A mental health speaker just got real about his own mental health. Only 5% of people with chronic health conditions practice self-care says Mike Veny. “So statistically that’s zero. Basically, it’s a nonsense term that we throw around telling each other to do, but nobody’s doing it.”

Mental Health is a Journey

Highlights from the interview:

• Mike is America’s leading mental health speaker and a corporate drumming facilitator. Drumming helped him overcome his mental health challenges.
• Mike started his mental health journey when he was young. They manifested as behavior problems. He was the poster child for mental health issues: hospitalized three times, kicked out of three schools, attempted suicide at age 10, and was violent at home.
• He is still working on his mental health issues. It’s become more manageable. He doesn’t self-harm anymore, but he does have to manage his thinking. He still struggles with depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. He had a breakdown and was hospitalized early in 2017.
• One of the most powerful skills one can learn is to just sit with your feelings, and to admit that you are powerless over your emotions. That has been incredibly humbling and insightful.
• Mental health is a process, not a destination. Mental health issues are confusing and frustrating for everyone. He just wanted a solution as a kid and as an adult.
• He has to make the decision to be mentally healthy every day. Part of that includes 30 minutes of journaling. Sometimes he doesn’t want to do that because he knows how painful his thoughts were that day and he’d rather get a drink at the bar. But he promises to show up for himself, so he journals.
• Mike’s Health Central article on How to Practice Self-Care Without Being Selfish.
• Mike’s TedX talk on Mental Illness is an Asset

Listen to the episode for the full story.

Stacy’s Journal

Welcome to Stacy’s Journal! In this segment, I let you peek into my journal as I share my thoughts on a topic or resilience resource. One of the things that Mike recommended as a first step for anyone with tough issues is to talk about it. In fact, this interview has been one of my favorites because Mike himself was unafraid to talk about his suicide attempts and his struggles.

We often find ourselves in a culture of secrecy. Just think about how many women spoke up in 2017 about sexual harassment and who kept those secrets for sometimes decades. And think about the women who are still not speaking up because they are afraid. I get it, I’ve kept secrets I shouldn’t have too. In fact, most of my life I never spoke up for myself, until I was in my 40’s. Writing my stories helped me to get clear about them and to share them with others.

Listen, you should never suffer alone. Others may share your thoughts and opinions, or even have similar issues, but may be also unwilling to speak up. By speaking your truth and sharing your stories, you encourage them to voice their opinions as well. I can teach you how to share your story in my upcoming free webinar 4 Simple, Proven Methods to Writing the First Chapter of Your Life Story in Just 7 days. It’s for writers and non-writers and it’s a great way to get started, especially if you’ve been hesitant to tell your stories. Head over to stacybrookman.com/webinar for that.

That’s all we have for today. Last episode,