You might be (accidentally, unknowingly, unintentionally) making your life worse in a number of ways. One way is your (internal and implicit) criteria for what is considered a "good day." Your requirements for defining a good day might be ruining your life. But you can modify these "checkboxes," and I'm going to help you do that. If you've Lost Hope in Life, I invite you to join me for a live conversation and Q&A Thursday, May 16th at 4pm est. Here's the link:...

If you've Lost Hope in Life, I invite you to join me for a live conversation and Q&A Thursday, May 16th at 4pm est. Here's the link: https://bit.ly/losthopeinlifelive I spent years chasing acceptance; it ruined my life. People rejected me, so I kept lowering my standards. It was the transitive property fallacy - I'm "less than." This video exposes that toxic thinking, and I layout a better approach to self-worth that might actually work for you. Get Practical tools for navigating...

Insecurity is a universal human experience, not a personal failing. Most coping methods actually reinforce insecurities rather than resolving them. Embracing insecurities as identity reinforces negative thoughts. Denying weaknesses leads to reality harshly exposing them. Overcompensating through impression management is exhausting. I'll show you how to overcome insecurity through incremental self-improvement. Facing insecurities through gradual exposure therapy diminishes their...

Past mistake, failures, choices, circumstances may be haunting you right now. Things you desperately wish you could forget - but know you probably never will. You can't change any of this. But the regrets you feel about things you've done or things that have happened to you can hold you back in an entirely different way. I'm going to show you how you (inadvertently) turn your guilt into shame and how that effects your life. Get Practical tools for navigating life with depression and...

Psychological testing is not a perfect science by any means - it can have many barriers to entry including cost, access, and availability. But self-diagnosis is not the answer! This episode unpacks the very real concerns with self-diagnosis. Even when struggling to access professional care, firmly holding self-assigned labels carries risks. Proper differential diagnosis matters enormously for effective treatment. I don't disparage investigating to understand oneself better. But view...

Most think acceptance means settling for misery. That's not true. Acceptance empowers you to change what matters. It acknowledges some pain is unavoidable - but suffering is optional. Life has inherent discomforts we cannot control - that's "pain." Trying to force away that pain often backfires, causing more issues. That's "suffering." Radical acceptance separates the two categories. This video teaches evaluating life's pains objectively. Some are changeable with effort. Others aren't worth...

Emotions are not light switches. You cannot simply turn them on or off just because you (or somebody) would like to. Being told (or telling others) to calm down, cheer up, or get over it is dismissive and unhelpful. There is no direct mechanism for selecting your emotions. The biggest problem is that this type of command is outcome based - become x new emotion now. But without a process for changing your emotions you may do more harm to your current emotional state. I'm sharing with...

Not all negative thoughts are bad. But constantly thinking about negative things can lead to a downward cycle psychology calls rumination. Rumination is when we have certain thoughts, memories, or ideas, that get stuck in our brain. And trying to relax, unwind, or think about something else can simply make the thought more ingrained. There's a reason for this, and it's the reason why doing nothing is actually dangerous for rumination. Get Practical tools for navigating life with depression...

If you're consistently failing at the same thing over and over again, you might be trying to force something that, ultimately, isn't you.When you find yourself in this place, it's time for a total life reexamination: where are you taking yourself and why?This probably feels pretty daunting, but I'm going to break it down for you now. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCogWI9kVVvmRRPzzQBrOwzg/join Get Practical tools for navigating life with depression...

Emotions can be absolutely terrifying; causing total shut down and unbelievable pain. Despite all that, your emotions are not the enemy of your life. In fact, they can be valuable insight into your present experience. They will only cause you agony when you don't understand your relationship to them. Approaching them as allies instead of enemies will help you control them and make better choices for your life. I'm going to show you how to do this. Get Practical tools for navigating life...

This episode my reaction to a recent news event around assisted suicide in a young individual with chronic mental health struggles. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/scott-eilers/support

Organizing your life around what's most important to you might be inadvertently sabotaging your life. People with mental health struggles need to go deeper and determine what is most foundational in their life - not necessarily what is most important to them. The distinction is critical. The thing that is most foundational is the thing that will cause total system failure. For me, that thing is managing my life around my mental health goals. I'm going to show you exactly how I do that...

There's an unspoken Achilles' heal in many peoples' mental health journeys. How do you stick to your plan, strategies, and healing in those times when you just don't care? Periods of prolonged apathy create massive setbacks in your progress - you know this. There's no amount of willpower or positive thinking that can keep these at bay. I used to think these "black hole" periods were unsolvable, and I just had to endure. But in the last few years I've found 2 strategies to help me...

Improving mental health doesn't always translate to feeling emotionally better. It's a dangerous assumption that can lead to discouragement. Despite working diligently on therapies or medications, feeling stagnant is a common experience. As pathological feelings decrease, non-pathological ones may emerge, revealing newfound vulnerability. I'm breaking down three reasons why this can happen, what these things actually mean, and some ideas for what you can do about them. Get Practical...

The majority of the emotional stress people experience is self-induced. The good news is, this can also be managed fairly easily. There are 2 specific factors to emotional stress, objective and subjective. Basically, there are things that happen to you, and then there are the ways you interpret what happen to you. You cannot remove all emotional pain from your life, but you can significantly decrease it. I'm showing you how Get Practical tools for navigating life with depression and...

Can introverts with mental health conditions succeed in a world seemingly built for extroversion? Introverts recharge their social battery through withdrawal. However, the introverted need to withdraw can very easily mask a pathological desire to withdraw because of things like anxiety, depression, and more. Understanding the difference between needed solitude and pathological isolation can help you achieve your lifestyle goals. I'm explaining both of these in hopes the nuance will...

Some days, existence feels like a chore, and admitting that can be tough. I know our brains are inconsistent and illogical, which can make life challenging. But acknowledging these feelings doesn't mean giving up. Living with depression or anxiety adds layers of complexity to self-care. I've learned strategies to make existence more tolerable, especially during tough times. I'm sharing three crucial rules that have helped me navigate the darkest moments. I think you'll find them helpful as...

The majority of mental health interventions are based on the assumption that you have a "normal" state to return to. But this is not the reality for many people. If you fit this description, you've probably been frustrated by a lot of therapy - because it's not actually designed with your reality in mind. I'm still a big believer in therapy, but I want to give you some things to look for so you get the approach that will actually help. Get Practical tools for navigating life with...

When real psychological conditions are applied to people without those conditions because of pop-culture-misappropriation, bad things happen. Case in point: the terms "narcissist," and "depressed." These terms are real, valid, and define actual psychological conditions. However, they are being blatantly misapplied at an alarming rate, and causing an increase in ACTUAL psychological conditions. I'm going to tell what these things are AND aren't, and what the misapplication is doing to our...

Depression absolutely destroys your ability (and desire) to get done what you need to get done - but you already know this! Exhaustion, insomnia, anhedonia, worthlessness, brain fog. These are some of your adversaries in this. While they cannot be stopped 100% of the time, this tool will help you dramatically decrease the damage done to your life by depressive episodes. Get Practical tools for navigating life with depression and anxiety, delivered...

If you have a chronic mental health condition, your life is in a constant state of decay - unless you proactively do something about it. This is 1 of the essential truths about living with mental illness. And while it really sucks to hear - and I acknowledge and validate that feeling. I'm sharing with you some ways to make life good. It won't come automatic for you, but it can come intentionally. Get Practical tools for navigating life with depression and anxiety, delivered...

Does your brain goes from "everything is fine," to "I'm going to die alone and everything is going to fall apart," in an instant? This is characteristic of catastrophic thinking, and it doesn't have to run your life. I'm going to share techniques to help you slow down this process and stop it from plummeting you into the depths of despair. Get Practical tools for navigating life with depression and anxiety, delivered weekly. https://mailchi.mp/90ccaf44c876/self-hope-psychology Get my...

The thing that got me into psychology is the same thing that almost completely derailed my entire life. And to this day, I'm still not sure what that thing was. Why did I feel like I didn't belong in this world? What caused me to believe the life I was living was the wrong one? I spent 5 years chasing a feeling that something existed "out there" that could fix everything inside of me. During this period I felt no connect to anything or anyone in my life. It was all there, but I didn't...

Which decisions actually impact our lives in a meaningful way? Yes, you make around 35,000 decisions every day, but not all of these are created equal. If you're a chronic over-thinker, or a decision-paralysis person, I'm going to teach you how to stop worrying over the decisions you make. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCogWI9kVVvmRRPzzQBrOwzg/join Get Practical tools for navigating life with depression and anxiety, delivered...