So, after a couple of weeks off and some time spent thinking about parts 1-4 of this series on my mental health journey, how do I wrap up? Well, to be concise, I’d say I just need to follow the path that’s been set up before me. Of course, if you’ve been following along, you know I’ll now need to elaborate. What I have to share in this post will both be a recap and a plan for moving forward in life. While I’ve been talking about my own struggles with anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), my hope has been, and remains to be, that you’ll be able to take something from my experience that will help you on your own journey.
As always, please know that I have no medical or psychological training. I am just a person on the internet sharing their experience in hopes that someone will find my content relatable and helpful. If you are suffering with mental health issues, you should always seek professional help in addition to finding solace amongst those who’ve had to deal with similar circumstances.
In part 1, “The Mind I Was Given“, I talked about mental preferences and accepting who you are. If you know who you are and what you need, then it is much easier to meet those needs and to find peace and happiness. For me, on a going forward basis, it is clear that I need to be true to myself and not allow others to push me out of my comfort zone. I need to adhere to the preferences that I’ve established in my life. These preferences, ultimately, form the foundation for what keeps me centered and on track. Situations that go against my preferences should be avoided as these push me outside of my comfort zone and, eventually, cause me to lose balance in life… which, of course, worsens the symptoms of anxiety and OCD.
With part 2, “The Day the Switch Flipped“, I looked back to when my struggles with OCD began to try and make sense of what I’ve been dealing with. In hindsight, the most important part of this post, for me personally, is recognizing that the things that cause me anxiety and lead to compulsions are normal every day occurrences and that they aren’t scary; I don’t need to fear them. This doesn’t mean that I’m cured. I still have to walk this path. But, with that said, I have to be realistic about the situations I’m facing and put them into perspective. I can’t let the trivial wreck my existence.
For part 3, “Redefining Normal“, I gave some examples of what OCD looks like up close and what I’ve done to deal with certain situations; these are the behaviors that keep my life from being hijacked and allow some semblance of “normalcy”. I find it very important to have solutions in place in advance of a problem occurring. In other words, if something keeps happening that causes great distress, I need to devise a solution that allows me to get through the situation more easily. These solutions can be used as coping mechanisms. Coping mechanisms should be viewed positively as they allow us to more easily get through situations or tasks that we’d otherwise struggle with. But, as with a literal crutch, they should not be allowed to outlive their usefulness. If I find myself no longer in need of a particular coping mechanism, then yay me! I’ve made progress! This means I get to move on from the mechanism and just keep it in my back pocket in case I go through a hard time and need to rely on it again in the future.
In part 4, “Mental Bandwidth and Anxiety“, I took a closer look a what I think is the root cause of my struggle with OCD. Migraines, the treatment of said migraines, and the impact the resultant anxiety had on my mental bandwidth. Truthfully, this post didn’t come out the way I intended. I think the role that mental bandwidth plays in our lives is critical and that I didn’t delve into the subject the way I wanted to; I’ll have to revisit mental bandwidth again in the future outside of this series to give the topic the attention it deserves. That said, recognizing that I need to keep a close watch on my mental bandwidth is key in life. I have to recognize my mental limitations and give myself the reprieve I need when I need it. This is the best way I can prepare myself for the unforeseen; by giving myself a head start in terms of mental bandwidth. The better rested and mentally fresh I am, the easier it is to face challenges of any kind… be that tough circumstances, OCD, or anxiety.
A good friend of mine loves lists of 3. Now that I’ve summarized this series, that gives me the responsibility of taking these 4 posts and turning them into 3 take aways that we can each use as tools to move forward and navigate the mental health situations we’re faced with. I think it’s actually pretty easy.
- Know and accept yourself. Your preferences are your comfort zone. It makes sense that each of us have our own desires for how life should go and for how we want to interact with others and the world.
- Know your history and what throws you off balance. These are the situations that you know you’ll face again and that you need to be planned for.
- Know your limitations and keep mental bandwidth in reserve. Situations will push against your preferences and force you out of your comfort zone. You will face adversity that you didn’t see coming. You always need to make sure you have mental bandwidth in reserve to face the unexpected; don’t run yourself ragged; come up with a plan that allows you to feel prepared rather than like you’re hanging on by a thread.
So, if you’ve come this far, I really appreciate you sticking around for the whole series. =) I hope that you’ve found something in all of this that will help you in similar situations. This was both harder and easier to write than I expected it to be. Harder because I’ve had to think about some topics I’d rather avoid. A lot of the writing sessions left me walking away upset and not wanting to keep going with the series. Simultaneously it was easier than expected because the thoughts and feelings are right there beneath the surface even if I’ve been trying to avoid them… In truth, while writing this over the last couple of months, I’ve really made some personal strides. Not so much in regards to anxiety and OCD, but in clarity. And maybe that’s the biggest key. With clarity comes the ability to organize your thoughts and emotions, the foresight to plan ahead, and the wherewithal to recognize the moment for what it is.
Thanks for reading, Matt
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