I developed a workshop titled, “Learning To Love Yourself” for Elementary Students in grades 3-5 to help them learn to love every piece of who they are despite what their peers or society tells them. We are surrounded by other people’s opinions and social media has influenced the way we perceive friendship, validation, body image, and happiness.
Get Registered Today: Why We Must Teach Our Youth About Positive Self-Talk and Coping Skills
“Positive Self-Talk and Coping Skills” was developed specifically for middle school students to teach them how to reframe negative thoughts into positive thoughts and how to cope with negative thoughts and overwhelming emotions. The goal is simple: giving our youth the tools they need to navigate the journey of life.
Get Registered Today: Why Mental Health Conversations Are Essential for Our Teens!
Between December 2018 and March 2019, I attempted suicide to end my life 3 times. I felt empty and hopeless inside. I wanted to give up. Why didn’t I? What happened to get me there in the first place? How did I overcome? Let’s back up… By the age of 5, I was struggling with…
Panic Attack or an Anxiety Attack?
The words “Panic Attack” and “Anxiety Attack” are often used interchangeably. The main difference is that experiencing panic attacks is considered a disorder by the DSM-5.
Child Development According To Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory
Bronfenbrenner hypothesized that by studying children in multiple environments (ecological systems), we can have a better understanding of their development. According to this theory, every ecological system that a child interacts with will influence the child’s development. (2019)
My Guide To Building A Coping Toolbox
Coping mechanisms are tools we use to help us through when our emotions feel overwhelming. There are many different types of coping mechanisms! One that works for you may not work for others, and that is okay. Everyone will have different things that help them at different times for different emotions and situations. Sometimes coping mechanisms that worked in the past do not work in the future, and that is okay too. As we grow and change, what works for us may also change.
A Guide To Enforcing Boundaries
If you are willing to protect your space and set boundaries that help you build healthy, meaningful connections with others, then you deserve to reap the benefits of those boundaries.
What Does It Mean To Be Kind To Yourself?
This blog comes directly from pages out of Francesca Reicherter’s “You Are Not Alone: The Workbook.” For more content and exercises, this workbook is available for purchase on inspiringmygeneration.org or amazon. Being kind to yourself can be super hard! As humans, it is normal to be critical of ourselves. Often times, we are harder on…
What We Know About Hyperbaric Oxygen Chambers And Mental Health?
Please note that this blog contains no original writing. Each section and statement is directly from the aforementioned source. What is hyperbaric oxygen therapy? According to John Hopkins Medical, “hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or HBOT, is a type of treatment used to speed up healing of carbon monoxide poisoning, gangrene, stubborn wounds, and infections in which…
Wait, I need boundaries for myself too?
What Are Boundaries? In social studies, we are taught that a boundary is what separates state lines. Personal boundaries, on the other hand, are the line that separates our physical space, feelings, and needs from (ourselves and) others. These boundaries are used to share how we want to be treated by ourselves and others. Boundaries…
The information in this blog comes directly from RAINN (rainn.org) National Sexual Assault Helpline: 1-800-656-4673 Every 68 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. And every 9 minutes, that victim is a child. Meanwhile, only 25 out of every 1,000 perpetrators will end up in prison. According to the CDC, 1 in 5 women in the…
A Message of Hope In The Form of Paper
Did you know patients hospitalized in psych wards are 100-200x more likely to die by suicide upon discharge? This is commonly due to lack of emotional support and understanding. Therefore, to combat the lack of emotional support, at Inspiring My Generation, each month we donate hundreds of encouragement cards to behavioral health facilities to be…
Humans Need Humans: The Impact of Human Connection
“Man by nature is a social animal.” Aristotle According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a sense of love and belonging are one of our most basic needs as human beings. Why? According to a TEDx presented by Neuroscientist, Matthew Lieberman, as mammals, we are not born with the ability to care for ourselves. In fact,…
Rejuvenate From Burnout With Me
First, what is burnout? According to an article written by Melinda Smith, M.A., Jeanne Segal, Ph.D., and Lawrence Robinson on Help Guide called, Burnout Prevention and Treatment, “Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet…
Does the current emergency response system fail mental health?
In my opinion, the current emergency response system often overlooks the complexity of mental health crises. First of all, every mental health crisis looks different. One of the biggest misconceptions on mental health as a whole is that idea that there is one standard look to each mental illness. For example, society (and the DSM)…
Opening Up About Mental Health to A Partner
Do I have to open up about my mental health to my partner? No, you do not. When you share information about your mental health and who you share it with is entirely up to you. My rule of thumb is to share when you feel comfortable enough to receive their response. It is not…
Let’s talk about Emotional Support
My loved one is going through a tough time. I want to be there for him/her/them, but I have no idea how to provide the support they need. What do I say? What do I do? How many of you can relate to this? The truth is that most of us are afraid of witnessing…
Why there should be a minimum standard of care across all psych wards
Psych wards are designed to be a place where someone struggling can feel safe. Whether the person is having thoughts of suicide, struggling with self-harm, experiencing drug or alcohol abuse, attempted suicide, or just needs a safe space, a psych ward is supposed to be the place. Yet, people discharged from a psych ward are 100-200x more likely to die by suicide upon release.
How Do I Create A Safe Space?
A safe space is essential for an authentic and supportive mental health conversation. One of the primary reasons that individuals struggle in silence is the stigma associated with mental health. Essentially, we fear our loved one’s reaction. Will I be judged? Will I be invalidated? Will they not love me anymore? What if they do not understand? What if they do not care? What if they do not believe me? These are just a few of the questions that play on repeat through someone’s head when they want to reach out for help.
Are you content with life or is life about producing content?
We are constantly telling ourselves that we have to do more and be more. Our life is consumed by how much we produce. It is not what we can do for ourselves, it is all about what we can offer to everyone else around us. But, in the midst of running ourselves empty trying to live up to society’s expectations, where does that leave us?
How is self-esteem tied to mental health?
Self-esteem is defined by Oxford Dictionary as “confidence in one’s own worth or abilities; self-respect.” In other words, self-esteem is how you feel about yourself. When someone has high self-esteem, they have positive feelings about themselves. On the other hand, someone with low self-esteem has negative feelings about themselves. For example, someone with low self-esteem may believe they are not worthy of love or happiness.
Your mental health crisis is not your fault.
You are not alone.
You deserve help and support.
Your mental health crisis is NOT your fault.
Suicidal thoughts are more than “I want to die.”
Suicidal thoughts, also known as “suicidal ideation,” is often misunderstood. This is partially due to the stigma on mental illness as a whole, depression, and suicide. We live in a world where individuals do not feel worthy of help until they have a gun to their head or pills in their hand. Why? Because, we have minimized suicidal thoughts.
Managing mental health and the holidays.
The holidays are stressful for anyone, whether or not you are living with a diagnosed mental health condition. We are all vulnerable to a decline in mental health during the season. So, what can we do about it?
What do you mean by self-care?
Did you know that the majority of people misunderstand what effective self-care is and how they can benefit from it? Furthermore, surveys have reported that 44% of people believe self-care is only possible for people who have enough time. Surveys have also reported that about 35% of people believe self-care is only possible for those who have enough money.
Work-life balance or integration?
Work-life balance is the idea that you can divide your time and energy equally between work and the various important aspects of their life. Essentially, you divide between the demands of the workplace and spending quality time with family members, maintaining a social life, focusing on your personal growth, caring for your health, engaging in self-care practices, participate within your community, and other activities that are important pieces of your personal life. Fundamentally, work and your personal life exist separately, where one ends, the other begins.
Is anxiety a real mental illness?
Anxiety is a common emotion that we all experience sometimes. Fear, worry, and nervousness are unavoidable emotions because life is unpredictable. You may anxiety prior to making a life-changing decision, before taking a test, or when facing a problem at work. (NIMH) When we experience fear, worry, or nervousness, it can also be a sign of growth, because we are facing something we have never faced before. Anxiety disorders, on the other hand, can be debilitating and disrupt one’s quality of life. Symptoms can impact one’s relationships and / or performance at school or work. Unlike typical anxiety, anxiety disorders are not temporary worry or fear.
Does the way we receive news affect our mental health?
Television ratings are essential to media organizations. Therefore, it is no wonder why every headline and every story are designed to captivate your attention. As media consumers, we are more likely to subscribe to a negative headline then we are a positive one. Why? It holds our attention because it has a significant emotional impact on our brains. Thus, you are more likely to remember negative news than positive news.
With continuous negative headlines and crises, you are more likely to tune into the news for updates. The stress is a driving force in your desire to watch more. You crave the news to stay updated and feel in the know.
Mental health and higher education system.
Currently, our higher education system treats mental illness like it is a choice. The current system works against those living with mental illness, even though research proves suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among college students. The system provides minimal accommodations that offer little support and create a wider gap between students living with and without mental health symptoms / conditions. Imagine reaching out for support and being told, “We can only help you up to three times a year, but the first appointment available is in 6 weeks.”
Again, with physical illness, this is NOT an issue. We provide immediate support and resources to help the student get better and receive any accommodations needed.
Signs you need a mental health break.
When it comes to our physical health, we often have an idea how far we can push ourselves. When we are starting to feel under the weather, we recognize the warning signs, and we go to the doctor. Typically, when we get sick, we allow ourselves time to heal. When we break a bone, we visit the doctor, and we allow our body time to heal. Yet, when our mental health is declining, we often do not recognize the warning signs until we are burnt out.
Beyond all labels, who are you?
Societal standards influence how we perceive ourselves, how we behave, how we treat others, what career path we choose, what we believe, how we vote, and whom we marry.
Ways to destigmatize mental health
Mental health has been stigmatized to make people struggling feel alone. Many people feel invalidated or like their struggle is their fault. A lot of people never reach out or seek help. Millions struggle in silence because it is safer than being labeled or invalidated. Due to the lack of conversation and lack of education, the stigma has been able to perpetuate this cycle and narrative.
Why I love a pain to purpose story.
I do not want to know who you are. I want to know why you are who you are. Your past, your defeat, your loss, your pain is not who you are. None of that defines you. Your success does not describe you. Your journey, on the other hand, defines you. It shows how far you have come and how far you are willing to go to change the world.
Is there really a mind-body connection?
Our health is at the center of everything. Our body reacts to our emotional health, just like our emotional state responds to our physical health. Therefore, instead of treating our emotional and physical health as two separate entities, it is imperative that we look at them together.
How has gender identity influenced mental health?
The world is not solely about making you feel comfortable, it is about making everyone feel seen, heard, loved, valid, worthy, and enough. If you are uncomfortable with the way someone identifies, then educate yourself.
Is empathy a thing of the past?
Have you ever needed someone to talk to who just understands? You were looking for empathy. Empathy is how we connect with others. Essentially, empathy is recognizing and understanding the thoughts and feelings of someone else. Empathy is an important part of our relationship with others. Furthermore, empathy is an important part of our relationship with ourselves. By getting in touch with our own emotions, we can learn to understand others’ emotions. This allows us to see things from their point of view.
Why do people with mental illness suffer in silence?
In today’s world, people fear missing school or work because of their mental health. People are afraid to be honest because someone might laugh, and that invalidation is too much for them to handle. Treatment options are unaffordable for many people. There are still insurance plans that do not cover mental health treatment (including medication and therapy). Medication and therapy are deemed for people who are “crazy.” Why would someone feel safe to open up and seek help with the stigma on top of the lack of treatment accessibility?
Is mental exhaustion real?
magine you are driving a car across the country. At some point, your car is going to run out of gas. Usually, we fill our gas tanks before it gets to empty. But every once in a while, we push it out as long as we can. What do you do when your gas is empty? Do you keep driving? No, you cannot. Eventually, your car will stop moving, until you refuel it. Your mind is just like your car. It needs to be refueled constantly. If you push your mind too far, it too will stop functioning properly.
Is there a connection between nutrition and mental health?
an be hard to find a direct link between one cause and one illness. However, we do know there is a mind body connection. Also, we do know that nutrition affects our physical health. Therefore, it would be plausible to conclude that nutrition affects our mental health.
The different faces of depression.
Mental illnesses and mental health conditions are invisible illnesses. Many of us are covered in invisible scars. Invisible scars marked by every trauma, every intrusive thought, every adverse childhood experience, and every loss. These scars are called invisible because you cannot see them. The person covered in invisible scars, however, can feel all of them. Just because you cannot see someone’s pain does not mean the pain does not exist.
Do Positive Thoughts Solve All of Your Problems?
Positivity is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as the practice of being or tendency to be positive or optimistic in attitude. Essentially, positivity is trying to find the good in the bad. However, being a positive person, does not mean you have to feel positive every second of every day.
What does it mean to prioritize your mental health?
Prioritizing your mental health validates you as a human being. If you do not validate and prioritize yourself, who will?
How do you advocate for your mental health?
Why do we wait so long to receive treatment that we deserve? Think about it. When your arm starts hurting, especially after a trauma, do you wait years to get an x-ray? When your vision starts to worsen, do you wait years to get glasses? When you have a cavity, do you wait years to get a filling? When you have a headache, do you wait years to take medication? When you live with a heart condition, do you wait years to go to the cardiologist? Yet, when you live with a mental health condition or you are facing poor mental health symptoms, why do you take years to see a doctor?
What is the ideal model of mental health care within psych wards?
It is 2021, our eyes are open to the economic disparity more than they have ever been in the past. Yet, we still live in a world where quality mental health care is a privilege NOT a right. There is no valid reason as to why there is no minimum standard of care within psych wards on a national level that sets patients up for success rather than failure.
What factors can contribute to mental health symptoms and conditions?
When we discuss mental health symptoms and conditions, it is extremely important we look at the full picture. Often times, we provide ourselves with a very limited understanding of what can be the root cause of our symptoms and/or conditions. By looking at the full picture and how the various factors interact with each other, we are able to better understand where our symptoms / conditions stem from and how we can make changes to better cultivate our mental health.
What age is appropriate to begin the conversation on mental health?
What age is appropriate to begin the conversation on mental health? My answer: it is never too early to start the conversation. One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding wellness conversations are that you only need to have the conversation once. Like various other wellness and safety conversations, mental health conversations are not a one-time…
Tips To Lose Weight While Protecting Your Mental Health
Written by: Bettie Olson Losing weight is on everyone’s mind. There are diets expounded all over the internet and social media. But doctor recommended or otherwise, they all miss one huge thing: your mental health. Dieting is hard and often stressful if you don’t meet your goals like New Year’s resolutions, and not paying attention to…
After incredible loss, she’s on a mission to save lives from suicide | I Don’t Mind
FRAN REICHERTER IS INSPIRING HER GENERATION WITH MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS, EMOTIONAL SUPPORT, AND EDUCATION. By Jackie Menjivar Warning: Content discussed addresses suicide. As a child, Fran Reicherter’s self-described superpower was her writing and her desire to change the things she knew could be better in the world. Now, the 23-year-old founder and president of Inspiring…
6 Gen Z’ers You Need to Know to Break Open your Mental Health Echo Chamber
6 Gen Z’ers you Need to Know to Break Open your Mental Health Echo Chamber Let’s face it– social media can be tricky sometimes. While it’s certainly a helpful tool in keeping us connected, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when we’re constantly pressured to show off the best version of ourselves online. Plus, when our…
Inspiring My Generation – Francesca Reicherter | Go Solo
Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Francesca Reicherter, founder of Inspiring My Generation Corporation, located in Parkland, FL, USA. What’s your business, and who are your customers? Inspiring My Generation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to suicide prevention through mental health awareness, emotional…
How divorce impacts children’s mental health & Interventions to support emotional development?
Whatever the case may be for you and your ex-spouse, there is one thing that will always be in common: if children were part of the family unit, they will be experiencing the emotional and mental impacts of the divorce alongside you.
Invisible plastics: Is your health at risk?
Here’s a fact you probably did not know: each year, the average American consumes a credit card’s worth of microplastics every year. In fact, some research has shown that we may ingest greater than 100,000 microplastic particles every day.