As many of you may already know, October 10th was World Mental Health Day. I’ve talked about my own mental health struggles on my blog plenty of times before, but it felt like a fitting time to talk about it again. I know plenty of you out there deal with your own troubles as well. And while no two situations are exactly the same, I’ve found talking about it with others helps to find new creative ways to fight back against unhealthy or intrusive thoughts.

A few years ago, I mentioned I’ve struggled with anxiety as well as obsessive compulsive disorder. Nowadays, I feel it’s becoming a lot more normal for people to experience anxiety to some extent, and there is a ton of information out there on how to cope. OCD is pretty common too, although again the extremity of it varies from person to person. 

I’ve talked about some of the situations I’ve struggled with each of them before, but today I want to talk about some of the ways I deal with my anxiety and OCD and how I fight back. 

First, like I’ve said in many, many blogs, I exercise every day. Exercise is how I deal with my stress and anxiety. If I can’t work out, I become a mess. It’s a great form of release and much healthier than punching people. I work out hard 6 days a week, and I always give myself one rest day every week so that I don’t kill myself trying to deal with my anxiety. Even on rest days though, I’ll spend some time stretching and I still walk the dog, so it’s not like I do NOTHING. The more I move, the less I stress. I recommend trying it. 

Next, I journal. Every night, I take a few minutes to get all my thoughts out on paper. It feels better to get it all out there in the open and not bottle it up. Sometimes, I have thoughts come up during the day that I obsess over – that’s where the OCD comes in and tries to ruin my day. I’ve started using the “notes” app on my phone to get these thoughts out right away so I don’t dwell on them longer than I have to. 

This is something relatively new I’ve been working on, so it’s not always successful, but overall, I do think it has helped. I write down whatever is bothering me in the notes and then I leave it until the end of the day. At the end of the day, I come back to anything I may have written down, and THEN I decide if it’s something worth losing sleep over. Usually after I give it a few hours, I don’t find it as bad as I did originally. I do think it has helped! 

Next, when I’m having a particularly bad day, I like to escape from reality altogether. I’ve always loved reading, and even on good days I like to read. But I find it especially helpful on those days where I need to escape from my own life and live life through a fictional character for a little while. This is also one of a million reasons I love to write stories. When I’m writing, I can create whatever situation or world I want to. And sometimes, I forget any troubles I may have going on. Even if just for a little while. 

I’m also not afraid to admit that I’ve been on medication and seen a few different therapists for both anxiety and OCD. There’s no shame in getting a little extra help if you need it. I’m a huge champion for it, and truly believe both a therapist and meds helped me get through some really hard times. 

I’m also proud to say I haven’t felt the need to see a therapist now in over 5 years, and I’ve been completely off anxiety meds for a year and a half. And I’m feeling pretty good! I feel like I’ve learned a lot about what my body and mind are capable of, and I’m getting better at working myself through the hard times. 

I’m not always working through it alone though. I also truly believe the people in my life now are a huge reason I feel as good as I do. Surrounding yourself with good people really makes a world of difference. If you’re struggling with any kind of mental health, it probably wouldn’t hurt to take a look at those around you and see if they are making the situation worse. If they are, drop em like a hot potato. 

Now, even with all these things I’ve listed above, I will admit I do still have hard days. Some little thing will happen, or I’ll get a thought or memory stuck in my head that won’t go away and I do still struggle sometimes. It very rarely lasts more than a day and I’m able to kick myself out of it, but I know it’s something I will always have to be mindful of. 

Anyway, if you also struggle with mental health, I hope you give some thought to some of the things I’ve listed above. They have definitely helped me and I feel it could help you too. And as always, if you need someone to talk to, I’m always willing to lend an ear or a shoulder to lean on. 

Until next time! 🙂 

Megan Reiffenberger