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When faced with a difficult situation, it can be overwhelming and sometimes lead to low self-esteem and self-doubt. This makes it hard to stay motivated and confident. In my experience, it is important to develop coping mechanisms that help you over the long term because everyone experiences difficult times in their lives.
I'm demisexual—I'll explain what that is. The first sign that I was on the asexual spectrum was back when I was in middle school. I remember driving in the car with my mom getting annoyed as I listened to the radio. Every song was about sex, love, or drugs. I didn't understand why the themes for music were so narrow. People could sing about anything, yet they would always sing about the same old things. I off-handedly said, "Why is every song about sex? Can't they sing about something else?"
People often hide their depression well. We don’t want to worry our loved ones. We fear being judged and stigmatized—even now when mental illness is much better understood and accepted than in decades past. We may see our disease as a weakness, something that we need to tackle alone. Maybe we’re in denial, hiding our depression not only from others but from ourselves. 
Leaving verbal abuse behind is hard. Verbal abuse can be traumatic for individuals of any age, regardless of how much exposure there is to this harmful behavior. Of course, each person is unique and will react in different ways when facing verbal abuse. These responses can determine how effective it is to leave verbal abuse behind and move toward a healthy and happy life.
It's common knowledge that too much stress is bad for our health, but those of us with a mental health diagnosis can face another risk from stress, which is increased symptoms. As part of my self-care or lifestyle monitoring, I try to reduce how much stress I experience daily to manage anxiety and schizophrenia symptoms.
This year, I started training for a particularly ambitious fitness goal: a 10-day trek in the Himalayan Mountains. In October 2023, I will travel to Nepal and embark on the adventure of a lifetime, but first, I need to acclimate to hiking in extreme weather conditions at the highest altitude on earth. That's no small feat for someone who lives in Phoenix, Arizona, a desert with minimal elevation.
You may remember me as the blogger who wrote for "Work and Bipolar or Depression" or "Coping with Depression" here at HealthyPlace. While blogging on this platform has been a career highlight, I took time off from writing about depression for my mental health. Now that I am better, I feel grateful for the opportunity to write for "Mental Health for The Digital Generation." Although I wish I had never left, I know why I needed to do so: we live in a chaotic world where regular mental health breaks are essential.
In 1999, when I was in fifth grade, a police officer came to our school dressed in a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) t-shirt. He was carrying a gun and wearing a stern face. Without any words, he communicated that using drugs led to extreme consequences. His lecture taught us that drug addicts deserve to be locked up. But criminalizing addiction turned out to be more hurtful than helpful.
Have you ever had a moment that makes you question every bit of recovery you’ve achieved to that point? I have—recently, I questioned my skin picking recovery. 

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Elizabeth Caudy
Dear William, thank you for your comment. I can definitely relate to it and I'm sure a lot of other people can, too. Best, Elizabeth
Devils-Avocado
I have just read this and actually had a little bit of a tear up. I'm a Brit on a waiting list for ADHD assessment. I have always had trouble buying clothes (and other things). Everything has to be just, just, perfect...every damn detail. I used to do exactly as described in stores but online shopping has made this worse. If I'm looking for something I end up with bags of clothes bought online (100's of £'s worth) which I'll go round and round trying on for days before returning at the 11th hour. It drives my partner (and me too, actually) batty having all this stuff in the corner of the bedroom. Currently it's summer trousers...omg.
I wonder if potential ADHD-ness also has something to do with the way I obsess, to the point of tears, over what I'm wearing to certain key things/events that really matter to me: evening out, work thing, seeing old friends after a while. I have to allow extra hours to go through the wardrobe rotation. I have been known not to go if it's just not right.
Gg
Fight hard and support your son through this hard time eventually the truth will come to light and your son will be heard.
William morgan
I am diagnosed with Schizzoaffective disorder and the part of my sickness I hate the most is severe anxiety. It attacks me from the pit of my stomach to my brain. I get so afraid that something terribly wrong has happened. Also, I’m afraid to see or be seen by my neighbors at times. This is a difficult thing because I enjoy getting out of the house at times. My anxiety is worse in the morning after waking up. I have no social life at all because i shy away from any kind of human interaction because I have social anxiety also. I freeze up in fear and all I can do is listen to others around me talking, and I am in fear to talk or communicate with others.
Lynn
Hi Kathleen, I am a pastors wife with Bi-polar 2 and I hear how you miss hearing and feeling God as He once was. I hope by now he has found better meds. I’ve also found other causes to my mental illnesses that have helped them work better. Ie my copper levels were very high from Wilson’s disease brought on by a rare bacterial infection from farming called Whipples disease. When they were Chelated, I had 10 years of feeling so well. Also have found a gene that interferes with neurotransmitters that aid serotonin levels. And take TMG an amino acid that helps too, I’m only heterozygous of this gene but I wish I could remember more to help more. The last factor that’s affected my moods is having hyperaldosteronism… an adrenal disorder that can effect our ability to cope.
So a copper, zinc cerruloplasma blood test. Anything higher than 17 is symptomatic even though a bells curve in science has the level higher. The Bill Walsh institute is dedicated to these bio chemical issues. Not sure where in the states they are.
Then aldosterone renin ration for adrenals. … early symptoms are a higher diastolic blood pressure than normal. But eventually it leads to hypertension that seems resistant to meds.. took them ten years to do this blood test on me with hypertension.
Hope ruling out things means he gets a better hold on it. But sometimes my favorite bible verse for my low mood times is “And it came to pass”