Presents of Mind

Consent is often thought of as a black and white issue, but there is so much grey area. It's important to learn about consent is more than just a 'yes'. How did you get that 'yes'? How many times did you have to ask? Educate yourself and those around you on this important topic.

Young Carers are youth under the age of 25 who provide significant aid in their homes. It can be a very thankless job and takes a toll on young people as they try and navigate through life while holding many adult responsibilities. If you're a Young Carer, know that you are not alone and that your contributions are important - just like you.

On this episode, I'm joined by Rani Shah, author of Wisdom from a Humble Jellyfish: And Other Self-Care Rituals from Nature to talk about what we can learn about self-care from some of the most amazing creatures around the world. You can buy Rani's book on Amazon. and check her out on Instagram at @raanstermonster.

I've got my mental health first aid, a background in psychology, applied suicide intervention safety training and more, but I have still sometimes missed when someone is struggling. It was hard to deal with, but it helped me become more motivated to have open conversations and not shy away from talking about mental health and taught me to be more kind to myself. I hope you can do the same.

I started medication for my mental health for the first time in 2014, but there was a lot my doctor didn't tell me about how the experience would go. It caused me a lot of discomfort, and through some trial and error, I finally figured it out. Here are a few things I wish I knew before I started taking medication.

We grow up being told what to do and how to behave, but the time has come to stop, think critically, unlearn, reframe and relearn. It's time to break from traditions that do not serve us anymore.

The process of healing is just as individualistic as we are. It can be hard to figure out what we need when we are struggling. Depending on where we are on the mental health continuum (shorturl.at/nKLPS) we need different things. In this episode, I run through Dr.Peter Cornish's Stepped Care 2.0 model, which is one method of grasping the different options available to us and how we can use them (https://steppedcaretwopoint0.ca/what-is-stepped-care-2-0/).

On this episode, I talk about my experience getting diagnosed with a mental illness and the difference it made for me. Mental health experiences vary across the board but having a diagnosis can help guide you towards solutions that fit what is going on in your life. 

Storytelling is one of the most powerful tools we have. It's existed since the dawn of time and can be used to create connection, spread light and inspire hope. My whole life and advocacy has revolved around storytelling and is the basis for a lot of the lessons I've learned throughout my mental health journey, We all have a story. Yours is important. Never be afraid to share it.

We are currently all trying to keep it together during a worldwide pandemic. Here's a quick insight into some of the things that I'm trying to keep in mind as we all go through this. This pandemic is taking a significant toll on everyone's mental health. If you need someone to talk to you can obtain anonymous/confidential, free support from a trained Crisis Responder by texting: WELLNESS to 741741(Canada), HOME to 741741(USA), or SHOUT to 85258(UK).