Establishing a self-care plan can be a nuanced journey, especially for people with autism, who often navigate the world with a unique set of sensitivities and preferences. In a society where extroversion takes center stage, finding ways to honor one's needs while managing the sensory and social aspects of autism requires a thoughtful, personalized approach.
Read MoreLast year, my friends and I went to Miami for spring break and while there are countless fun, crazy, sweet memories, the one which I would say was a “core memory” was going on Ferris wheel. The sun had just set and the water on the shoreline was gleaming with lights from skyscrapers. After getting into the Ferris wheel carriage, my friends and I blasted music and sang along. For those 15 minutes we sang to our hearts content, took a bunch of pictures and laughed a lot… we were truly present in the moment. It was as if we had left every worry behind us as we got into the Ferris wheel. I think a lot of us struggle with this as we are constantly thinking about the past or future. And this experience helped me realize that the fact I consider this as my “core memory” truly shows how important it is to just live in the moment and enjoy what we have at present.
Read MoreMy relationship with anxiety has changed drastically over the past several years. Although I finally feel as though I’m starting to develop a healthy relationship with anxiety, I’ve gone through many ups and downs especially throughout high school. After years of dealing with anxiety, I’ve learned to first acknowledge it and recognize why it’s there. For example, I tend to get really nervous before exams and presentations because I put pressure on myself to succeed in order to achieve my academic goals.
After this recognition, I try to accept these feelings instead of fighting it. I understand that my anxiety isn’t simply going to go away if I wish it too, and have found that fighting against it can sometimes make the situation worse. It’s important to recognize it is normal to have anxiety and that it can be beneficial in many ways. So instead of wishing it away, look at the positive side. Anxiety can help us stay motivated by pushing us to study for an exam or arrive early for meetings. Although we tend to focus on the bad parts of anxiety, I believe it is prudent to always acknowledge the good as well.
A few months ago, I was mindlessly scrolling through TikTok when I saw a quick video about the “Little Treat Mentality”. I don’t remember who the creator was, but they explained that no matter what kind of day you have, you deserve a little treat.
Read MoreEverybody deals with stress and anxiety, however the key is to know what to do when you're stressed out. It is not always easy to keep your feelings from getting the best of you.
Read MorePeople love to talk about destigmatizing mental illness. That is, the more common mental illnesses. The ones that tiktok famous girls and chronically online twitter bros have glorified and deemed acceptable. Destigmatizing anxiety and depression is important, but it shouldn’t stop there.
Read MoreAs an Indian woman on a pre-med track, I can’t help but feel like my path is unoriginal. My dream had its built-in checkpoints‒if I just followed what other successful students did and worked my ass off over the semester, I’d be able to “make it.” But honestly, what the hell does making it even mean? If making it meant late-night study sessions at the Union, nervous breakdowns in the dingy Chem building before exams, little time for personal hobbies, and an overall sense of exhaustion just to feel some modicum of relief after getting an above-average grade in a class, then sure, I guess I’m making it.
Read MoreHave you ever felt like all the hard work you can do might never be enough? Or like the amount of hustle expected of students on a campus college like U of M is just plain unrealistic? These questions and worries come up for a lot of us as we grapple with course loads, finding jobs and internships, and the financial strain often associated with pursuing a degree. Most people have heard phrases like “you’ll get out of it what you put into it,” “no pain, no gain,” or “the best man will get the job,” all of which seem to imply that success will be experienced in direct proportion to the amount of hard work invested in our endeavors.
Read MoreWolverine Wellness is the University of Michigan’s primary organization dedicated to the health and well-being of our college community. Through wellness coaching, a course on well-being, and even destressing sessions with therapy dogs, Wolverine Wellness seeks to provide accessible resources to promote the physical and mental health of all.
Read MoreI recently had an incident with a friend that I am trying to process, and I realized I couldn’t process it until I acknowledged my identity as a caregiver for someone with a mental illness. Growing up, my parents' mental health wasn’t great. I saw my father through his manic and depressed states.
Read MoreThere is no person in the country who has not taken a pill before. There exist pills of every size, shape, color, and magnitude, all doing something different to the human body with a scroll of legal precautions and side-effect lists. They can combat a myriad of physical plights that would take hours of home-remedies before their conception; Tylenol, for instance, is a pill people take commonly for minor pain and headaches. This kind of little capsule is considered socially-acceptable, but there exists one with a unique function that we often have trouble addressing without some discomfort: antidepressants.
Read MoreIt’s a Friday night. You’ve just submitted your final assignment for the week, and you’re about to start getting ready for your weekend outing with friends. But, this newfound feeling of freedom is soon dominated by a looming cloud of stressful deadlines and the mountain of work that you know will quickly and inevitably pile up in the very near future.
Read MoreSeems obvious, I know, but this one took me a while to really embrace. A lot of the minor everyday anxieties I talked about in therapy stemmed from my concerns about what other people might think about me, and one of the main things my therapist always emphasized was that it’s unlikely I’ll ever know with 100% certainty whether someone thinks I’m weird, or awkward, or anything else.
Read MoreFor when you need to hear that you’ll be okay, from real people who want their words to reach you.
Read MoreThe Mayo Clinic defines anxiety disorder as "episodes of sudden feelings of intense anxiety and fear or terror that reach a peak within minutes" — in other words, a panic attack. It's more than the occasional case of nerves. Anxiety attacks can be debilitating and present physical symptoms such as:
Read MoreWhen I was a teenager, I thought that everyone was looking at me every time I did something embarrassing. If I tripped, said something weird, or simply walked through a room alone, I felt the entire world’s eyes on me. My parents would always tell me that no one was watching me and that no one had noticed, and most of all, I hadn’t done anything embarrassing. But I would never believe them.
Read MoreMany people are familiar with the idea of medical or health anxiety, often referred to as hypochondria. I’m no stranger to it myself. I tend to let one little thing snowball into bigger and bigger problems. I may have a simple cold, but with enough googling I’ll find something to worry about. This habit forced me to find a way to hold myself accountable.
Read MoreFrom a young age, I was always my toughest critic. I had a set view of what I believed was satisfactory, which was usually close to perfection. Whenever I did not achieve this standard I was extremely disappointed. As I grew older, my idea of perfection became more focused on the way I looked. I thought in order to be confident and happy I had to achieve this specific image of “perfection.” The picture ingrained in my head consisted of an unrealistic slim figure that I believed I was far from when I looked in the mirror.
Read MoreI’m a big believer in Pinterest, but don’t let that throw you off. While it has introduced me to a fair share of apartment aesthetics that I’ll be implementing next year, that doesn’t mean that my search bar is only filled with popular searches like “craft ideas” or “minimalist home decor.”
Read MoreHere’s a common conundrum: the need for extra cash when you’re already strapped for time. If that sounds familiar, keep reading. Today, Mentality Magazine takes a quick dive into ways that you can pad your income without sacrificing yourself along the way.
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