Rocking Mental Health: The Podcast - With Jason Kehl

We have to fight! Our mental health deserves it. You deserve it. I deserve it. We need to be active in improving and strengthening our mental health. No longer can we be passive. We have to admit we are not OK when we are not OK and prepare ourselves to fight for the life we want to live. We have to fight to become and be the person we see ourselves as being. The road ahead has some bumps, but the fight we put forth is worth it in the end!

We are plugging right along. Our mental health is strengthening. We are on the road to recovery from our mental illness and then WHAM...something happens and we fall backwards. Sometimes so far backwards we may fall back into a dark hole. Thankfully, we don't just get one chance at improving ourselves and our mental health. We get unlimited chances! Keep your head up and keep moving forward. You will be better prepared for when you fall back and you will pick yourself back up quicker. You always get another chance...so please take it and keep going at making yourself the best person you can possibly see yourself being.

The stigma surrounding mental health has to improve. It really needs to just go away, really. We need to do what we can to bust down this stigma. We can tell our story or we can tell a story through other creative ways. Mostly we can listen to someone who needs to talk. We also can share our story with them in order for them to see they are not alone and It Is OK To Not Be OK. We have to talk. We have to be able to ask for help when we don't feel well. We have to know we will be listened to when we do reach out.  

Our mind loves to bring us down. Some of these attacks can lead us to think less of ourselves. Self-esteem can drop along with self image. We can become afraid to let people see the real us. So we put on an act. I fell fault in trying to blend into the crowd I would be around. I also resorted to alcohol to deal with the ongoing battle inside me. 

And then I asked for help. At that point I made a decision to go find the real me. To be someone I didn't feel I needed to hide behind. Someone I would be happy to look at in the mirror. It takes a lot of work, but it is an extremely attainable goal and I feel like I'm getting there...finally.

And you can too!  We owe it to ourselves to be the best we can be. An we deserve to be the real me or or the real you or the real us.

Thank you for listening!  Jason

The road to improved mental health isn't always flat and easy. Hey, you over there? Here's a mountain for you to climb. And we climb them. We will have different experiences along the way, even set backs, but no matter what happens...we have to keep climbing!

We feel different emotions depending on the situation. A lot of the times, we display the proper emotion at the proper time. When feeling depressed and/or anxious we may display a different emotion than what the situation calls for. Sometimes display no emotion at all. We can become mentally exhausted from battling our minds. We may then show different emotions or no emotion during these times. It's Ok to not be OK. It is Ok to need and ask for help during these times. It's also a time we need our loved ones by our sides. Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoy.

Getting to the point were you can allow yourself to ask for help when you need it is incredibly difficult. Especially when you feel hopeless and you feel you have nowhere else to go except for going down the road of thinking about ending your life as the only way out. Our mind likes to tell us either we don't need help, keep doing things the way you've always done them, or you are not worth the effort. We have to ask for help. Nothing about the decision to get help and putting in the effort is easy, but it's worth  the effort when you see where you can get too. Please enjoy. Please share with others who may benefit from this episode. Thank you for checking out The Basement Of Jams!

Throughout our mental health journey, we seem to focus so much on the down moments of our lives. The more negative aspects. Where does the times we feel good fit into this journey? Do we give the good as much "air time" as we give the bad moments. Let's talk about the good more when we are feeling good and see what happens. I hope you enjoy!

What makes you tick? What do you like to do? It can be a hobby, an interest, an activity...it can be anything...as long as it is something that lifts you up. For me, that thing is music. Music makes me tick. It is some of the best medicine I have found for any mood I'm having. Please enjoy and share.

You've asked for help...so now what?  Today, we get into some of the initial steps and possibilities you have as you begin your journey of strengthening your mental health.  I lay out some of the different options you have available. I know I went one route, but you may choose a different route. The key is you have now taken the steps to begin changing your life!