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3 Reasons Why Men Need To Talk About Mental Health

Day 9 L et’s turn our attention right now to men and their mental health. Come on, guys, you and I know that we deal with it...but are we talking about it? A lot of you may not be doing so. Stop it. Yes, stop not talking about it. Stop shutting up. Stop trying to go along with the credo of “suck it up” and all that crap. All you really are doing is hurting yourself while possibly hurting others. And if you are one of those 1,000 percent testosterone-drinking men, then you really do need to start talking about your mental health. Why am I so damned determined to get men to talk? Because we don’t want to bother anyone.  We’re like our heroes John Wayne and whatever other male you’d like to put in here. Some would put a politician, some would put an entrepreneur, some would put a sports hero. Makes no difference. They have issues with their mind, too. “But what about blah-blah?” a man asks. “He isn’t like me. I’m different than blah-blah. I ain’t scared of nothing.” Sure Bubba, nice try.
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3 Reasons That, I Believe, Sleep Is Important To Your Mental Health

Day 8 (Note - Shhh, can you and I just talk a minute? As you know, these articles are a prelude to my next book on mental health. I am going to continue our conversation for the next three weeks, but I’m taking a slight shift in presentation. You’ll see as, starting today, things will read a bit differently. OK, back to the work at hand. Thanks for your time.)  Getting a good night’s sleep always helps my health. I just got up from some truly solid rest and sleep. It helps me feel better throughout my body, but it also lets me wake up with a refreshed mental state. I know how important that is when focusing on my mental health. Well, I presume the same thing is true for you. Not assuming, but presuming.  Yet I’ll admit that sleeping at a regular time, going to bed at that time, and getting up at a set time hasn’t been effective in my life. I do know that it can be a welcome thing to set up a time and hit the sack. A lot of my professional career has been working at night. You cannot pu
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Disconnect From Things That Hurt You

Day 7 W e learn early in life that what we face isn’t always fair. As children, do we know full well the difference between right and wrong? Some parents will say “no” and enforce their negative response with a spanking. Other parents will use different types of behavior modification, too.  If you asked children who grew up in less-than-stellar environments, then they might say that their caregivers didn’t care. Those children learned that their parents or guardians were too busy dealing with their own lives that they didn’t have time to focus on boundaries, protection, and safety for the kids. Yes, there are some parents who learned from their parents who grew up during the Depression in the United States. They really learned about surviving through scarcity. They never had time to get in touch with their “feelings or attitudes” because their goals were formed by their parents. Work in the fields. Go and do something constructive to bring in money.  But what do millions of people know
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Do Your Best To Not Let Your Mind Go To Waste

Day 6 L et’s spend some time talking about keeping your mind clean and clear. This is something you and I both must strive to do. What do I mean by “keeping your mind clean and clear?” I’m saying it is important to do certain activities that promote having a healthy mind. There are many ways to approach this...and we all know how much negativity we cross in our lives. We have negativity at home, at work, on our radios, in news headlines, etc. You know about these “dark traps” out there. I’ve been prone to take sojourns along the roadway of dark traps and the result is I go into the ditch. The goal is to have a healthy mind for most of your waking hours. For those of us with depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, or some other mental health issue, we have to seek this higher place and nurture it. I know it might be hard to comprehend the power of nurturing, especially when it comes to your mind. Knowledge and wisdom gained do count toward healthy mental states. You have those
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The Terrible Triggers of a Troubled Man

Day 5 A man walks up to a friend of his, sees him twitching and twirling, and just wonders what’s going on with him. “What’s eating at ya, bro?” he asks. His friend stands still, looks at him in the face, and says, “These triggers are killing me.” “Whaddya mean, triggers?” “I’m telling you about those things that get to me and bother me. They sent me into troubled land, man. I cannot even get to sleep some nights. Don’t look at me like I’m crazy. These triggers trouble me.” And so, I will leave those two friends alone and come to center stage. It’s just you and me now. No one else is around. Yeah, triggers get me down. Not like rainy days and Mondays, but still, they are triggers. A trigger, when it comes to mental health, is an activity, memory, thought, or object that stirs up shit inside. Triggers are different things for different people. But let me share with you one type of trigger for me. When I hear an ambulance roaring by with its sirens, many times I’ll feel like my body is
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Be Kind To Your Mind Because Losing It Hurts

Day 4 L osing your mind is not something to joke about. If you look around where you live, then probably you can find some example in another human with this problem. They have “lost their minds.” Do we ever really lose that part of ourselves? Man, I think we do. Well, I think I do and have. My life has been like a zig-zag of emotions and feelings that keep me on the run. If Paul McCartney ever thought about rewriting “Band On The Run,” then I’d suggest he write “Man On The Run.” Oh, come on, now. Men and women run from things all the time. For instance, I’ve run away from people and places so many times that the list would be infinite. That is not good and not healthy. Nor does it foster goodwill and acceptance from other people. If I am always running, then when do I take time to be kind to my mind?  Chile, please.  One of the things that has impressed me about reading and even doing trauma recovery work is the fact that our brains store sensations and images. Imagine having a caregi
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Anxiety Drops Her Calling Card When You Don't Expect It

Day 3 I f you tried to capture anxiety in a bottle, then would it be like lightning? We know that anxiety can make humans have emotional instability in their minds and bodies. We’re left to ponder how her calling card affects human beings. Now let me say something before going on. I have dealt with anxiety for most of my life. God knows I wish it were not true. Yet recent readings that I have gone head-first into learning more about trauma and its effects on people leave me with no other conclusion. Anxiety can feel like an extreme force of life pouring through veins and arteries. It can leave me in a perplexed state. Like it might happen in the calmest of environments. After the storm passes, I end up asking (to myself), “What the hell just happened?” This constant state of anxiety can just leave me feeling drained. Ever wake up in the morning and feel like you want to go back to bed? Yeah. I know that feeling. We look at people who are calm, rational, and reasonable most of the time.
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