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Showing posts with the label Healing Journey

June Mental Health Spotlight: From the Hole to Healing: One Man’s Journey Toward Mental Health and Self-Discovery (Archived)

  June/July 2025 Edition This month’s spotlight features Oscar, who generously shares, in his own words, the story of how his healing journey began. From a defining moment in solitary confinement to years of reflection, growth, and hard-won self-awareness, Oscar’s path reminds us that change can start in the most unexpected places. His voice is a powerful reminder that mental health recovery is possible, even when the odds feel impossible. I’m honored to share his story with you. What Led Me to Begin My Healing Journey In the year 2000, I was before a panel of people, a lieutenant, a sergeant, a case counselor assigned to me, and a therapist. They were going through my file detailing why I was in segregation. In the California prison system, it’s also called the hole. I was sent to the hole for a violent fight I was in with another guy inside of prison. At the time I was serving a double life sentence, I fell under the title of Juvenile lifer, which in my case at the time...

The Weight of Being the First: Mental Health When You’re the First to Heal in Your Family

🕒 Estimated Read Time: 5 minutes Article Summary: What happens when you’re the first in your family or culture to name trauma , seek therapy, or talk about mental health out loud? This post explores the: emotional labor isolation resilience of being a cycle-breaker, especially for those living with mental illness  In honor of Minority Mental Health Awareness Month , we also look at how cultural stigma adds weight to the healing journey, and how healing anyway is a radical act. I didn’t realize I was “going first.” I just knew I couldn’t keep going like this. When I first started confronting my mental health struggles, I felt like I was betraying something sacred. My family never talked about emotions, at least, not the hard ones. We swallowed grief and masked pain with strength. Therapy was something “other people” did. I didn’t have the words for what I was carrying, but I knew I couldn’t keep carrying it silently. At first, I felt proud. I was choosing healing, choosing ...

Healing Made Me Lonely: The Isolation No One Warns You About

  Summary Recovery often means changing your patterns, but sometimes, it also means:  outgrowing people, roles, and spaces you once needed.  This post explores the quiet loneliness that can follow healing; when the chaos fades, but connection doesn’t immediately fill the space. It’s a compassionate look at how rebuilding life after mental health struggles can feel isolating and why finding belonging is a vital and worthy part of the journey. The Truth No One Tells You I never expected healing to feel so lonely. After years of living in survival mode, I assumed recovery would bring relief, reconnection, and peace. But what no one told me is that healing often creates a space, one where old relationships no longer fit, familiar habits fall away, and you're left sitting in the quiet.  Whether it was surviving toxic and abusive relationships or rebuilding after divorce, there were parts of my journey that I had to travel alone.  That quiet can feel like abandonmen...

The Cost of Performing: How Emotional Masking Undermines Mental Health and Recovery

Summary We hear “ be yourself ” so often, but what happens when being yourself feels unsafe? Emotional masking: The habit of hiding true feelings to avoid judgment is a quiet epidemic.  It affects our mental health and recovery by building walls where there should be bridges.  This post reflects on how performance-based living shows up in real life and why choosing to be real is a radical act of healing. Opening Reflection — Observing the Disconnect Have you ever realized that someone you admired wasn’t being fully authentic? That moment when disappointment goes deeper, feeling more like a breach of trust than just a fleeting letdown? It can bring a complex mix of frustration and sadness, along with a strong sense of urgency. Why does it feel so heavy? It’s a pattern I see again and again, especially on social media, where polished versions of life often replace messy truths. It’s easy to assume that insecurity goes away as we get older, that after a certain point, we ...

The Silent Weight: Why Men’s Mental Health Needs to Be Heard

Breaking Through the Armor of "I’m Fine" Summary: We often ask men to be strong, but not if they’re okay. In a culture that praises silence and stoicism, too many men are taught to suppress their pain and push through alone. But behind the “I’m fine” are real mental health struggles that go unseen and untreated. : depression anxiety trauma As we honor Men’s Mental Health Month , it’s time to challenge the silence, break the stigma, and create space for emotional honesty. Because these aren’t just statistics; they’re lived experiences. And healing begins when we start listening. Carrying the Silence I’ve known men who carried trauma, grief, anxiety, and depression like invisible weights, never naming it, never reaching out. Not because they didn’t feel it, but because they’d been taught that needing support wasn’t something men were “supposed” to do. I’ve seen how that kind of silence wears someone down: how it strains relationships chips away at self-worth turns daily ...

I’m Not Who I Was...So, Who Am I Now? Identity Rebuilding After Mental Illness 🪞

Summary Mental illness and recovery can profoundly change how you see yourself, challenging your identity and sense of purpose.  Rebuilding your identity after mental illness isn’t about returning to who you were; it’s about discovering who you are now.  This shift requires both self-awareness and self-compassion as you begin to piece together a life that reflects your truth, not just your survival. This post explores the process of rebuilding a stable, authentic identity after mental health struggles. Embracing this transformation allows healing to take root and helps you reclaim your voice and life with intention. Reclaiming Myself: My Identity Beyond Diagnosis For a long time, I thought of myself as only what I struggled with. Depression and anxiety weren’t just conditions I lived with; they became the lens through which I saw everything. I was the “sad girl,” the “worrier,” the one who couldn’t keep it together. Even in spaces where no one said those things aloud, I ...

The Lasting Impact of Sexual Assault and Mental Health: Understanding Trauma and Healing

Trigger Warning: This article discusses sexual assault and its impact on mental health. If you are sensitive to this topic, please prioritize your well-being and engage with this content only if you feel safe doing so. My Journey: Reclaiming My Power After Trauma Surviving sexual assault shattered my sense of self in ways I never expected. In the aftermath, I carried not just the weight of the experience, but also the shame, fear, and isolation that often come with it. I struggled with anxiety that made it hard to trust others, depression that drained my motivation, and moments where I questioned whether healing was even possible. There were days when the trauma felt like a permanent part of me—an invisible wound that dictated my every move, thought, and relationship. But over time, I began to reclaim my power. Therapy helped me process the emotions I had buried for so long, and surrounding myself with people who supported me without judgment gave me the strength to keep going. I learn...