Grateful to be safe following an intense week in Texas. Read along and view pictures on my Texas Freeze 2021 blog here:

https://takecarepodcast.com/blog/f/the-2021-texas-freeze

As always, take care!

-Sayra

Follow Take Care:

Instagram: @takecare.pod

Twitter: @takecare_pod

Facebook: @TakeCarePodcast

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Email me: [email protected]

Keyla Torres is 21 years old and studies interior design. She loves painting and watching movies with her family, and she’s passionate about mental health awareness and self-betterment.

When overwhelming anxiety began to pop up for Keyla, she was especially concerned about the physical symptoms. One day, the 17-year-old felt intense worry and dread come over her, as well as nausea and lightheadedness. She didn’t feel in control of her mind and body. These were the first symptoms of a panic attack, something she would grapple with for months, until she learned she was struggling with panic disorder. Now more than 3 years later, she’s learning to manage the condition by understanding what may trigger her, and speaking up about her experience.

Panic attacks can take away our ability to function in the moment. Basically, panic attacks are bouts of intense fear and anxiety combined with physical symptoms such as:

-Choking sensations

-Racing heart

-Numbness and tingling

-Tunnel vision

-Tightness in the chest

-Sweating

-Nausea

-Dizziness

Panic disorder, which is a type of anxiety disorder, arises based on the fear of having more panic attacks. This can cause a person to withdraw and isolate, and even stop doing activities or going places where they fear they might have an attack. Essentially it is panic about the panic.

This condition can be disabling, and it can also be managed. Overtime, a combination of medication and therapy can work. Learning about triggers and knowing when a panic attack is coming on can help to manage the condition.

Panic attacks may happen infrequently for some, or just for a period of time in response to stressors. Or it may develop into panic disorder, and require more work to manage. Refer to mental health professional such as psychiatrists, psychologists or other mental health practitioners to tailor your care plan if you are experiencing this.

DISCLAIMER: Keyla and I talk about our experiences with medication and what worked and didn’t work for us. We are not professionals and simply shared what our experiences with medications were like(because I believe that is an important discussion to have). If you need more information about medication, please refer to your psychiatrist or doctor.

More about Panic Disorder from the National Institute of Mental Health: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/panic-disorder-when-fear-overwhelms/index.shtml

Follow Keyla Torres on Instagram: @keyla_fk7

Follow Take Care:

Instagram: @takecare.pod

Twitter: @takecare_pod

Facebook: @TakeCarePodcast

Want to be a guest?

Email me: [email protected]

Marina is the host of the podcast Mind Bloom, a podcast exploring mental health and breast cancer awareness. Since October is breast cancer awareness month, I am proud to feature Marina’s story.

Marina is on quite the journey. She was recently diagnosed with Lobular Carcinoma in Situ, which is a type of breast change that can be seen when breast biopsies are done. According to the American Cancer Society, this condition creates cells that look like cancer cells and grow in the lining of the milk-producing glands of the breast (also called the lobules). Known by the acronym LCIS, it's not considered to be cancer yet, however, if left untreated, having LCIS significantly increases the risk of developing invasive breast cancer later on. In fact, women with LCIS have about a 7 to 12 times higher risk of developing invasive cancer in either breast. Because of the elevated risk, close follow-up is crucial as well as exploring options to reduce the risk of cancer.

In addition to this health news, Marina has also been braving a new world, as the COVID-19 pandemic changed many parts of her life, living in New York City. She shares what it’s like navigating her LCIS diagnosis, keeping her mental health in check, and how sheltering-in-place led her to create a platform where she can share what’s on her mind, and interview people who make her mind bloom.

More about LCIS: https://rb.gy/fnvxnd

Marin County Breast Cancer Rates: https://rb.gy/9rawh1

Follow MindBloom:

https://www.mindbloomyou.com/

Instagram @mindbloomyou

Twitter @mindbloomyou

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mind-bloom/id1517992611

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/51hzRNbYc7ANDe03mo2vN1

Follow Take Care:

Instagram: @takecare.pod

Twitter: @takecare_pod

My guest this week is Keaton Leikam. Keaton is a peer with a passion about making mental health a part of the normal conversation. He lives in Denver working in IT during the day, and working with a small team by night to grow the non-profit organization You Don't Fight Alone.

You Don’t Fight Alone has a podcast where you can hear stories of people who are successfully living with mental illness diagnoses. In addition, the organization also provides YDFA kits that include items individuals can use to center themselves during moments of distress. They ship their kits for free across the U.S. You can learn more at youdontfightalone.org.

We talked about Keaton’s desire to start the organization, You Don’t Fight Alone, how Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) helped him and how he embraced radical acceptance, as well as the importance of grounding practices during times of distress.

More about Bipolar Disorder:

According to NAMI (National Association on Mental Illness), bipolar disorder is a mental health disorder that causes dramatic shifts in a person’s mood, energy and ability to think clearly. People with bipolar disorder experience high and low moods—known as mania and depression—which differ from the typical ups-and-downs most people experience. A diagnosis of bipolar disorder will specify which type a person has, as there are 4 types that are recognized.

Bipolar disorder affects men and women equally, and about 2.8% of the U.S. population is diagnosed with the condition and almost 83% of those cases are classified as severe. Similar to other mental health disorders, the onset of bipolar disorder often happens in young adulthood with the average-age-of-onset being 25. However, it can also occur in teens and more uncommonly, in children.

Without proper treatment, bipolar disorder can usually worsen. Finding a proper combination of psychotherapy, medications, balanced lifestyle and early identification of symptoms can help many people live well and manage the condition.

More about Bipolar disorder: https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Mental-Health-Conditions/Bipolar-Disorder

Follow You Don't Fight Alone on Twitter @ydfa7 and on Facebook @ydfa7

You Don't Fight Alone Podcast: https://www.youdontfightalone.org/feed/podcast

Follow Take Care on Instagram @takecare.pod and on Twitter @takecare_pod

Not a typical interview episode this week. Just a reminder to be gentle with yourself and foster self-compassion. The best way for me to highlight this is to do it myself. Regular podcast episodes return next week.

Have a good week.

Much love.

-Sayra

Follow Take Care on Instagram @takecare.pod and on Twitter @takecare_pod

Aaron Ruth put together a book of his poetry after healing from a painful break-up. The book, Alone Together, details what it's like to experience deep feelings of loneliness and how to grow from that experience. We talked about some of the struggles we face as individuals that make it hard to reach out and make meaningful, and fulfilling connections, and how we can try to let our guard down and take off the masks we wear to allow others to see our authentic selves.

Follow Take Care on Instagram @takecare.pod and on Twitter @takecare_pod

In 2017, Lucas Churchill, a member of the men's soccer team at UC Berkeley, faced an uphill battle with his mental health after a tough freshman year. Facing loss and challenges as a student-athlete, he turned to mindfulness and meditation. Amazed by how the practice helped him, he created CAL Athlete Led Mindfulness (CALM) and introduced it to the large student-athlete population at Berkeley. Now, he's leveraging his training in mindfulness to guide his next steps as he enters his senior year in the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic.

Follow Take Care on Instagram @takecare.pod and on Twitter @takecare_pod

Luis Gomez, former journalist and creator of the CA//MEDIA//JOBS newsletter, details why he left his dream job at the height of his career and why he went dark after stopping the newsletter. After months of silence, he came back with a powerful story to share about addiction, mental health struggles and healing.

Follow Take Care on Instagram @takecare.pod and on Twitter @takecare_pod

Introducing Take Care, a podcast focused on mental and emotional health. We all have a story.

A bit of background:

I started this podcast to have open conversations about mental and emotional health. I never would have imagined that I would one day become an advocate and openly talk about my struggles. The last semester of my senior year of college, my world seemed to turn upside down as I fell deep into severe depression and struggled with anxiety and panic. At the time it seemed to hit me out of nowhere, but after diving deep into therapy and treatment I know that many things came together to form a perfect storm. Now, some of those clouds have cleared, and I am eager to combine my journalistic training with my new passion for mental and emotional health. Take Care is the result. I hope you find this podcast helpful and that the stories on here can serve as proof that we are not alone.

To see more follow Take Care on Instagram @takecare.pod and on Twitter at takecare_pod