There is a lot of turbulence in the mental health space. All kinds of mischief is going on and a portion of Americans who are trying to go back to 1862. It is crazy but I don't think that is a strong enough word for it. In this episode, I have a very simplistic definition of what is an AI Language Model and what is a scripted AI chatbot and a wee b…

This is a pebble in the road about the ADAA On-line Support Group. Sometimes you need to connect to an actual human being. Or a group of people that share your problem or have similar questions. Lots of things happening and I'm trying to adjust to them. In future episodes, probably starting with this one, there will be a transcript available. It wi…

In this episode a look at breathing necklaces, which are supposed to help you control your breathing. These things irk me. It isn't that they don't have a purpose. But you don't need them. It is ok to want one or have it around your neck as a touchpoint or you really do understand how to use them. That is what I wanted to communicate in the recordi…

For some of us, imposter syndrome is an anxiety generator. It goes to the heart of feeling worthy, being competent or having the right to be in a particular space. Doing this episode made me feel like an imposter. I can hear slurred words, tangents and howlers of editing. But here is the thing. I don't allow it to keep me from trying and doing. Sur…

There is a spectrum of decisions between I can and I can't. Part of our healing journey is to understand the concept of acceptance. A video popped up called "A Panic Attack Ended My Winter Backpacking Trip" from the Miranda Goes Outside!! YouTube channel. I absolutely wanted to view that video. Spent a chunk of it nodding in agreement. Not to menti…

Treatment options are evolving and this one is a pip. An expensive one, but it might be just what is needed in the middle of a cold dark night of the soul. Xaia aka eXtended reality Artificially Intelligent Ally is designed to work with the Apple Vision Pro.VR device. You can talk with it. Share your concerns and get feedback about your issues. Tha…

In 2024, of the things we have to change is the active cultural block against men seeking mental health treatment. We don't have time for it. All hands on deck or at least pull the ropes trying to point the ship in the right direction. This episode is a little different because it is resource focus. Go to Helpguide.org to learn about therapy or to …

There are a lot of decisions that you have to make when you are seeking treatment. Hopefully you find a good doctor or a mental health professional to guide you though the process. Those are aspirational goals by the way. You might run into a doc that just wants to give you medication and then report back in four weeks. Or you can't find or afford …

In January, you often hear about the aspirational pledges. No shopping. No drinking alcohol. Go vegan or as close to it as you can get. My year round goal is to get folks at a basic level to take time to breath. Slow it down. Chill as in being quiet. Not as in ice baths. Me in a former incarnation; "Nuts to you, I breath all of the time. I still ha…

With all of the book banning in the United States, a person could make a case that some sections of the country has ideophobia or the fear of ideas. Might also be bibliophobia. In this episode, a quick look at the definition of Ideophobia. If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Proj…

If you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes and anxiety or depression, you have to deal with both conditions at the same time. It is a challenge but not impossible. There are resources and options to help you deal with treatment. This is just a quick mention of some of those resources that could be of assistance to you or someone you know. If you need su…

In this episode, a look at adult people that grew up in an addictive or dysfunctional family. Because if you did, there is a good chance you might have an anxiety condition or a related mental health problem. How do you get to be an adult child of a dysfunctional family. There are many pathways. Many are raised in an abusive or addictive family. Ot…

I did an episode about ACEs a long time ago. It was okay but I know a bit more now. At the time I said something to the effect, "Childhood isn't easy even in the best of families, but what if your family of origin contributed to your current condition? I'm not saying that it has, but what if it did?" That part was ok but listening to it now I did n…

So in this episode I wanted to put a bit more context as to why sucking sour candy could work to stop panic attacks. Or not. Or not for the long term. Here is how it started. I have news feeds for anxiety. This story popped up. Delish is a food recipe and kitchen gadget website. I've seen videos on YouTube. I was confused when I saw the story about…

I don't know if I'll ever go on a cruise ship. The only part that really interest me is tasting a wide variety of food in a short amount of time. Plus my anxiety about riding on a human petri dish would get the best of me and cause all kinds of embarrassment. Not to mention that there are hundreds of people around and having to move as a pack once …

You made it over the first hurdle. You know you have a problem. You might have even gone to the doctor or your health provider to obtain help. They might have set you up with pills or talk therapy. And that is a far as you got. You take the meds but you are still drinking. Or eating high sugar or caffeinated beverages. Babe, you gotta make some cha…

There is a term called visceral anxiety. According to various sources, it isn't a medical term but more of a description of feeling anxiety in the lower center of your body. We are talking about the gastrointestinal track. For some with anxiety it is a persistent problem of pain in the stomach, being gassy or bloated. Or feeling queasy each and eve…

Worry is powerful, it can dishearten you and have you see nothing but shades of gray. There are techniques that even anxious people can use to reduce the amount of worry and get on with the business of the day. I've been around a few spins around the sun. There have been very few times when things haven't been crazy on this planet. Especially with …

You can be a smoker that has anxiety or a person with an anxiety condition who smokes. Either way it is a bad deal that can not only make your symptoms worse but cause long term harm to your body. In this short pebble in the road episode, some resources to help educate yourself about the problem but some viable resources you can check out to separa…

I try to keep episodes short and to the point. But sometimes I need to talk about conceptual things that at first, doesn’t seem to have anything to do with anxiety treatment options. But it does. I need to talk about beans or knowledge. Or the do before the why. Which I like better but it isn't grammatical. I take comfort that I'm pissing off an A.…

The American Psychiatry Association defines depression as loss of interest of activities once enjoyed, and that the symptoms must last longer than two weeks before an official diagnosis. There isn't just one kind of depression and they don't all generate from the same source. For people that have not experience depression, it is really hard for the…

When things go wrong and you need a break, like when none of your audio software will record and you have to use your phone, you need to take a moment. Or two. Maybe have dinner as well. Some days you have to find ways to roll with it. A meditative break can help. That is the topic of this episode. If you need support contact the National Suicide P…

Many of us hold our tongues or clench our teeth to protect ourselves from saying what you really want to say. Or feel. And for most of us, that works and we go about our day. But if you are clenching and grinding your teeth on a daily basis there is going to be a problem. Sometimes with your jaw. Or wearing away your teeth. Or having headaches or s…

I’ve done a couple of episodes on generalized anxiety disorder, sometimes referred to as GAD. However, there have been changes to some of the medication treatment options. And there are new options that did not exist in 2016 or 2018 so I thought that I’d catch everyone up on what is going to be current for the foreseeable future. That is the topic …

I try to stay off of sites like Kickstarter and Indigogo. Too much temptation and even more disappointment. Back in the day, I use to support the up and coming companies. But I got tired of waiting sometimes month before the product arrived. I have been burned by companies that found out it was hard to be an innovator. Few days ago, I got an email …

The TLDR version: What I do know is that a coloring book could be an opportunity for those who have trouble with some of the traditional concepts of meditation or mindfulness practice. But be careful about making a purchase. When possible, buy from a human creator. The much longer version: I insist on being a human being so I still do my own resear…

I'm on the summer slow down vibe, but there are lots of interesting ways to handle and reduce symptoms. One of those ways is combining a breathing practice with humming. To be clear, I'm talking about the sound that humans make with their mouths. Usually involves the sound "hum". Take the human body, the Vagus nerve and an open mind and you just mi…

As I mention in the podcast, it is the eight anniversary of the podcast. The need to connect people to the various mental health services is still necessary. There have been times that my symptoms were stable and I could crank out an episode, no problem. But there are times when I'm at high tide, the symptoms are showing themselves to the public an…

It is the start of the summer slowdown where I'll post less often as I try to catch up on my sleep and elocution skills. I've been talking a lot lately and I can hear multiple imperfections. Really a bad idea to do five things at the same time. Anyway, last week's error has created this episode. As a standing warning. Never upgrade as you are worki…

After missing last week, I was determined to get an episode up. I recording and edited it. The SOS software decided to garble my speech. And then it stopped working. So I turned to my phone and made something happen. It ain't pretting but I dood it. This is a quick look at the new movie called Minding the LIne, which is a fictional movie about fly …

It has been a while since I’ve mentioned this; the focus on the podcast is for folks that have been medically diagnosed with an anxiety condition or disorder. However, all are welcome. The over-stressed, the somewhat anxious or those that are up against it and don’t know what to do. Everybody has anxiety. That is normal and necessary. We need it fo…

There are days when we muck it up. And spend hours berating yourself that you were not perfect or you did not catch one of the dozens of bug a boos that you handle in a day. On this day I would like to suggest that you stop being mean, nasty or hyper-critical about being fallible. Practice your breathing, drink some water, move your body and active…

For those of you that don’t understand about the experience of depression, I have two websites that might help folks get a grip on it. The first is Will O’Neil’s Actual Sunlight. It is a fictional narrative game about the experience of living and trying to exist in a depressive state. Another expression of the experience is an old school HTML websi…

Last time, I talked about coaching. How there are different types of coaches and that it is an unlicensed and unregulated practice. There are good and bad coaches, and we need to find ways to figure out who is who. I tried to chop it down into chunks but this is a big topic. And not a lot of consumer friendly information sources. Many of the resour…

I’m working my way through the mental health telemedicine providers and I’m coming across the word “coach.” I get a little leery about that word because I’ve had some experiences with people using it to wrap themselves in a health wellness cloak of respectability. I’ve gone to conferences and sat in on sessions that I thought were about how to best…

This episode is not for everybody. Some of you will be highly dismissive. That is okay. Different strokes for different folks. Knitting provides an object of focus for our practice. We can practice focusing our attention and letting go of distractions. The point is, doing something analog or tactile can help you relax. Or meditate or route you and …

Long time listeners know that I am a connoisseur of the sequential arts. It is truly the theater of the mind because I can co-create with the artist to experience an environment or an adventure. I bring this up because sometimes healing can come from unexpected places. Like a graphic novel or a comic book. Three of the books talk about the experien…

The anxiety symptoms can muck up our ability to see what we've done, whether it was fair, good, or excellent. There are a lot of wonderful people that have anxiety conditions that do mighty good things. People write, create or force a revolution into how we should treat each other as human being. In this week's episode, a look at a pioneer that hel…

As one section of America tries to move forward there are others that are determine to hold on to what didn't work in the past and certainly won't work in the future. In this day, do the best you can. That is the lesson to be learned across all of time and space. I had to record this episode seven or eight times. I kept messing up. Mispronounced wo…

There are times when I find myself in unexpected territories. This is one of those times. It is why I'm trying to include more attention to the virtual mental health providers. If you have ever listed to a podcast or watch YouTube, you probably have heard or seen something about the company known as BetterHealth. You might have seen an advertorial …

A few years ago in an episode I said: Anxiety is so much more than the typical stress reaction. For some of us, we gag, we choke, we have heart pains, we have chest pains, we have diarrhea, we have gastric distress, we have excessive sweating. We can't leave our homes. These are not the kind of things you're going to be thinking your way through if…

I freely admit that I mentioned can soda too many times in this episode. But it had a profound effect on my body and parts of my brain. There are folks that use other substances in excess to deal with their symptoms or whatever else is going on with them. For me, it was sugar drinks and pastries. Almost never met a donut I didn't like. I no longer …

Some providers of services use the term behavioral health. Some use mental health. I have spent the hours trying to get a concise meaning of both terms. It ain't easy. The American Psychological Association defines behavioral as: ...an interdisciplinary subspecialty of behavioral medicine that promotes a philosophy emphasizing individual responsibi…

Update 2024 - Seems like Ro Mind has bit the dust. Although the mental health only therapy explainer page is still listed on the website, it seems that there has been a downsizing of the medical services offered. Per the main page of the website, they no longer list anxiety, depression and seasonal affected disorder conditions. When I select the "W…

In this episode, a look at some of the mental tele-health options that are in or will be introduced to the healthcare marketplace. Next time, and throughout the year I'll show examples of a virtual mental health service, what it does, the pros & cons and other items of interest. If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline a…

This is the start to a mini-series about telehealth and telemedicine options. Starting out with a definition of what telehealth is, types of provider services including a taste of virtual mental health care and recourses. The short version is, per the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services, “Telehealth — sometimes called telemedicine — lets yo…

Trying to finish up on my science literacy class. It is a pip. It is very good and provides a lot information about how scientists evaluate questions and data. It is thumping my poor brain with all kinds of concepts. Once I finish the class, I should be back on a regular schedule. Going through my stuff and seeing if I forgot anything. Seems like I…

In this episode, a look at a kindness inspired grounding practice you could do when you need to tame your internal little hater. Sometimes people come to the podcast intentionally. They see the album cover or up on a social media site and check it out. Or they might see a post on a social media place and happen to see the name of the show. Some ent…

It is the time when a bunch of people and advertisers want to encourage you to make changes to your existence and how you currently live your life. You might in fact want to do this because you do not feel good in your mind and body. Totally understandable. But you don't have to define you worth on promises you really don't want to do. There is a w…

There are lots of apps for mindfulness and meditation. The advantage is just in time training, help and support and symptom relief. The disadvantage could be the continued separation from actual people, data harvesting by low lifers and the app not exactly meeting your needs. I would say that it is important you develop your skills as an informed h…