Anxiety

Anxiety. ⁣

My earliest memories of crippling anxiety are from around 11 years old. Believing I was just a 'shy kid', it wasn't something I dealt with until life forced me to. Through a series of deep & traumatic events over the course of 5 years (the death of my dad, the legal proceedings that ensued, followed by mulitple difficult miscarriages), anxiety was coupled with PTSD and my world quickly caved in on me. With the help of an incredibly supportive husband, I forced myself to begin dealing with it head on. ⁣
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The severity of it ebbs and flows depending on the day and a number of factors - where my hormones are at, how much grace I am giving myself, how busy our schedule is, how much time I am committing to both my physical & mental health, plus so much more. When I feel my anxiety rising, I know now I can reach out to a loved one and help talk it down. Putting a voice to what is going on in your head helps. Accepting support from those around you helps. ⁣
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More then half of the people I know personally deal with managing anxiety on a daily basis. Both male & female. And those are just the people that talk openly about it. Mental health affects us all. ⁣
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Jan 30th is Bell Let's Talk Day. Let's help talk about mental illness, spread awareness and end the stigma. Let's help others feel like they can talk about it too. ⁣
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