Adult Mental Health

Are the holidays bringing emotional “gifts” to you like they are to me? Feeling responsible for others’ happiness? Trying to create a perfect holiday? Let’s see if we can unwrap some of those gifts and let them move through us, perhaps off into the ether. We might find that some of them aren’t ours to keep after all.

The holidays are really tough for me. I live far away from my family and this will be the second year in a row I am not able to make it back to see them. I can feel myself starting to push away from my family just to protect myself from feeling left out. I’m sad and I seem to cry at the drop of a hat. What do I do?

The holidays tend to get people in the spirit of giving. You might be preparing a list of gifts to give, scheduling time to host or attend dinner parties, or arranging travel itineraries to see your loved ones. It is common to go out of your way during the holiday season to show family, loved ones, friends, and co-workers that you care about them. Gift giving and holiday festivities should be fun and joyful. But if you feel yourself getting overly stressed, take a step back and prioritize the most meaningful pieces of your holiday — one of those being your own wellbeing.

With the holidays coming up I tend to run myself thin. I do it every year! I end up with a packed calendar and I tend to go overboard with everything because I want the holidays to be special for everyone. At the same time my husband's workload picks up so I end up doing more around the house and more with the kids. I can already feel the anxiety and exhaustion coming. How do I better manage all of this? 

As we enter into the busy season of the holidays, it is more important than ever to practice self-care. I often receive questions this time of year from individuals who are stressed or feeling depressed. My advice is to stay in tune with your feelings and focus on positive actions that support your mental health

Our 31-day calendar shares ideas on how you can spread kindness each and every day.

Encourage self-care this season in your gifts to loved ones. Whether it’s for you, a friend, family member, co-worker, or a stranger, one of these items from our Season of Care gift list will show you care.

Personal hygiene is a subject that is often not discussed on a daily basis. Typically, hygiene is overlooked as we often assume that everyone does things in similar ways or have similar levels of frequency. However, hygiene can often be the first sign of the start of mental health issues.

I just left my boyfriend after 5 years because he was being physically abusive. I have a restraining order in place, but I am scared because I know we still live in the same city and I fear I might run into him or he may still try to hurt me. I find myself just wanting to stay in my apartment and hardly go anywhere. How can I move on and not be so scared?

Every year I dread the start of fall. With the sun not being out as long I start to feel unmotivated, sleepy, and sluggish.  I know I suffer from seasonal depression, but I’ve tried a few of the usual things like the light lamps but what else can I do?