Prioritizing your mental health can be extremely benefitable to your overall wellbeing. Studies show that mental health issues and physical health issues go hand in hand. In this blog, I will provide tips on how you can begin to prioritize your mental health and start living your best life!

Common Mental Health Issues in the Bel Air, MD Area

 Bel Air residents have very similar mental health issues as the rest of the country. The 3 most common mental health issues are anxiety, depression, and trauma. There are healthy amounts of these mental health issues and there are unhealthy amounts. Everyone experiences anxiety and sadness. It’s a part of life. You should be concerned if these issues are keeping you from living a happy life overall or reaching your goals for yourself. Let’s define each of these common mental health issues and describe a healthy and unhealthy amount.

 Anxiety

Definition: Excessive worrying

 Healthy Amount: For example, if you are a woman walking in a dark alley at 3 am, it’s likely that you are probably experiencing some anxiety. This is your body telling you that you should be alert and ready in case an attacker comes.  

 Unhealthy Amount: Overthinking most things in your life. For example, your boyfriend goes out with his friends to have a drink. You spend the whole night worrying that he is going to cheat on you even though he has never given you a reason to question his loyalty to you. Your worries are so excessive that you cannot sleep at all that entire night and even though he is home by 11 pm and he told you that there was nothing suspicious going on, you still think there is a chance that he cheated.

 Depression

Definition: Excessive sadness

 Healthy Amount: If a parent passes away and you feel very sad as you grieve the loss.

 Unhealthy Amount: You feel sad most days for most of the time to the point where you don’t want to shower, spend time with loved ones, eat, or doing anything enjoyable. Your depression is affecting your personal relationships or your career.

 Trauma

Definition: A response and/or bodily reaction to an event or prolonged exposure to a series of events in which real or perceived threat of survival occurs.

Clarification: most people think trauma only happens when you are involved in events like rape, abuse, or natural disasters. There are other ways for people to become traumatized. (i.e., being bullied, lack of connection with a parent, losing a parent at a young age) Think of it this way, trauma is not about the event, it is the survival response your body experiences as a result of an event.

 Healthy Amount: There have been studies on soldiers who have fought in wars. Some soldiers develop PTSD, while others struggle with their experiences while deployed, but do not develop PTSD symptoms. A healthy amount of trauma symptoms may be hypertension, anxiety, sadness, isolating yourself, low appetite or overeating for a few months.

 It makes sense that someone may need some time to adjust after a traumatic experience. If these symptoms only last for a few months and then you begin to feel better, this may be the natural way your body is dealing with the traumatic event.

 Unhealthy Amount: If someone is sexually assaulted and they experience recurring nightmares, they become startled every time anyone touches them, or they have so much anxiety that they are not able to visit their family because their family is close to the area where they were assaulted. This amount of trauma in your body significantly affects your quality of life.

 REMEMBER: If you are experiencing severe mental health concerns, this does not mean there is something wrong with you or that you’re crazy. It just means that you can benefit from some extra support.

Tips for Managing Stress, Anxiety, and Depression

 Managing your specific mental health issues requires an individualized touch. You must take into consideration your specific needs and what helps to relax you. Here is a list of popular activities that can help relieve stress, anxiety, or depression:

•  Massage Therapy

• Reiki

·       Therapy (there are other kinds of therapy other than traditional talk therapy so do your research)

·      Exercise

·       Building a strong support system

·      Getting an adequate amount of rest and sleep

·      Eating healthy, balanced meals

·       Yoga

·       Meditation

·      Engaging in brain stimulating activities

 This is a list of some of the popular activities I find helpful, but remember, the key is to learn what YOUR body needs in order to have the best quality of life possible.

Benefits of Therapy and Seeking Professional Help

When people think of therapy, they often picture someone sitting with a therapist for an hour and the therapist telling the person what is wrong with them and what to do to fix their issues. This cannot be further from the truth. Participating in therapy provides you with a safe environment to fully explore yourself.

 A common statement I hear often is that people do not see the point of therapy because they already know what is wrong with them. That may be true, but sometimes we need to figure out the root issues of the problem. One of the things I point out to my clients very often is that they are focusing on the consequences or results of an issue, and not the root of the issue.

 An example of a common statement I hear often is, “I just need help not getting angry when my husband and kids make a mess in our house.” Well, there are many things that we can explore in therapy about this topic.

1.     Is your husband helping you with household tasks and responsibilities or are you the only one expected to clean up?

2.    If you have more of a traditional marriage where you cook and clean and he provides financially, is the dynamic that you truly want in your marriage?

3.     Are you teaching your kids to clean up after themselves or are you creating a dynamic in the household where they expect you to clean up after them?

 These are just a few examples of how to go deeper. Instead of trying to stop yourself from getting angry, therapy can help you figure out what is making you angry so you can change it. This will ultimately make you less angry.

Local Resources for Mental Health Support in Bel Air, MD

 There are amazing local resources in Bel Air, MD that can contribute to your healing. Here are some popular places to research:

Yoga Centric in Bel Air, MD

This yoga studio is located in Bel Air, MD and offers a variety of classes including yoga classes, meditation classes, and sound bath ceremonies. Check out their class descriptions to learn more about what class would be the most beneficial to you.

 Full Heart Solutions in Bel Air, MD

This establishment provides reiki sessions. Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation. What’s great about Reiki is that it promotes healing by a practitioner unblocking a low life force energy. The idea surrounding life force energy is that it flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If someone's "life force energy" is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stressed, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy.

 This type of healing can be great for people who have a good idea of what their issues are and are feeling stuck in their healing process or they aren’t responding to other types of healing.

My Personal Journey

 As a little girl with a lot of trauma and divorced parents, I struggled with anxiety and depression for the majority of my younger years. It wasn’t until I met with my second therapist as a teenager that I realized how my unhealthy family dynamics contributed to my mental health issues. Throughout the years, I transitioned in and out of therapy with different providers. I see this often with clients because as we transition into different stages in our lives, sometimes are ways of dealing with stress need to change.

 Each therapist over the years taught me something new about myself. Sure, some were a better fit than others, but that’s ok. I was able to take something from the experience, even if it was just what type of therapist works best for me. Because of my personal experience with anxiety and trauma, I am passionate about making others feel less alone. When you have the right kind of support system, many aspects of your life improve.

 Are You Ready to prioritize Your Mental Health with A Black Therapist in Bel Air, MD?

 If you are looking for a therapist who can help with improving your relationships and digging deep to explore the root of your mental health issues, I may be the therapist you’ve been looking for! I specialize in treating relationship anxiety and mother daughter issues. Don’t know if therapy is the right method of healing for you? That’s ok! Schedule a FREE 15-minute consultation so we can explore if this is a right fit for you together!

 Remember, you are not crazy because you have mental health issues. There are so many things that contribute to a decline in our mental health that are out of our control. Take the control back by focusing on your healing!