We have interviewed 54 people who have overcome struggles with the help of self-improvement. These stories show that self-improvement is one of the most powerful ways to overcome struggles of mental health.
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I’ve interviewed 54 people who have been helped by self-improvement, and here are the top 5 struggles that these people have overcome:
In our many years of publishing helpful mental health content, we always received questions from our readers about specific situations. While we have a lot of helpful tips to share on how to be happier, we simply can’t offer advice for every situation.
That’s why I’ve set out to interview folks with every type of mental health struggle. My job as an interviewer is to categorize these interviews and present them in a way that is most helpful to our readers.
“At 19 years old I had lost all of my independence, I was unable to work, and I couldn’t even make a meal for myself 90% of the time. At this time I was also diagnosed with OCD. I turned 20 completely alone, I couldn’t even leave my room to have happy birthday sung to me.”
Helped by:
Medication
Music
Self-improvement
Therapy
“Healing just doesn’t come without suffering. When I failed for the first time academically, it hurt. I cried… a lot. And was down for a while until I felt I needed to know myself better. I started meditating and thinking about who I am. What’s my purpose? What am I doing with my life?”
Helped by:
Meditation
Religion
Self-improvement
“The best thing my divorced parents ever did for ~9-year-old me was send me to weekly therapy sessions which I’ve kept up most of my life (minus ~2 years in high school). Thanks to growing up with a profound mental health awareness, I promised myself that I was going to commit to a healthier lifestyle by focusing on my emotional well-being first and foremost. Deep inside me, I knew that was how I’d improve everything else.”
“My worst moment was when my husband found me sobbing on the closet floor after I had just come home from work. My boss wanted me to work on something I had no idea how to do or any interest in doing. I already felt stupid and trying to work with a coworker on this project was only going to make me feel worse about myself.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Eating disorder
Helped by:
Medication
Self-improvement
Therapy
“I tried to keep a smile on my face and pretend all was great, but deep inside, I had this sadness, bitterness, and anger. I was in denial that something was wrong, and in my mind, if I admitted it, it would confirm what I knew all along. That I was a failure at being a mom. I even compared myself with other moms. Imagine that! I tried to hide it from the world.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Postpartum depression
Suicidal
Helped by:
Reinventing yourself
Self-improvement
“The defining moment came in December 2021 when I was diagnosed with PTSD, a diagnosis that would forever change my life for the better. I now had a thing…something which I could identify…no longer just treat the symptoms but finally dig down to the root cause.”
Helped by:
Medication
Self-improvement
Therapy
“I skidded on my face and tore ligaments in my knee and shoulder. Other injuries include several broken bones in my pelvis and my skull had a fracture from my hairline to the top of my head. It took several stitches to close up a head wound. I sustained a contrecoup head injury.”
Struggled with:
Bipolar Disorder
Depression
Suicidal
Traumatic Brain Injury
“Contrary to all I read about Postpartum Depression or Postnatal Depression, I never felt that I was not bonding or connected to Archie. In fact, I found the opposite to be true. I felt so in love and so connected to my son that the ill feelings came from my belief that I was simply not good enough to be his mum.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Depression
Postpartum depression
Helped by:
Self-improvement
“I was referred to a psychiatrist and he told me that I was experiencing clinical depression and advised me to do a lot of walking to avoid medicines. But my condition did not improve, and therefore I was put on fluoxetine during my 7th month of pregnancy and admitted to the hospital for a month.”
Struggled with:
Depression
Loneliness
Helped by:
Self-Care
Self-improvement
Spirituality
“I worked so much that my mental health and drinking spiraled out of control. I had no other coping mechanisms for stress. I have never developed healthy habits and didn’t think I had time to start because the business was experiencing explosive growth. I just wasn’t willing to stop and deal with it. Big mistake.”
Struggled with:
Addiction
Helped by:
Self-Care
Self-improvement
Volunteering
