Latest / RealTalkwithMikeD / Episode 30 - Dealing with Stress, Depression and Anxiety!

Transcript

Episode 30 - Dealing with Stress, Depression and Anxiety! · RealTalkwithMikeD

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Real Talk with Mike D. Alright, welcome back
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: to Real Talk with Mike D. I am Mike D.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. And
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: as always, I appreciate you being here. Today we're going
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: to talk about something that is near and dear to
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  Speaker 1: my heart and something that I suffer with. And I'm
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  Speaker 1: not ashamed to talk about it. I'm not ashamed to
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  Speaker 1: tell everybody that I do suffer from it. And hopefully
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: this will reach someone. to let you know that you
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  Speaker 1: are definitely not alone. Today we're talking about stress, depression,
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  Speaker 1: and anxiety. And again, let me tell you something right
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  Speaker 1: from the beginning. If you're dealing with any of these things,
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  Speaker 1: you are not alone, you are not weak, and you
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  Speaker 1: are not broken. Sometimes life just gets heavy. You wake
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  Speaker 1: up in the morning and before your feet even hit
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  Speaker 1: the floor, your mind is already running. You're thinking about bills.
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  Speaker 1: You're thinking about work. You're thinking about family and relationships.
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  Speaker 1: You're thinking about your future. And you're worried about things
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  Speaker 1: that might happen tomorrow. And somehow you're expected to just
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  Speaker 1: get up, put a smile on your face and go
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  Speaker 1: to work and take care of everybody else and pretend
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  Speaker 1: everything is fine. Well, sometimes everything isn't fine and that's
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  Speaker 1: okay to admit. Let's start with stress. Stress is something
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  Speaker 1: we all experience. A little stress can actually motivate us.
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  Speaker 1: It can push us to get things done. However, when
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  Speaker 1: stress becomes constant, it can feel like you're carrying a
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  Speaker 1: backpack full of rocks everywhere you go. You go to
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  Speaker 1: work stressed. You come home stressed. You try to sleep,
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  Speaker 1: but your brain won't shut off. You wake up tired.
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  Speaker 1: And then you start the whole thing all over again.
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  Speaker 1: That's exhausting. And sometimes you don't even realize how stressed
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  Speaker 1: you are until your body finally tells you. You become irritable.
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  Speaker 1: You can't concentrate. You're tired all the time. You don't
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  Speaker 1: enjoy the things you used to. You're snapping at people
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  Speaker 1: you care about. And you're thinking, what the hell is
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  Speaker 1: wrong with me? Maybe nothing is wrong with you. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: you're just overwhelmed. Yes, we are all overwhelmed. Then there's anxiety.
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  Speaker 1: Anxiety can be a completely different battle. Sometimes it's just
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  Speaker 1: that feeling in your chest, that racing heart, that constant worry,
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  Speaker 1: that feeling that something bad is about to happen even
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  Speaker 1: when you can't explain exactly what it is. Your mind
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  Speaker 1: starts creating scenarios. What if this happens? What if I
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: lose my job? What if something happens to my family?
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  Speaker 1: What if I'm not good enough? What if I screw
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  Speaker 1: everything up? And here's the thing about anxiety. Your brain
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  Speaker 1: doesn't always know the difference between something that's actually happening
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  Speaker 1: and something you're afraid might happen. So you can be
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  Speaker 1: sitting on your couch completely safe while your mind is
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: acting like you're running from a damn bear. Oh boy.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: And then there's depression. The big D. Depression isn't always crying.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes depression looks like silence. Sometimes it looks like staying
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  Speaker 1: in bed. Sometimes it looks like going to work, talking
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  Speaker 1: to people, laughing at jokes, and nobody has any idea
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  Speaker 1: that you're struggling inside. You can be surrounded by people
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  Speaker 1: and still feel completely alone. You can love your family
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  Speaker 1: and still feel empty. You can have things in your
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: life that you're grateful for and still feel like something
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  Speaker 1: is missing. And that doesn't make you ungrateful, it makes
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  Speaker 1: you human. One of the biggest problems we have is
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  Speaker 1: that people are often afraid to say, I'm struggling. Because
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  Speaker 1: we're taught to be tough, especially dudes. We're told, man up,
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  Speaker 1: get over it, don't talk about your feelings, just deal
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  Speaker 1: with it. But here's my question. How's that working out
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  Speaker 1: for everybody? Because ignoring something doesn't make it disappear. Sometimes
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  Speaker 1: it just makes it bigger. You can hide stress. You
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  Speaker 1: can hide anxiety. You can hide depression. But eventually that
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  Speaker 1: stuff has a way of coming back to the surface.
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  Speaker 1: And sometimes it comes out as anger. Sometimes isolation. Sometimes drinking.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes drugs. Sometimes pushing people away. Sometimes you just stop
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  Speaker 1: caring about things you used to care about, and that's
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  Speaker 1: when it's time to recognize that you might need some help.
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  Speaker 1: And there's absolutely nothing wrong with asking for help. Talk
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  Speaker 1: to somebody, a friend, a family member, a doctor, a therapist,
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  Speaker 1: somebody you trust. You don't have to explain everything perfectly.
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  Speaker 1: You can simply say, I'm not doing okay right now,
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  Speaker 1: and that's enough. You don't need a five-page explanation. You
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  Speaker 1: don't need to justify how you feel. Just start the conversation.
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  Speaker 1: And if you're listening to this right now and you're struggling,
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  Speaker 1: I want you to hear me. You don't have to
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  Speaker 1: figure out your entire life tonight. You don't have to
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  Speaker 1: solve every problem tonight. You don't have to know exactly
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  Speaker 1: what tomorrow is going to look like. Sometimes the goal
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  Speaker 1: is simply to get through today. Then tomorrow, you deal
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  Speaker 1: with tomorrow. One day, one hour, sometimes one minute at
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  Speaker 1: a time. And that's okay. Take a breath. Seriously, right now,
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  Speaker 1: take a slow, deep breath in. Hold it for a
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  Speaker 1: second and let it out. Sometimes we get so caught
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  Speaker 1: up in everything happening around us that we forget to
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  Speaker 1: stop and breathe. Get outside. Take a walk. Listen to music.
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  Speaker 1: Put your phone down for a while. Talk to somebody.
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  Speaker 1: Get some sleep. Eat something. Drink some water. And God forbid,
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  Speaker 1: if you need professional help, get professional help. Those aren't
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  Speaker 1: things that you failed. They're ways of taking care of yourself.
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  Speaker 1: And let's talk about something else. You don't need to
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  Speaker 1: have or you don't need to be strong every single day.
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  Speaker 1: Some days you're going to do things and you may
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  Speaker 1: not have your shit together. Other days you're going to
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  Speaker 1: be struggling to get out of bed. That's life. Don't
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  Speaker 1: judge yourself based on the worst day. Your worst day
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  Speaker 1: is not your entire story. It's one chapter. And chapters change.
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  Speaker 1: I've learned that sometimes we put enormous pressure on ourselves.
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  Speaker 1: We compare our lives to other people's lives. We see
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  Speaker 1: somebody else's house, their relationship, their career, their vacation, their family.
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  Speaker 1: And you think, why don't I have that? But remember,
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  Speaker 1: You're comparing your behind the scenes to somebody else's highlight reel.
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  Speaker 1: You don't know what they're dealing with when the camera
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  Speaker 1: is off. Everybody has something. Everybody is fighting some kind
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  Speaker 1: of battle. Some people are just better at hiding it.
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  Speaker 1: So if you're dealing with stress, depression, or anxiety, please
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  Speaker 1: don't convince yourself that you have to fight the battle
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  Speaker 1: alone because you don't. And if somebody you know seems
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  Speaker 1: different lately, check on them. Don't just say, hey, what's up?
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  Speaker 1: Ask them, are you really okay? And then actually listen.
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  Speaker 1: You don't always have to fix somebody's problem. Sometimes people
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  Speaker 1: just need somebody willing to sit there and listen without judgment.
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to leave you with one more thing. If
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  Speaker 1: you're having thoughts of hurting yourself or you feel like
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  Speaker 1: you may not be able to keep yourself safe, please
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  Speaker 1: seek immediate help. In the United States, you can call
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  Speaker 1: or text 988 to reach the suicide and crisis lifeline.
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  Speaker 1: If you're in immediate danger, call 911 or go to
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  Speaker 1: the nearest emergency department. There's absolutely positively no shame in
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  Speaker 1: getting help. All right, ladies and gentlemen, that is going
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  Speaker 1: to do it for today's episode. I greatly appreciate you
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: being here. I appreciate you listening. And as always, stay safe,
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  Speaker 1: be kind, and love one another. I'll see you on
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: the next episode.