March 2020 – Life with Charli

Mental Health 2: Meeting my Mental Health Specialists

Around the end of January, I mentioned in a recent post that I visited a mental health clinic. I was given an appointment to see a psychologist and psychiatrist two weeks after my walk-in visit. For those who don’t know, a psychologist specializes in counseling and therapy. A psychiatrist focuses on treating mental illnesses mainly through medication. When I met with my therapist, she asked more questions to learn a little bit more about me, why I was seeking counseling, and what I wanted to get out of counseling. She was so understanding, and talked with me about the type of therapy I would be receiving and how it can help me.

That same week, I also met with my psychiatrist. She asked questions as well, and patiently talked with me about treatment options (whether or not to take medication, types of medications she recommended, etc). Both my therapist and psychiatrist immediately diagnosed me with Major Depressive Disorder. I was very nervous at the start of the visits, as I have never received treatment for a mental illness before, but my therapist and psychiatrist made me feel extremely comfortable. I even cried more like during my first visit to the clinic. After talking with them, I finally realized how overdo these visits were. I feel like I’m finally taking control.

If you feel that you also need help with your mental health, please reach out for assistance. You might be happy you did. Right now, the world is going through a pandemic, and many people are in isolation. Now, more than ever, might be a time to really take care of your mental health. Getting in touch with your general doctor might be a good place to start. It might not be possible for you to make trips to see a mental health specialist at the moment, but you might be able to have sessions over the phone or online. Your general doctor might be able to help connect you with services. If you ever need immediate help, please call the suicide prevention hotline if there is one available where you live. In the U.S., where I live, the number for the hotline is 1-(800) 273-8255. They might even be able to help you with getting regular counseling.

Thanks for visiting, and let’s get through our challenges with mental illness together. Checkout the links below for more information on how to deal with mental illness:

Finding Help:

– Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration National Helpline:

https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline

Dealing with Coronavirus related stress:

National Institute of Mental Health:

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/messages/2020/coping-with-coronavirus-managing-stress-fear-and-anxiety.shtml

– National Alliance on Mental Illness:

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/messages/2020/coping-with-coronavirus-managing-stress-fear-and-anxiety.shtml

– Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html

My Childhood Memories: A Love Letter to Spring

Hello everyone! I was tagged to participate in a 52 week challenge! This challenge, as you can probably tell from the picture accompanying this post, requires the blogger to write blog posts using the prompts provided for over a 52 week period. The prompts help the reader learn more about the blogger. To be honest, I’m not sure I’ll be able to cover all of the prompts, but I thought it might be fun to participate in this challenge. Also, I was challenged by a fellow blogger I really adore: LaFrieda Smith! She runs the blog MMM of Family Entertainment where she shares a little of her life and experiences, and uses them to inspire others. Our blogs and goals for them are very similar, and I feel that we are kindred spirits! Be sure to visit her inspiring blog! Click here to give it a read! Now on with the challenge!

This week’s post is going to be about my childhood memories, challenge 7. Yes, I’m doing my challenge posts a little out of order! Ideas for a blog post about the Spring season popped into my head recently and, since some of my childhood memories came to mind with those ideas, I decided to combine this post with one of my challenge posts! I always loved when Spring would come around growing up, and I have some wonderful memories of events that happened during this season. One of my favorite parts of Spring has always been watching the sun slowly stay out longer each day. Long nights was the one part of Winter I never liked. I also loved watching flowers bloom, and there are a lot of flowers around my neighborhood! One Spring, I walked around my neighborhood with my Dad taking pictures of the flowers while they were in bloom. Sadly, I lost the pictures, but I had lots fun just spending time with my Dad and looking at beautiful flowers.

I also loved the weather during this time of year! I was able to wear my cute shoes and dresses again! I always felt so pretty in them! Plus, I was able to go outside during my lunch breaks in middle school! My middle school was connected to a park, and the students were allowed to go outside and play in it during lunch breaks. We were allowed to go outside during winter too whenever the weather wasn’t very bad, but a lot of my classmates often chose to stay indoors. Playing in the park was much more fun whenever it was a little warmer outside! The warmer weather also made walking to school much more fun, along with shopping and walking to church with my family! The church I went to when I was a child was a little far from my home, but my family never used to mind once spring came around! My siblings and I would always have fun talking and playing on our way there!

Unfortunately, this Spring season is looking to be very different from many others with a pandemic sweeping across the world. Many of us are stuck indoors. However, if you live with family, now is a great time to make the most of your time together, and build more precious memories.

I hope you all still manage to enjoy the season, and thankyou for visiting! See you in the next challenge post!