Click here to access a written transcript of this episode.
Pretty much everyone I know (myself included) has been riding the emotional struggle bus lately. Between the contentious presidential election that is finally behind us and the ongoing global pandemic, 2020 has been a flaming dumpster fire of a year for most people. That's why in today's episode, I'm focusing on mental health.
When I talk about mental health, I’m referring to your cognitive, behavioral, and emotional well-being, including your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Some hallmarks of mental health are how well you’re able to cope with life's stressors, how well you’re able to stabilize your mood, how you perceive yourself and the world around you, how you show up in and manage relationships with other people, and how present you’re able to be in your own life.
Given the state of the world, I wanted to offer some of my favorite mental health tools that you might want to add to your resilience toolkit. The 5 strategies for improving mental health that I cover in detail in this episode include:
- Giving yourself space to be creative.
- Learning to differentiate between your first thought and what comes next.
- Getting more strategic about what you say yes and no to.
- Developing stronger self-parenting skills.
- Recognizing when you need help and asking for it.
It's important to remember that everyone's experience of mental health is different, and our mental health is affected by a lot of factors (many of which are not in our control). Additionally, mental health strategies are not one-size-fits-all. So some or all of these strategies may not work for you, may not be accessible to you, or may need to be tweaked to work better for you
Mentioned in This Episode
- Nailed It! TV show
- First thoughts vs second thoughts Tumblr post
- The Body Is Not An Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
- Feeling, Dealing, and Healing with Tiffany Roe | #62
- Making Therapy More Inclusive with Melody Li | #38
Featured in This Episode
Shohreh Davoodi (she/her) was the host of the Conjuring Up Courage podcast during the show's three-year run. Currently, Shohreh is focusing her attention on being a writer and creator. You can keep up with Shohreh by subscribing to her newsletter, The Queer Agenda, and following her on Instagram and TikTok.
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The Queer Agenda
The Queer Agenda is a newsletter dedicated to uplifting LGBTQIA+ folks (where our accomplices benefit too) by sharing thoughtful tools, strategies, advice, and encouragement to help us heal and come home to ourselves. It’s equal parts warm hug, gentle kick in the ass, and queer magic.