Pebble in the Road - Journaling Memory 2002

A brief update. I'm still going through chaos. I'm having to throw away a lot of things and re-organize my life. 

This is a brief pebble in the road on a memory that I wrote down in 2002. It was a bad time. 

There are ups and downs with having an anxiety condition. I was scraping cement at that time.

I'm grateful that is this a memory. I'm going to shred this page but I've memorialized it so there is no loss.

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Summer Slowdown or How Two Computers Got Me on the Ropes

I hate giving up but sometimes a retreat is necessary. Wish I could go to a retreat but that ain't happening. I know when I'm licked and I'm licked. 

Not one but two computers have me on the ropes ducking punches.

So this is just a brief update of what's going on with me. 

And what's going to be happening for the next couple of weeks. So in housekeeping news, I'm on summer slowdown mode until September.  Probably one or two episodes a month.

Between my old computer dying on me and my new computer not recognizing my microphone the way I needed to recognize my microphone. 

And it sounds like I have a sore throat. It's only because I've recorded the same episode on hoarding 10 times and gotten really progressively bad results. I am going to take a break and give up the fight and really figure out how I'm going to make this work. 

So, I plan to come back. Fairly soon to put up a proper episode, but for right now, I'm stumped. 

 I'm going to go do something nice for myself and get out of this chair. I'll talk to you sometime in the future. Not too far away, I do wanna put up a proper episode, but today's not going to be that day. I'll catch you next time on the anxiety road.

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Show 128 From Grit to Resilience

Our need for symptom relief and safety sometime overrides our ability to connect to solutions or treatment. Maybe it isn’t necessarily about grit but resilience. For us, our symptoms is that irritation that there is a problem. Symptoms will keep bugging us until we do something.

Grit can be used as a weapon. We might have a stronger one. Resilience.




If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

Angeles Duckworth's book Grit, the Power of Passion and Perseverance. You can take the Grit Scale - how do you measure what you have on her site.

Coursera has a free course on What is Grit, Why Do Gritty People Succeed, and How Can You Develop Your Grit. You can get a better understanding of the psychological/character related meaning of the term.

James Clear has a lengthy post on grit in terms of mental toughness.

Greater Good Magazine - What's Wrong with Grit? It not a cure and maybe if you are hurt bad it can do more harm than good.

Character Lab page on what is (academic/success) grit and how it is a part of the overall human make up of the term character.

American Psychological Association page on The Road to Resilience.

Mayo Clinic on Resilience: Build skills to endure hardship

Psychology Today post by Brad Waters on 10 Traits of Emotionally Resilient People. Number 7 is very important.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Show 126 Mystek Lessons About Grit

The point of the episode is to look at your own views and understanding about grit as it relates to your experiences and your treatment path.

Not your priest, your drinking buddies, or even what The Batman would do cuz you know he isn't right in the head.




There are people that say this is a waste of time to put the anti-suicide contact info. There are others that say yeah, you can and then what?

I understand how they feel. If a person is gonna do it there isn't much you can do. But if there is a chance to reach somebody then I'm gonna leave this right here.

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources (Not) Mentioned: 

DC Wikia page on Seong Barclay aka Mystek.

Angela Duckworth's Grit Scale, a way of looking at how you approach a task or difficulty. If you would like to know about Ms. Duckworth's research about grit you can check out a TED video, Personal Grit as Key to Success.

Leo Ho's post on Lifehack.org The Beauty of Suffering or there can be no joy without pain.

Harvard Health Blog on Anxiety; what it is and what to do. Harvard Health also has a guide on Coping with Anxiety (they call it a report). Cost about $20.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Show 125 Short Introduction to Grit

It starts with irritation. You try to do something, it doesn't work out. What do you do? For some of us, our anxiety, our phobias and panic attacks are our grit. It forces us to take action.

This is a short introduction to one kind of grit. The kind that makes you uncomfortable.






Please step away from the deep six. If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

Wil Wheaton's Medium article on having depression and generalized anxiety.
The Sassy Psychologist: Stop being an a**hole to yourself in The Suburban (Quebec,CA)

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith talks about what he knew about Coach Lue's condition in March 2018.

ESPN full interview with Kevin Love, where he talks not only about basketball but also about having panic attacks. The linked version starts at the point where he talks about panic attacks.

The Sassy Psychologist website where there are more articles about mental health and socialization issues.

The Anxy Magazine. Issue #1 was about anger. Issue #2 was about workaholism and #3 is about boundaries. 

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.