29/01/2026
How are you managing anxiety and depression?
As seasonal depression season teams up with the continuing 2020's sh*tshow, I'm spending more and more time tending to the symptoms that I know will derail me if I ignore them.
Knowing an anxious depressed me is a non functional me, prioritizing my mental health is the foundation of my wellness plan.
My top 10 mental health tools are
1 Breathing exercises- a favorite because they can literally be done mid conversation to help me maintain my calm. Good for me and whomever I'm staying calm near 😉
2 Journaling- writing it out helps me work through most things. The daily brain dump allows me to get the anxious thoughts out in the open where I can see them better.
3 Mindfulness- being in the here and now keeps me from spiraling in the land of doom.
4 Grounding- using my senses to remind myself what is happening here and now, helps me get back to the things I can control when my brain tries to take me into that doom spiral.
5 Talking it out- Sharing how I feel with someone who can hear me, helps me feel understood and heard. Human brains need that.
6 Feel Good distractions- I use books and movies to distract myself from the things I simply have no control over.
7 Creating- I find the creative process very calming. I also use art to unwind my nervous system, activities like coloring allow my brain to slow down and focus on something simple.
8 Music- Music, especially feel good tunes about positive things, can be extremely uplifting. It is also one of my favorite positive distractions.
9 Affirmations- Repeating or writing down positive statements helps me reassure myself. The intentional shift of perspective keeps me from drowning in a sea of negative thoughts.
10 Let it out- sometimes you just have to cry, scream, rage. Because sometimes the fear and sadness are very real. We all deal with big grief in life. Learning to allow it the space to pass through helps it move on instead of festering.
