forwardspero

A problem with maintaining mental health is that there's no fix all. There's no surgery that will "fix you". There's no medication that will "fix you". There's no exercise that will "fix you". And who's to say you need to be "fixed"? You are you, be so unapologetically. Mental health is a daily goal, not a problem to "fix". But understand, if you want to heal your wounds, only you  can do this. Only you can learn to cope and heal your wounds. No one can do this for you. I believe in you. You can do this. Find your hope, move forward. Latch onto something healthy and use it to start climbing your way up. Try to reach that goal! →forwardspero @forwardspero on instagram/twitter, or email me

Personally, one of the hardest parts of postpartum depression was the loneliness. I was never not holding a newborn, but consistently felt so miserably lonely.  A deafening silence around me that caused my mind to scream that I was failing. I was basically a single parent (even though his dad and I were still together at the time) and needed a friend...or whiskey I thought, but alcohol really isn't a friend I've found and certainly solves no problems.  My son wasn't my friend, since all newborns do is cry, eat, poop, and sleep; they’re not great company.   His father loved me, but didn't know about the mental minefield I was navigating or my disdain for him every time he went out and I stayed in (which was often throughout my pregnancy/postpartum days), which meant he wasn't much of a friend either. After a few months, I knew that as much as I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, my relationship with his father was failing and I needed adult interaction so t

Mental wellness is important for your physical wellness. Overdosing on pills will not help you mentally or physically. Cutting will not help you mentally or physically. Self-harm, or the harm of others, does not help mentally or physically. Self-care does. Take 30 minutes and go for a run, or a swim, or a walk, or whatever you're up for doing. Try to do five minutes of that exercise without music. Just be alone with yourself to maybe sort through some things, if possible. Then after you've had a minute in your thoughts, turn up your favorite jams and lose yourself in the music(thanks eminem). You'll release some endorphins that hopefully make your day a little better! →forwardspero @forwardspero on instagram/twitter

Do you ever think about how commonly we ask "How are you?" It's nearly every conversation, even when passing by. But how often does the person asking genuinely mean it? And how often do you answer honestly? It's scary to think how often we ask, but don't want the real answer. We're too rushed to stop and listen, or don't actually care...so don't ask if that's the case. It's okay not to ask. It's hard to open up to people and admit that you're not doing well, but sharing your hardships can really help to lift some of the weight of your own shoulders. Find people with whom you can be open and honest; never let them go. →forwardspero @forwardspero on instagram/twitter, or reach out via  email

;  The semi-colon. An internationally recognized symbol for suicide awareness and prevention. [The movement began with a woman named Amy and her own mental health struggles. For more about their incredible story and project, please visit  Project semicolon ] A few days ago, I was in a work meeting and heard the phrase "let's take a thoughtful pause" used when a staff member felt people were rushing into a decision. Instantly I thought of what would represent those words, "thoughtful pause", which led me to the semi-colon. In grammar, it just indicates a pause more pronounced than from comma usage alone. In mental health, it typically indicates something in reference to suicide, dependent on the person's own experience. So rather than a thoughtful pause, because our brains are already way too overloaded with everyday life, I want to encourage a mindful pause. Take a minute to stop thinking. Take a deep breath. Just inhale and exhale for 60 second

Anxiety, a natural response to stressful situations that some people process differently than others. It's fleeting for some. It's debilitating for some, paralyzing them. It's annoying for others. Like siting by a dog who won't stop licking itself, you can't ignore it's there. "I GET IT!" You want to scream...but screaming won't make it stop. In fact, it'd probably make it worse because then you get anxious about the anger outburst you just had and want to know why you weren't able to control that. So then you're anxious about an annoying dog, your anxiety, and your anger, making it nearly impossible to get your mind back on track until you've taken a second for yourself. For me, anxiety is this: rarely obvious to others, but consistent in my mind like an engine in a gas powered car. It's audible, but you don't think about every single second unless you're really trying to hear it. I typically get anxious in a

Hope. Wanting something to happen. I hope that mental health becomes a frontrunner in legislation, and movement is actually made forward, rather than just discussion had about it. I hope that the stigma around mental health and speaking out about one's struggles is erased. I hope that you find your tribe. Find your people who listen to your mental warfare and help you to cope with it. I hope you find hope. Remember to be kind, especially to yourself. Mental health is everything. →forwardspero @forwardspero on instagram/twitter, or email me if you need to talk

Mental health is everything.  How many times do you stop in the middle of your morning routine and tell yourself it’s going to be a great day, while considering your mental state (if it’s healthy at the moment) and how to maintain it that day?  Probably not often enough, I’d presume, unless mental health is already something you struggle with.  In my opinion, if you take care of your mind, it automatically  leads to a tendency of better care for everything else you become involved in each day.  So go take a couple hours for yourself today, if you can. Or take five minutes alone in the bathroom (parents know what I mean), whatever you can make work.  Meditate on where your mind is versus where you’d like it to be, and be kind to yourself in that.  Find your hope.  →forwardspero 

I had (pretty much) a perfect life, while growing up. No monetary worries, two vacations a year, private school... I worked for things I wanted, but didn't want for things I needed. So mental health never really crossed my mind...until I became pregnant. I became a mother, to a wonderful little boy, before I was truly ready for it, and before I'd found a healthy relationship. I get it when people say "you're never ready" in reference to having a kid, but being young just makes it more complicated...admit it. I come from a fly-over state, so you can probably guess how the reaction to my "out of wedlock" pregnancy announcement went. Youth and lack of support, combined with myself being a "Type A" personality, came together to land me into the deep, dark pool of intra-partum depression, which continued to post-partum depression. I was barely treading water, for longer than I'd like to admit, because being "Type A" means failure

Hi! Welcome to forwardspero. I'm an Emergency Room nurse, and daily I encounter patients who're are struggling with mental health. As a 90's kid, who's been through her own struggles, most of the time I can say that I understand what they're going through. The heart to hearts I have with these patients reinforces my desire to remind people they don't have to be perfect, and what's happening right now in their life doesn't have to be permanent. I believe mental health and wellness is vital, and want to encourage change so that it's not looked down upon when someone opens up about their struggles. The word "forward" has several definitions, one of which is to "promote". "Spero" means "hope" in Latin, one of the root languages for modern times. That's my goal, to promote hope. So forwardspero is a place where I'll speak to mental health, and all that it encompasses, and hopefully put a little suns