Tag: mental health

emotional eating Marija Eljuga

Emotional Eating: A Different Approach

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By Marija Eljuga | Featured Contributor

Most of us find it hard to eat less than we would want to, experiencing constant craving for more food or kind of food that we are struggling to separate ourselves from. How unhappy does this make us feel? Then when we give in to our cravings, we feel self-reproach, self-loathing, shame, guilt. What a nightmare of our daily experience?! When we ‘manage’ to deny ourselves, working so hard to lose some weight, our body and our mind do not forget. In sensing, feeling and thinking we ‘know’ that we have denied ourselves; the pleasure of eating what we want, is our due. Before long, we make it up to ourselves; one way or another. The weight is back on…, or some other diversion equally remorseful. A constant cycle of harm/discomfort and defense against it. Constantly unhappy, constantly in a struggle. Wonder if there is another way?

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in the right light inspirational poem Cynthia Cady Stanton

In the Right Light [a poem]

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By Cynthia Cady Stanton | Featured Contributor

In the right light,
the morning greets me
with the kind of hope needed
to float joyfully into the day.
I start with a smile
lit from within.

In the right light,
my elderly cat appears like a
kitten resting after deep play.
As the rays of sunshine he bathes in
shimmer across his gray coat,
they seem to hide how frail
he really is.

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coping with anxiety and depression mental health story

Battling Anxiety & Depression: Abigail’s Story

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By Abigail A. | Featured Contributor

Anxiety. One word, four syllables—but carries such a heavy load for millions of people across the globe. Anxiety is defined as “an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes.” As a young girl, I have always known that something didn’t feel quite right when: a) I felt faint whenever it came to public speaking, b) I hated the thought of confrontation, and c) I always felt nervous when it came to being around a group of people, etc. I never knew what it was until 20 something years later when my doctor diagnosed me with generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder, aka GAD & SAD. I finally had a name for what I was feeling all these years as a child/teenager and into adulthood. Numerous factors contributed to me developing anxiety. However, in my early twenties, I battled severe depression, and If I ever lost all hope in life, it was those 5 years because those were my darkest mental days. As the saying goes, I wish that on no one because it was a very scary place to be in.

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