on unusual beliefs and behaviors. An extension of these beliefs are dark, eerie voices from unseen places. These voices come from various origins and seem to have a conscious of their own. How is it that our minds can hear voices from nothingness? Is this a cruel trick of nature? How can a disease be so bizarre and menacing? The voices can unfold in different ways. For me, the beliefs and voices are one and the same. They mesh together to create a woven pattern of unreality, both tortuous and unseen.

When you're anxious, getting things done can feel like a Herculean effort. How do you make sense of the tangle of your to-do list items so you can actually do them? In this post, I'll explore some strategies for listing, prioritizing, and executing tasks.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post entitled, What Do You Say to Someone During an Anxiety Attack? It was written from the perspective of someone with an anxiety disorder - me - helping someone through an anxiety attack. While this proved to be one of my more popular blog posts, it raised one very big question that I had not considered when I wrote it: What do you say to someone having a panic attack if you have never had one yourself? The comments I received on the subject questioned whether or not a friend or relative could offer any support at all. One comment stated, “It sounds like anxiety attack support is meaningless, but there must be something a relative could do.”

My name is Jimmy Durham. I’m happy to be joining the talented contributing writers at HealthyPlace. Their passion and compassion are evident; that’s a thrilling thing of which to be part. I hope to be entertaining and informative on the topic of living with adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). My primary goal is to give readers something to think about, and connect them with the right information for them, but I also think we can have some fun at the same time.