DSM (Defeating Stigma Mindfully)

March 17, 2020

Coronavirus Madness

Worried man in black suit banging his head against stone wall

Corona In The Air

Many people are showing up to the emergency room despite a nationwide recommendation to self-quarantine; not for coronavirus symptoms per say, but from anxiety due to the coronavirus. For many in society, this whole scare of quarantining, evacuating college dormitories and working from home is affecting their mental health. It’s not every day that we go through this; in fact, it’s not every decade that we go through this. Coronavirus madness is here.

Patients are showing up to the emergency room with rhinorrhea, cough and chills and are worried that they’ve caught the coronavirus. They forget that during these months, they can still catch other illnesses such as the cold or the flu. But combine physical symptoms with the scare portrayed by CNN and Fox News, and you have people who just can’t handle the situation.

Believe it or not, this situation is very stressful for many, especially when they have symptoms of the cold. The fear of actually having the coronavirus puts them on the verge of experiencing suicidal ideations; they believe that their “body is shutting down,” so they rather be dead by taking matters in their own hands, rather than dying as portrayed on television.

Many mental health patients were previously stabilized before the whole coronavirus pandemic: they were taking their medications and experiencing minimal psychiatric symptoms. But when the pandemic hit, their past symptoms came back to life: they’ve become negativistic, withdrawn and taking about 30-60 seconds to respond to a question; they’ve even become catatonic!

Do not underestimate the power that a viral pandemic can have on the mental health of society. Many mentally crack when they hear all the negative news on television; the fear overwhelms them and worsens their mental health. Some are perfectly healthy and have no signs of being sick, but their mental health drops greatly from their baseline just from hearing about the coronavirus pandemic.

Corona is in the air and it can infect your mental health! Make sure that you are surrounded by positive people and always share your feelings and worries with others.

Are you Ready? (This is Defeating Stigma Mindfully)

November 16, 2019

A New Beginning

Hopeful man standing on stone in front of body of water looking at sunset

A Reason For Living

Life brings us so many unexpected, unfortunate and unpredictable moments at such random times, that it can sometimes cause some serious damage if unprepared for. You see, there’s no pattern to mental health prior to a mental illness developing in someone. Each individual has his or her own unique experience.

Someone’s depressive course may be completely different than another’s. They may have grown up in similar neighborhoods, have gone to similar schools, have smoked the same amount of Godfather OG and still present with a completely different type of depressive experience.

But just because you might have been genetically predisposed or environmentally affected to developing a mental illness, does not mean that you should give up all hope and future expectations. Life goes on, whether you have a mental illness or not. Look at it as a new beginning, a reason for living!

Life will present you with many moments where you will feel like giving up and even taking your life. These moments require a lot of strength to get you through the rubble; if you give into these depressive states of mind, they can take you away like a powerful tide. Therefore, don’t take the risk of wading through depressive thoughts.

Once you’re hit by them, seek help as soon as possible. This may be through talking to a good friend or family member, seeing a psychiatrist or even sharing your feelings and thoughts on The DSM Ready platform. The important point is to act! Never go through depression by yourself; you are only asking for trouble.

What have your experiences with depression and suicidal thoughts been like?

Are you Ready? (This is Defeating Stigma Mindfully)

August 10, 2019August 8, 2021

Mild Suicidal Ideation

Positive motivating mental health signs posted on fence along trees

How To Stop Suicidal Intrusive Thoughts

Gun violence. Psychotic breaks. Heroin injections. Hatred fueled by racism. Political clashing. Domestic and international terrorism. Suicides. The list goes on. It is no secret that we are living in times of great stress. Constantly being bombarded by negativity brings up the concept of epigenetics: the modification of genes resulting in some turning on or off.

Think of it like this: stress and negativity result in genetic modifications which result in mental illness. Add to this picture alcohol and drugs and you have a society suffering from addiction, depression, psychosis and suicides. And mental illness almost never presents alone; suicidal ideation is a frequent flyer.

Whether you are suffering from anxiety, depression, OCD, anorexia nervosa, binge eating disorder or compulsive buying, mild suicidal ideation will present itself at one point in time, whether you admit it or not. This is because the human mind is not naturally trained to deal with mental illness.

Suicidal ideation becomes a dysfunctional defense mechanism of the mind to put an end to the suffering caused by mental illness. However, suicidal ideation may also become part of a mental illness, becoming stronger and more powerful as each day goes by.

For instance, a teenager going through puberty and peer pressure at school may have passive suicidal ideation, but not strong enough to act upon it. But if that same teenager now becomes depressed, the suicidal ideation now becomes persistent and more potent, to the point of progressing to a suicidal attempt.

The key to stopping suicidal thoughts is to break the chain before it has a chance to expand; cut it loose before it self-replicates. If you find yourself having suicidal thoughts, take a deep breath and distract yourself by immediately thinking of something positive in your life. Looking at the positive things in your life allows you to shift your focus away from the virus known as suicidal ideation.

And lastly, never give up! Be honest with yourself and seek help if you continue to struggle with suicidal ideation. There is no shame to being prescribed antidepressants such as Prozac, Lexapro or Wellbutrin or undergoing psychotherapy. Your life is precious so take care of it!

We are all in this together.

Are you Ready? (This is Defeating Stigma Mindfully)