Me, My Friends, and Mental Health

In this episode, M brings a high school friend to the podcast to discuss her journey across the last four years of school. This podcast provides insight into different ways people deal with mental health, depression, and relationships. The two individuals share personal experiences and observations through an honest and open dialogue of providing help and support to each other and themselves. 

M took a long break to focus on her college applications during her senior year. In this podcast, M shares her experience and struggles with the anxiety she experienced through this process and how it impacted her friends and family. This heartfelt episode was done by M to speak directly to her audience members who may be experiencing, and preparing to experience, this specific milestone in their own lives. M is back and focused on her podcast friends and will be dropping 2-3 new podcasts each month. 

In Episode 8, M. shares how she uses technology and social media while dealing with mental health. There has been a lot of research around this subject, and M. feels that certain platforms can be a "self-soothe" if used in moderation. As always, M. welcomes all comments and feedback. 

This episode is a bit different than previous podcasts. In "My COVID 19 Rant", M. opens up about the impact of COVID 19 on her mental health. She shares how she is feeling right now about her mental health, including anxiety and depression. She also discusses "Suicide Prevention Week" and shares her thoughts on this highly sensitive subject. 

In 15 Emotions & 30 Adjectives, M. continues to share her experiences from therapy sessions. To get the full benefit of this episode, please grab a pencil and paper so you can write down the words listed in this podcast. This podcast showcases an episode you can do as part of a reflection process. M. also shares her experiences with depression and how it felt to battle with those feelings. Note: M. lists 35 adjectives and you can download her worksheet on the website. 

This podcast is shorter in length and was requested by some of the new friends I have made through this podcast (you know who you are). In 2019, I had a horrible car accident and never wanted to get into a car again. I had traumatic nightmares for nearly three months and this experience triggered a bunch of other anxiety I was already feeling. This experience would literally make it hard to breathe and I felt physical pain whenever I actually had to get into a car. I later learned this was called Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. As part of my therapy experience, I discovered EMDR Therapy that I found very beneficial to me. Basically, it helped me reprocess the car accident and lowered my anxiety about the experience. This podcast is about my journey through EMDR, and I hope it sheds some light on this specific therapy. 

In this podcast, M. reviews the skills of Dear Man, an acronym that identifies a process for how to talk to people and get what you want. M. uses this skill when she talks to parents, teachers, and even friends. It is a seven-step process that comes from Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). She also answers a question from a listener about how to talk to parents about mental health. 

This is podcast #3 that focuses on additional skills I learned during one of my therapy sessions. The goal of this strategy, Check The Facts, is to force yourself to verify facts before your emotions take control. This strategy covers:What is the "Check The Facts" skill?How I use it and how you can use it?How you can ask your friends to support you when you have a panic attack?Please give me feedback and let me know if this skill works for you. M.