1-1-1: yes, you are "sick" enough
read about how I decided to ask for help and my thoughts on 'recovery' and 'healing.'
february, 2023
edition 08.
can I just say that you guys submit the best questions for me to answer. I am forever floored by the amount of support I get from my passion projects, both this newsletter and the podcast!
I had a rough couple of weeks but I feel like I’m (mostly) on the other side of it now. thank you for the patience and support while I navigate some of my worst limiting beliefs and thoughts. I am so grateful for each and every one of you reading this right now.
you can expect one email from me every week containing:
one quote that has been inspiring me
one journal prompt
one piece of advice*
* = if you want to submit a question for my upcoming emails, you can find the form here.
announcements
a new pod episode is out, this one is about college. I talk burnout, balance as a student, choosing your major, and finding a community — listen to it on apple and spotify <3
one quote
[a sign] your mental breakdown is actually an emotional breakthrough
“you’ve decided you’re not going to be the victim of your own mind anymore.
people don’t have breakdowns unless they are on the precipices of ‘breakthroughs.’ breakdowns—or any kind of intense mental-emotional turmoil—are always a sign that things ar in thee process of changing. otherwise, they’d just be ‘normal.’ you’re done accepting your old ‘normal,’ and you’re onto bigger, better, brighter, happier things.”
—brianna weist, from 101 essays that will change the way you think (pg 155)
one journal prompt
is it difficult for me to accept and acknowledge my feelings?
one piece of advice
“before you got diagnosed, how did you come to the conclusion that you needed professional help? what were some signs that you noticed?”
I talk a lot about my mental health journey (including diagnoses, etc) in my podcast episode the person behind the podcast so I would recommend checking that out! here’s a brief synopsis:
— I took a lot of ‘am I depressed?’ quizzes when I was 11 years old. I learned about mental health diagnoses through tumblr at the time, and I felt like I could unfortunately relate to feelings of hopelessness and underlying anxiety.
— I had to get parental consent to see my first therapist since I was still a minor (17)
— I was officially diagnosed by a psychiatrist a few months after and started medication (the same medication that I currently take!)
some of the big signs that made me take the leap to look into mental health/get an official diagnosis was the following:
persistent sadness
loss of interest in my daily life/activities
constant irritability
sleeping more than usual (8+ hours) and having trouble getting out of bed in the morning
inability to concentrate on academics/self motivate for years
self harm tendancies
my biggest takeaway from all of this is please don’t wait 6 years (like me) to get an official diagnosis.
you are sick enough.
you don’t need to look a certain way or check off 14/15 of the boxes on an ‘am I depressed’ quiz to warrant getting professional mental health, whether that be a therapist or a psychiatrist*. you are allowed to take up space. you are allowed to ask for help.
(*for reference, a therapist cannot officially diagnose you or prescribe medication! I see my therapist 1x a week and my psychiatrist 2x a year / as needed.)
until we meet again,
katie