Category: Mental Health
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children’s books for mental health awareness month
May is Mental Health Awareness Month! I keep hearing disturbing stats about the recent decline in mental health for kids, teens, and adults. Of course, there are many ways we must address this individually and collectively, but these are some really beautiful books to support children’s mental health. They cover topics such as anxiety, depression,…
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postpartum depression
CW: Postpartum Depression & Anxiety “Did you ever think you could love something this much?” Sometimes the most innocent words spoken at a particular moment can pierce your heart and expose the shame that scurries to the shadows, trying to remain unseen. My smile felt awkward and unconvincing. How could I tell the pediatrician—a wonderful,…
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listen to your rage
Listen to your rage and hear the ache underneath— the excruciating gap between “should be” and “is actually.” Sometimes we call it grief. Feel it in your body— a burning, consuming flood of adrenaline priming you for action because “is actually” is actually unbearable. When your rage collapses, listen for its wisdom. Let it tell…
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Healed People Heal People
I poured my heart and soul into this post I wrote about healing for our church’s blog over at Arapaho United Methodist Church. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for the way God has met me in my pain and shame and am passionate about normalizing this conversation! Healed People Heal People BY LINDSAY O’CONNOR Father Richard…
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4 AM panic prayer
I woke up at 3:15 this morning in a panic. A nagging pain in my side, coupled with some other minor health issues over the past couple days, triggered anxiety-inducing memories of some medical emergencies I’ve had over the last few years. I tried my go-to coping strategies but was struggling with an inconvenient middle-of-the-night…
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ask for what you need
I used to think that I needed to shrink myself smaller and smaller so my needs would disappear. Some years ago, I was talking to my therapist about the intense anxiety I felt as I sat for over an hour in a doctor’s waiting room not long after I had had a miscarriage. The doctor’s…
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Quarantine Queries 5: How can I help little people with big feelings? Quarantine Calm Down bucket for Kids!
Quarantine parenting, like quarantine-everything, is HARD. I wanted to share something simple but helpful that my almost-9-year old and I put together after a difficult day in the world of parenting. First, a confession: These two books have been sitting on my shelf, unread, for several years now. If I’m honest, even though my degrees are…
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parenting yourself: Mental Health Awareness Month
Pre-quarantine, back in the days of yore, my husband and I went to a dinner party. I had been battling on-going physical and mental health issues and learning how to deal with panic attacks. We had jumped through some hoops to find childcare so that we could spend an evening with adults, but Anxiety didn’t…
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Quarantine queries, #4: How can I talk back to my shame?
We are coming to the end of week 7 in quarantine. Every day I am grateful for many things, but today I felt Not Ok. I’m learning that when I struggle, the struggle itself usually pales in comparison to the shame that is close on the heels of the initial problem. Some days, it whispers…
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My Body is Not a Conversation Piece: when small talk is not so small
Ladies, we need to talk. To start with, I’d like to share an excerpt from my book-in-progress: “Rachel!” a voice said. “Marion! Hello! Sorry, June’s having a rough morning.” “No worries, I totally understand! I won’t keep you. I can see that you’re busy, but it’s good to see you! We’ve missed you at book…
Lindsay L. O'Connor 