Enchanted Forests Against Intrusive Thoughts
One thing that most of us millennials have in common is that the concept of mental health, and overall mental hygiene is not something we have openly discussed at home, schools, with our peers, or any other social interactions while growing up.
Depending on where we were born and raised in the world, the level of focus on mental health varies and the topic of mental health and how to attend it came at later stages in our lives.
Where I am from, ‘not being ok’ was resolved with a physical activity, a chore, or a simple dismissal because silently or openly stating that you are not ok meant you are 'just being dramatic’. Apart from dismissal, labels would have been thrown at our faces like ‘you are just like that’, ‘you are too sensitive’, and my favourite ‘you are just spoiled’. With both feet on the ground deep into adulthood, I was pleased to find out that I was not the only one. As mental health awareness started advancing with the world, so did the openness about personal struggles, patterns we have all noticed, and freedom to choose your mental health as a priority as well as professional help. The last one is what I find the most impactful because talking to a professional about your mental health struggles does not necessarily mean that you are ‘insane’ or ‘difficult’, you were just strong enough for a really long time and now you’ve taken back control of your life.
One of my personal struggles, but also the topic I have been exposed to the most is anxiety. From discussing coping mechanisms, root causes, indications, to stages, I also noticed that many people in my surroundings aren’t really aware what anxiety is or cannot easily determine if their poor mental health at the moment is the result of prolonged anxiety and exposure to various stressors without support. Luckily I have learned, the hard way, that I cannot help everyone, and that my experience will not necessarily help the other person if that person is not self-aware or declines acknowledging certain mental struggles as something normal and solvable, rather than an issue as they were thought to believe.
One good thing about social media is that there are people out there who also talk about anxiety so their messages can reach a larger audience. What I didn’t find on my feed is that once you become self-aware and start learning about anxiety as a concept, learn to recognise the signs in yourself and others, you have unlocked invaluable life skill that will not necessarily make your life easier, but it will help you deal with those episodes better and maybe faster, depending on the situation.
Through my lovely, exciting, and adventurous anxious life, one of the things that I love the most about dealing with such a constant state of vibrating and dark mind is that you need to know yourself to be able to find good coping mechanism and an activity that aligns with your true self to be able to even start relaxing. No one else can do it for you.
I didn’t know then, but I do now, as a kid the only thing that truly made me happy is books, reading, and talking about books and reading. When I found myself again in later stages of life, so did my favourite pastime which is part of my personality through and through.
Therefore, with today being World Mental Health day, I am writing this for me and anyone who reads this as a reminder that reading can also help with anxiety, with all those repetitive thoughts and ‘what ifs’ and all the scenarios where mental exhaustion won and there was nothing left.
I found that fiction, no matter which category and subcategory helped me a lot primarily because reading about someone else’s struggles showed me:
Ways someone else, no matter how fictional they are, is dealing with everything thrown at them. It's easier to observe other people's problems - it's just in our human nature.
How an anxious mind can also work wonders when imagining distant fictional lands and magical beings, not only imagining worst case scenarios
How there are universal human traits but unique ways of using such traits depending on the situation and surroundings.
How it’s ok to get lost in a work of fiction rather than get lost in the fictitious situations we develop in our anxious brains.
How reading about absurd situations can help me change perspective on my own absurd thoughts.
How 'this' in "this too shall pass" passes faster when I am reading.
And most importantly how talking about what I read and what I like can lower cortisol levels I've never imagined possible.
So if you are anxious, exhausted, burnt out; if you feel lost, alone in your head, you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, if life feels difficult and it seams even worse in your head, know that you are not the only one. Start with finding where lies your true passion without all the roles life has given you (mother, daughter, sister, husband, father, brother, friend, employee, advisor, everyone’s shoulder to cry on...). When you find something that’s so YOU and only for YOU, then the world will not be as loud and dark.
Check out my Instagram Page and latest posts that helped me and my mental health more than any self-help books ever did.
