When it’s all too much… Unveiling the true causes of overwhelm + daily creative strategies for mental health
This blog post is from my weekly free therapy newsletter, where I answer an anonymous question and send a free therapy exercise and/or strategy to address a problem.
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Disclaimer: This newsletter provides general advice for educational and entertainment purposes only, it is not intended to be professional therapeutic or medical advice. Please speak with a registered mental health professional or book a session here to receive professional support.
Cocoon provides a free newsletter each week with mental health strategies and tips for young people seeking a creative way to improve their life. We talk about mental health, creativity, family trauma and life direction - utilising therapy and psychology knowledge to create a life that you have always deserved.
Cocoon provides online therapy sessions for Australians (and some international folk depending on related insurance allowances - get in touch to clarify) who have been through family trauma or grief, struggle with their mental health and wish to gain clarity on their life direction and purpose. Creative therapy is the way forward - an approach that is made for you, instead of fitting you into a box.
This week is about:
Taking your mental health from rough —> robust + what your overwhelm might really be about.
Hey Friends,
Our mental health is a funny old thing.
It’s not quite like physical health which you can ensure is pretty robust as long as you eat well, exercise and engage in medical intervention if there are any extra issues.
Your mental health is fluid, always changing and a lot of the time managing it can feel suuuuuper overwhelming.
Sometimes feel like you’re drowning, then the next week is a little better.
2 steps forward, 1 step back. 1 step forward, 2 steps back.
This week we’re going to explore daily steps to manage your mental health
+
the deeper strategy to figure out whats really going on underneath.
🌝
This weeks qu is..
What are the best things I can do daily to support my mental health?
For example, I am trying to build routines to help me with the day to day (mom life) but I find I sometimes get overwhelmed with things, stressed, frequently exhausted, overworked… what are the best things I can do every day to help with mental health?
❤️
First off, you have an extra layer of complexity being a mama.
I’ll wait while we all give you a clap for that 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻
I am lucky to have the best mum who is an absolute life hustler (Shout out Leanne!!!), so I have witnessed and can only imagine what it’s like trying to navigate stress and life whilst also being a mum.
Now that we’ve all given you a big clap, moving onto how to manage it all…
The framework i’ve been using for years to deal with overwhelm and general struggling mental health has
✌🏼two parts
Let’s start with the daily, actionable steps you can do right now.
🪐 THE EXERCISE 🪐
⚡ To manage overwhelm, stress, anxiety and exhaustion that is damaging your mental health…
First up, we have to regulate that body and brain.
It has to be your first thing you before making conclusions or decisions about your life and yourself.
You do your worst thinking when you’re stressed. Regulation first, analysis second.
When you are dysregulated, you are essentially in that fight-flight-freeze state we’ve all heard of.
And it’s incredibly hard to think positively, be confident, be calm and ultimately be the most mentally healthy version of you that you want to be.
☁️ Here are the essentials I implement for myself and my clients when everything feels too much:
Understanding the signals where your nervous system is in the zone (does your body feel constricted or relaxed? If someone said something a little rude to you, would you want to scream at them or cry, or could you let it go?
How can you begin to recognise when is rising from chill —> not chill - and do one of the below to come back into your 🍃green zone 🍃
(the open, loving, chill, calm, strong you).
Once you can recognise it, move onto step 3.
3. Rituals + Strategies:
How do you begin and end the day? Build a ritual just for yourself to signal hello yes we are safe, let’s begin and end safely.
(maybe it’s lovvvvving that cup of coffee in the morning and having it as your special time, you’re all in mindfully)For when you are stressed or notice those anxious/negative thought spirals - Make a list of 5 things you can do to break the spiral.
Make the list when you’re not overwhelmed, so you can quickly look at it and go YEP i’m doing that thing to break the cycle before I become too dysregulated.
Mine is always step away —> Go outside without my phone if possible —> When not possible, have a shower, stretch, have a cup of tea to recenter.Deep breathing
Ya…. Boring I know, but breath = life and if you’re not breathing properly (which you’re prob not if you’re wound up), you’re likely continuing on the path of stress
(visualising white smoke all over you can help for me but each their own)Focussing or distracting self visually (signals of safety for your body) - Staring at a point on the wall can do if there is nothing else nice you can do in your environment
We all fluctuate in our regulation throughout the day, that’s natural - but its when you’re getting stuck/so quick to react that it is an issue.
Onto part two..
I’d argue this is the most important aspect to manage mental health long term when you’re ready and have time + space to think about it.
👀 What is the overwhelm actually about?
If you pause and you’re ruthlessly honest with yourself..
Is it:
Low self esteem
Feeling like a failure, your life isn’t how you’d like it to be
A lack of support and community around you
Challenges in your relationships
Or something else?
👀 Ask yourself these qu’s below to dig deeper, then i’ll tell you why it’s essential:
What is my fear?
What am I really afraid of or not coping with?
How can acknowledging what is there bring light to a solution?
Or is the acknowledgement enough for me to reach out and get personal/professional help?
What am I resisting to accept changing or what am I really not coping with…
That is perpetuating the symptoms?
Sometimes there are deeper things going on underneath the surface (like an iceberg, “stress” is the tip of the iceberg but there are kilometres of other things underneath keeping the stress alive..)
Your relationship to your mental health and yourself is always in flux, flexible and changing.
When you’re feeling overwhelmed, it could be a signal that you need structures and rituals to keep it safe.
And also could be a sign of deeper acknowledgements and processing of how you feel your life is that need to be acknowledged, when you’re ready and able to…
Sending you lots of luck + love in improving your mental health and creating a life you love, Ellie
💡 If you’d like extra support with managing your mental health and processing the bottom of the iceberg..
Here are 4 options to keep your growth going!
1. Let’s go deeper in a 1-1 therapy session to customise therapy for you +
what you need!
Book a session online, or get in touch ellie@cocoonmentalhealth.com.
2. Have you got a bursting qu or issue you want some help with?
💌Submit it for next weeks newsletter!
3. Stay tuned on this newsletter for future offerings, i’ve got some fun things in the works for mid-late 2024… (groups! journals! guides!).
4. Extra reading/listening…
A podcast for you to listen to if you’re more of a solo learner..
Feeling overwhelmed? Understanding the role of Trauma and the Nervous System when everything gets on top of you - The Psychology Sisters
Thank you so much for being here.
After experiencing it myself,
I really want you to create the fun, fulfilling life that you deserve after healing.
Want more growth and healing?
Go to town.. Explore other blog posts below.
