We have interviewed 34 people who have overcome mental health struggles with the help of self-care. These stories show that self-care is one of the most powerful ways to overcome struggles of mental health.
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I’ve interviewed 34 people who have been helped by self-care, 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.
“Our daughter noticed changes in me like I wasn’t as active in keeping our house as clean as I used to, and I realized that at my job I was getting more drained, and I am only working 4-5 hours a week. I came to know I had to work on myself, and my new med helps with the depression, and mostly the anxiety.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Depression
Helped by:
Medication
Self-Care
“Reflecting on my journey reminds me of the progress I’ve made and the strength that I have now. It’s a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. You need to take the first step and reach out. Someone is there to help you!”
Struggled with:
Depression
Grief
Helped by:
Journaling
Self-Care
Therapy
“In my experience, I don’t think I could’ve recovered without residential treatment. Residential treatment is long-term (minimum 28 days) where you stay overnight at a facility and spend the day in individual and group therapy. In treatment, I was able to get out of my environment, focus solely on getting better, and not have to worry about school, friends, family, or work.”
Struggled with:
Eating disorder
Negative body image
“No matter how much I’d accomplished, because my life wasn’t excelling at the rate that I desired it to, I believed something was wrong with me. I would compare myself to others, and do things I wasn’t interested in or enjoyed, just to be accepted, and in doing so I lost my identity and my ability to be my true authentic self.”
“I was in a fog, so confused, and felt all over the place. I had to relearn myself when to anticipate these challenges occurring and plan for prevention, do more outreach for support and be really open with my partner about all of the above. This is really difficult to do all while trying to figure out what’s going on with your body and brain, and a new human to care for.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Depression
Grief
Postpartum depression
Helped by:
Journaling
Self-Care
“One evening, I was running some errands for the rescue when I became mesmerized by the headlights of the oncoming cars. This thought popped into my head… if I just crossed the median, this could all be over in a second. That’s when I knew I had a serious happiness problem on my hands.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Depression
Helped by:
Reinventing yourself
Self-Care
“I came across an Instagram post about Akashic readings and was intrigued by the positive feedback, so I decided to give it a try. During the hour-long session with the practitioner, she guided me to prepare questions that my spirit guides could help answer. Naturally, one of my pressing questions was whether I would ever become a mother. To my immense joy, she affirmed that I would indeed have a daughter and even mentioned that I would produce ample milk for her.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Depression
Infertility
Helped by:
Self-Care
Spirituality
Therapy
“No one can change your life for you and help you. You have to make an effort to get better. It can be very difficult when you’re depressed, but you have to take at least one small step every day. Start with what is easiest for you.”
Struggled with:
Depression
Helped by:
Exercise
Medication
Self-Care
“Depression and anxiety seemed to be controlling my life, and I felt like I had lost control of my own emotions. I remember once I tried to hide my depression and anxiety from those around me, thinking it would be easier to pretend that nothing was wrong. But it only made things worse and eventually I had to admit to myself that I needed help.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Depression
Stress
Helped by:
Medication
Self-Care
Therapy
“I used my journal a lot at this time. Being in gratitude would truly help me cope with the anxiety. At the time, everyone was reaching out to us. But it was really something I had to process myself and in my own way. I was also trying to hold it together for my son. I never wanted him to feel how stressed I was or that there was anything wrong.”
Helped by:
Journaling
Mindfulness
Self-Care