I wake up in the morning and wait for the rush of racing thoughts to fill my brain. I wait for the swirl to begin: I need to do this, I need to do that, this isn’t done yet, what if this happens. I keep waiting, and the thoughts never come. I feel a sense of calm. My heart isn’t racing. My chest isn’t tight. I can think clearly, without thoughts constantly racing through my brain, for the first time maybe ever. This is the day after I started medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

I’ve put so much pressure on myself to be perfect and succeed, I’ve experienced anxiety and depressive symptoms over the years. In fact, my psychiatric diagnoses have centered around anxiety and depression the past six years, and I’ve gone to therapy and tried many psychiatric medications trying to be well. But all these years later, even after trying all the medications, I’m not well.

I haven’t always been a “bigger” girl. Back in high school, I ran cross country, and I was average-sized if not straight up skinny. Looking at old pictures, I barely recognize myself. My arms, my face, everything was just so much smaller. I’m not that girl anymore. Now I am the big girl, the plus-size girl, the girl who can’t find clothes to wear because the sizes don’t go up large enough. And I don’t feel great about that.

***TRIGGER WARNING*** The following blog contains references to suicide and gun violence. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. In the U.S., call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. For countries outside the U.S., visit findahelpline.com to find your local crisis line.

My hands hurt. Pretty much all the time. My rheumatoid arthritis makes my hands hurt and my feet hurt and well, basically everything hurt. For me, and anyone else who suffers from chronic pain, it is a big deal, and it affects my quality of life. I hope this article can either help you feel less alone or help you start to understand what it’s like experiencing chronic pain every single day.

Crisis helplines provide free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, call or text your local helpline 24/7 (988 in the U.S.; findahelpline.com for other countries). If you’ve never called or texted a crisis helpline before, it can be a little intimidating. What can you expect when you contact a crisis helpline?

What comes to mind when you think of self-care? Taking bubble baths, exercising and eating nutritiously? All of these things can be great self-care strategies, but for me, self-care is about not pushing myself beyond my limits. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way how pushing myself beyond my limits can be incredibly detrimental to physical and mental health.

My eyes pop open. I check my phone, and it’s 1 a.m. I lay in bed on my back, staring at the ceiling. I’m not anxious. I have no racing thoughts or chest tightness or worry about the future. I feel calm. And yet I can’t go back to sleep. After awhile, I get up and start organizing my linen closet. Before I know it, it’s 3 a.m., and I’ve just spent two hours in the middle of the night organizing towels and shampoo backstock. This insomnia is one of the side effects of my mental health medication.

“Hi, I’m Marcie, and I struggle with anxiety and depression.” This is how I introduce myself every Monday night on my virtual support group. It’s become a habit now, but it never gets easier admitting your mental health diagnosis to a group of strangers. Even writing about my conditions in this blog for you — and the world — to see is terrifying. What will people think of me? Will they think less of me? Will they judge me? This is the stigma around mental health.

I’m lying in bed in my pajamas, day-old makeup under my eyes. My hair is unwashed and unbrushed. There is nothing to eat in the house. I’m running dangerously low on shampoo. Yet I can’t make myself get out of bed, much less go to the store and pick up groceries and the essentials. I convince myself I don’t really need these basic human necessities and go back to bed where I don’t have to face the rest of the world. This is the day I realized I had depression.

We all become stressed at work at some point. Maybe you experience workplace stress on a daily basis or just every so often. While stress is completely normal, it can easily become dangerous to your mental, emotional and physical well-being. Here are some signs your workplace stress may be a problem.

You know how they say owners start to look like their dogs? Well, it must be the same thing with mental illness because my dog and I both have anxiety. I’ve had low-grade anxiety since I was in high school, but it got worse in college as I tried to do it all — get straight A’s, work 30 hours a week, have a personal life, etc. Eventually I just broke down. Since then, I’ve taken steps to deal with my anxiety, and one of the things that has helped the most is my dog, Raylee.

I’m sitting at my laptop staring at the phone number on my screen, my heart racing. I can’t imagine anything worse than having to pick up the phone and call someone — anyone —much less calling someone about getting help. Not wanting to make calls is part of my social anxiety, so having to call someone to get help for anxiety seems like a cruel joke.

We can all agree that we need other people in our lives to help us through the hard times. We depend on other people to carry us. In my life, I’ve been lucky to have so many women who helped me along the way. I wouldn’t be where I am today without their guidance and support. So in celebration of International Women’s Day 2019, I want to celebrate the women who carried me.

When you walk into a store, store associates often greet you with “Is there anything I can help you find?” I always say, “I’m just looking,” even when I am looking for something specific and don’t know where it is. I could save myself the time and trouble of wandering the entire store if I could just say, “Yes, there is something I need help with.” But I don’t. Even in a simple situation such as needing help finding something in a store, I don’t ask for help.

I am 25 years old, and I don’t know how to ride a bike. Now I’m sure you’re wondering how that’s even possible, but I promise you it’s true. How did that even happen? I was and am still afraid. I didn’t learn how to ride a bike when I was too young to know not to be afraid, so when I got older, I knew the potential consequences. I knew I could fall off and get hurt, so I let the fear of failure stop me. While not being able to ride a bike is a silly example, it illustrates a larger point about how fear of failure can limit your potential.

When was the last time you put yourself first? If you can’t remember, you may be like many women today who are always putting themselves last. Whether it be at work or in your personal life, putting yourself first can be difficult. However, I would argue that 95% of the time, it is healthy to put yourself first. I truly believe you are going to be the best version of yourself if you dedicate time and energy to self-care.

I have always been attracted to stressful jobs. Nothing can beat the rush you feel when the odds are stacked against you, and everyone is counting on you to pull through to get to done. Some people might find this kind of pressure absolutely terrifying, but for me, it’s the only way I know how to work. Deadlines are only one of the many contributors to the birth of my stress-induced anxiety – which has both helped and hurt my career.

When you think of your stereotypical introvert, you probably think of someone who is socially awkward who likes to be alone. If introverts don’t even like interacting with other people, then how could they possibly be successful leaders? In this blog, I’ll go through some common traits of introverts, how they can be potential obstacles and how you can overcome them in order to be a great leader. Along the way, I’ll also share my personal experiences and provide advice on how you can lead effectively as an introvert.

According to Sheryl Sandberg’s popular book “Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead,” too many women lack confidence. The “confidence gap” finds that women are less assured than men, and confidence matters just as much as competence. If confidence is so important to professional success, why do so many women lack it, and what can we do to improve it? I may not be able to answer why so many women lack confidence, but I can share with you my personal experiences with confidence and my key to achieving it.