Hello! I spent a good chunk of yesterday evening having an anxiety attack and I wanted to talk a bit about it, I always think it's good to be public about this stuff in case reading it helps other people..

Yesterday evening was pretty rough, I got the idea into my head that nobody liked me and people would be much happier if I stopped going to stuff like OTT and never went outside again

Quite often things like this are very much driven by emotion so I did my best to use the logical side of my brain and ask questions:
What was I feeling nervous about?
Why was I nervous?
What evidence is there that it's true?
What evidence is there that it's NOT true?

Interrogating a situation like that can really help to get you out of your head and ground you, otherwise I could have spiraled further and further, which is probably what would have happened two-three years ago

Asking those questions let me take more control of the situation, and then I started thinking about how I've felt like that before and that feeling passed, and the same will occur with the anxiety I was having now. It was a shitty situation but not a permanent one

All of that then gave me enough strength to reach out to someone I love for help and support, which is the most important thing to do in a situation like that ultimately

I guess my point is, don't focus on the idea of fixing your mental health, it's not a broken arm after all. MH is something you manage, I know I'll feel like that again so what matters is being proactive when it does happen

It's easy to feel hopeless and powerless, but taking even the smallest positive actions can help set you right again.

Anyway, this is gone a bit ramble-y so just remember to take care of yourself, especially over the holidays