Anxiety and Mental Health Resources (3/3)
These past few months have been absolutely mad. It seems like we don’t even have time to catch our breath before another wave of heart-gripping bad news come pouring down on us. Pandemic - and incompetent government - black life, after black life, after black life,- and just when it seemed like we were actually kind of finding our footing in the trauma and folks had started posting from the beaches of Tulum…. Africa, which has always really been at a slow simmer, bursts into flames. We are seeing gross injustices all over the continent but the #EndSARS Movement has hit particularly close to home because Nigeria is home and my brothers and sisters are being massacred in the streets for simply protesting to receive their basic human rights. I post and I protest and I donate but it seems like it’s not enough…and this is just the outside world. It doesn’t even speak to all the personal an interpersonal traumas that are happening with our families and friends. These individual hardships which the world isn’t privy to can seem so much more painful in the context of 2020. I don’t know about you but sometimes it feels like, when the world has gone up in flames, seeing sparks in the places you thought were fireproof is simply too much to bear. So I wanted to share some things that have been helping find peace and hold onto joy in this season.
* Everything listed here has been tested out by me but I’m not a professional and I can’t say what will help you. For professional help & resources check out the website of Licensed Therapist Tosin Akintan: https://www.newdefinitions.co/ *
Personal Tips
Read Your Bible Pray Every Day
Prayer is practical! It is not just a sentimental placeholder until you can get some real help. It is real help but it doesn’t have to exist in isolation. It is one of the many tools God has given us to help our mental health. I’m learning to cast my cares on God because they are too heavy for us to bear. God didn’t say he wouldn’t give us more than we can bear, in fact we’re constantly getting more than we can bear, and that’s exactly why need to cast our burdens on the only one that can hold them. The word of God is literally living and there is so much comfort, hope, and peace to be found there. There were also times when I didn’t even have the energy to read my bible so I just fell asleep to Psalms or Romans…thats okay too. (See below for a list of helpful verses)
Meditating
For me this looks a lot like Prayer except I’m silent and focused on God. I don’t necessarily clear my mind. Instead I literally fill it with things of God. Philippians 4:8. It’s an effort to be more in sync with his spirit and allow myself to relax in his presence. (sometimes I fall asleep but that ain’t a problem lol)
Journaling
Journal about the good AND the bad- say what you need to say in your journal but jotting down the moments of joy can give you some much needed perspective and literally get you out of your own head… this one is science google it
Deep breaths
Whether I just need a little extra patience at work or I’m on the verge of a panic attack, deep breathing is a super quick and easy way to release anxiety ESPECIALLY if you’re around other people or your just really busy. do it anywhere, anytime
Practicing gratitude
It seems simple but reflecting on things you’re grateful for in the middle of whatever your feeling is a way to build your home muscle. Yes, hope is a muscle that we need to exercise so it equips us for resilience before things go bad.
Move and Groove
literally get up and move in a way that brings you joy. force your self if you have to. put on that once song and dance, ride a bike and listen to a funny podcast do some yoga, I like to deep stretch, to worship music? with a candle burning?? it’s so good. I’m not saying exercise (although that’s good too) but intensional, embodied movement is a way to relieve sadness and anxiety that’s literally built up in you body (also science)
Social Media Fast
Yeah so the thing is, social media can be very addictive. Everyone knows you should take a break but I’m saying get off….completely for a week…2 weeks…a month. No cap, when I started taking long breaks from social media, my mental, spiritual AND physical health improved significantly. Then I started fasting all secular media and the atmosphere really shifted with that (blog post about this coming soon)
Talk to somebody
Let someone in. We don’t get better in isolation. the mistake I made for a long time was to think that since I did the first 5 things I didn’t need to tell anyone what I was going through. So untrue. We don’t get better in the dark. you can be vulnerable with yourself and vulnerable with God, but theres a special kind of empowering vulnerability that happens when you open up to those around you which isn’t replicable. You can’t just ride it out with you and God, you need people. Vulnerability is so hard trust me I know. I just started practicing it like yesterday, its much easier for me to pour my heart out to my computer than to other humans (hence this blog). But I really do believe it’s necessary to get to a healthy mental place…but it’s hard- to find the right people to speak to…to find the right time to speak your truth… but try. If you can’t find someone close to you, talk to a therapist or a councilor.
Other Resources
Podcasts:
Affirm
Hats off
Talking off the couch
The evolving chair
Ataque de nerves
What’s the remedy
Between sessions
Celeste the therapist
Fireflies Unite podcast
Websites
https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Warning-Signs-and-Symptoms
For Men- https://headsupguys.org/mens-depression/
For Students- https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/resources/student-mental-health-resources/
For grieving- https://www.bosplace.org/en/resource-library/
Music Playlists:
Books
Radical forgiveness - Colin Tipping
The road less traveled and beyond – M Scott Peck
Self-compassion - Kristin Neff
Healing the shame that binds you – John Bradshaw
The body keeps the score – Bessel Van Der Kolk
Boundaries – Dr Henry Cloud
Maybe you should talk to someone – Lori Gottlieb
52 Lists for calm – Moorea Seal
Bible Verses:
James 1:17- Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Isaiah 26:3- You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Psalm 139:7-12- I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave,[a] you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day, Darkness and light are the same to you.
Romans 8:28- And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10- So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.