Darkness to Dialogue: Living Well With Mental Illness

Monthly Goal Jar: Track Wins and Boost Mental Health Why Tracking Goals Helps Your Mental Health Writing down goals increases accountability and focus Tracking progress reinforces a sense of achievement Celebrating small wins improves motivation and emotional well-being How to Create a Monthly Goal Jar Choose a jar, box, or container for your monthly goals Write each goal on a separate slip of paper, big or small Place slips in the jar and complete them throughout the month At the month’s end, review the jar to visualize your growth and celebrate accomplishments Benefits of the Monthly Goal Jar Encourages consistent progress toward personal goals Builds confidence and reinforces positive habits Turns abstract intentions into tangible achievements Explore More Mental Health is a Daily Practice Research Support Studies show that writing down goals and tracking progress improves focus, motivation, and mental well-being : American Psychological A...

  Summary Always saying “yes” may seem kind, but people-pleasing can quietly erode your mental health. Discover how to identify patterns, reclaim your voice, and cultivate lasting resilience. Key Insight People-pleasing often hides unmet needs and fuels anxiety, resentment, and burnout. Recognizing these patterns and practicing healthy boundaries improves mental health and accelerates recovery. My Story With People-Pleasing For most of my life, I thought being agreeable, easygoing, and always available made me a “good person.” The truth is, it made me invisible to myself. When I was struggling with depression and trauma, I believed that saying “yes” to everyone else would make me more likable, easier to love, and less likely to be abandoned. But the cost was high. I stopped recognizing my own needs, my own voice, and even my own preferences. People-pleasing left me exhausted and resentful, yet terrified to change, because I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. “People-pleasin...

Patterns or Personality? How to Tell the Difference in Mental Health Recovery Estimated Read Time: 5 minutes Summary  When you’re healing from mental illness or trauma, it’s easy to confuse learned coping behaviors with your true personality. This post explains how to distinguish between patterns and traits, why this distinction is important, and how it can facilitate genuine change in your recovery journey. Key Takeaway Patterns are learned behaviors shaped by environment, trauma, or mental illness, while personality traits are more stable, biologically influenced tendencies. Recognizing the difference helps you change what’s changeable and embrace what’s authentically you. When I Thought My Patterns Were Me I used to believe my avoidance, people-pleasing, and overthinking were “just my personality.” Friends described me that way. But when I began my healing journey, I learned these weren’t my true nature, they were survival strategies I’d developed over years of stress and trauma...

Mental Health in the News: August 2025 🕓 Estimated Read Time: 9 minutes Illinois Restricts AI Therapy: A Victory for Safe Mental Health Recovery Article Summary Illinois became the first U.S. state to ban AI chatbots from delivering mental health therapy or making clinical decisions. This landmark legislation prioritizes human oversight in mental health care, raising essential ethical questions as AI tools become more prevalent. Key Takeaway Illinois passed the Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources (WOPR) Act, which prohibits AI systems from providing therapy unless licensed professionals supervise them. Violations may result in fines up to $10,000. ( IDFPR , Axios ) What Is Happening? Background and Legislation Details AI-powered chatbots have surged in popularity, offering immediate, accessible mental health support, especially where traditional care is scarce. These tools can engage users with empathetic language, provide mood tracking, and offer mindfulness exercis...

  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...

Like many people, I’ve always prided myself on being a multitasker. I juggle work, parenting, and personal goals all at once, believing that the more I can do simultaneously, the more productive I am. However, I’ve recently started to realize that multitasking may be doing more harm than good. It’s something I’m still working on, but acknowledging how multitasking impacts my mental health has been eye-opening. In this post, I’ll share my insights on the hidden costs of multitasking and why slowing down can actually help us achieve more in the long run. How Multitasking Affects People Living with Depression and Anxiety Multitasking might seem like a necessary skill in our constantly connected lives, but in my experience living with depression and anxiety, it often does more harm than good. When you're dealing with depression , even simple tasks can feel draining. Multitasking, in particular, can worsen symptoms. Here's how: Concentration fades quickly, making it harder to st...

The Psychology of Boredom: Why It’s Good for Your Brain As someone who thrives on productivity and constant activity, I’ve often struggled with boredom. It’s uncomfortable, even frustrating, and can sometimes feel like wasted time. For me, this goes deeper than just a dislike of idleness—it's also tied to a trauma response. Sitting still has never felt safe or natural. Constant motion has been my way of coping, distracting, and surviving. But over time, I’ve learned that boredom isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it can be a powerful tool for personal growth and mental health. It’s still something I’m working on, but I’ve started to embrace those quiet moments as opportunities for creativity, reflection, and self-awareness.  In this post, I’ll share what I’ve learned about the surprising benefits of boredom and how you can start to see it in a new light, too. Boredom is often seen as a nuisance – a state of mind to avoid at all costs. We live in a world full of distractions, ...

What Is Mental Toughness? Understanding Its Role in Building Resilience and Mental Health I used to think resilience meant being endlessly strong—never feeling overwhelmed or uncertain. But the more I struggled with anxiety and the weight of past trauma, the more I questioned whether I had any resilience at all. It felt like every challenge knocked me down harder than the last, and I wondered if I’d ever have the strength to stand firm. What changed my perspective wasn’t a single breakthrough but a series of small realizations. I started noticing that resilience wasn’t about avoiding hardship—it was about learning how to recover. The first time I sat with my emotions instead of pushing them away, I felt uneasy, but I also felt in control. I began finding tools that worked for me: grounding exercises to quiet my mind, journaling to process my thoughts, and movement to release tension. None of these erased my struggles, but they made me better equipped to handle them. One of the hardes...