My Journey to Better Mental Health 

As I entered middle age, my mind and body changed — and my stress relievers no longer served their intended purpose. Anxiety about parenting a child approaching adolescence; the need to help unwell parents; and not having fully dealt with childhood trauma resulted in an unpeaceful mind. These things, combined with the stress of COVID-19 times, caused my mental health to suffer. 

Thankfully, my friends and I discuss our stressors. During one of our ‘socially distanced’ visits, they shared the support their primary care doctors offered, including therapy referrals. 

Awareness and strategies 

It has been a year and half since I began talk therapy to alleviate my day-to-day stress of OCD and PTSD. 

My therapist has given me some excellent strategies of self-talk when I find myself going overboard in planning for guests or special events at work. She reminded me that during those events, my guests and co-workers would rather have quality time with me than see the extravagant steps I took to impress them.

Now, whenever I find myself adding to my menu or ideas for an event, I consciously cut my plans in half and without guilt. My therapist’s advice: Nobody knows that you cut your to-do list in half. You can enjoy yourself by doing less than you planned, and will still be able to show your best efforts. 

Although it has been tough at times, knowing that I can speak to my therapist about my mental health has truly saved my sanity.