hey everyone my name is Rachel and before we get started I want to extend a
huge thank you to Chris for letting me have this little feature on his channel
and give me a little shout out like this he's incredible I've loved his channel
for I don't know how long I've been watching now but pretty outfit Lee I'll
tell you that he's also done a really amazing video
that's over on my channel if you wanna go see that my name is Rachel oh it says
probably a link in the description down below as well and if you don't know me I
usually talk about like Science Easter I'm kind of 8 years and you stuff but
also like social stuff lots of like pro-lgbt lots of pro kind of like
talking about mental health stuff and it just is very varied you know I'm just
bit all over the place I am someone who suffered with issues around depression
and anxiety in the past I've been medicated for probably the last six or
so years years and I still am now so talking about my experiences with that
something that I'd quite like to share with you guys and talk about like what's
affected me in the past and how I've worked through it and gotten over things
and how I'm in such a good place now and I want to kind of like share my
experiences to try and help some of you guys out who might be in a similar sort
of position or her friends who are in that kind of position as well and kind
of mostly to let people know that you know there are other people going
through the same stuff and there is a way out and there is a way that things
get better and hopefully try and help a few people like giving them some like
coping mechanisms and little hints and tips along the way and that's why I want
to talk about today because Christmas is such a stressful time anyway and
especially for people with mental health problems like depression or anxiety like
I had or any range of things I know that kind of winter Christmastime always used
to be horrific for me it used to bring me down it was so difficult to get
through and so today I'm gonna try and share a few little tips that helped me
get through the holiday season that hopefully might help some of you as well
obviously not all these tips are going to be perfect for everyone and but if
you guys have any other suggestions I'm not going to talk about today just drop
them in the comments below we can start a really cool conversation about this
share your experience there share your stories share what helped you and that
would be really great my first bit of advice for looking after your month
health during the holiday season is to simply talk to people whoever you're
spending Christmas with whether it's your family or friends talk to them if
you can tell them what you're going through tell them how they can help
support you I never used to do this I used to try and hide it from everyone
and kind of suffer through it on my own and honestly it made everything ten
times worse I remember those as worn Christmas where
I just like I couldn't face anyone and I spent the entirety of Boxing Day like
locked in my old bedroom at my parents house like trying to sleep just kind of
shut everything out and when I did eventually emerge at like 8:00 p.m. at
night my entire family was mad at me for ignoring them all day and it caused a
big argument it just made me worse if I'd actually spoken to them and told
them what was going on with me they wouldn't have been so judgmental or
angry they would have been there to support me and maybe I wouldn't have had
quite so crappy at Christmas I know it's not always easy for people to talk to
their family or their friends and I know it's not always possible but on the
whole I think it's really good to give people a chance most people are way more
understanding and you expect them to be a once they kind of understand what
you're going through or understand how to like notice certain little like maybe
warning signs with you or notice and little things like maybe you're not
quite feeling yourself or you're not feeling your best they can be there to
say okay Jim I'll just go off and have 10-15 minutes by yourself or they can be
there to support you or help you in whatever way I find just been really
open and honest with the people around you always helps my second bit of advice
and this might not be one for everyone and also for some people it might be one
that's really difficult to follow but my second bit of advice is to avoid all
limit how much alcohol you're drinking especially if you're on medication for
me when I first started taking citalopram I couldn't have like a glass
of wine without it really affecting my mood and bring me down and making me
super anxious and it just it messed me up completely I had no idea where my
tolerance for alcohol was going to be I had no idea how it was really going to
affect my mood if it was gonna you know give me this incredible high or bring me
on this like horrific low he just exaggerated everything I was feeling
when I started on the medication now I'm in a better place where I'm on
sertraline and while I still shouldn't be drinking
with it I can have like a glass of wine every now and again or a glass of wine
with a meal or a little cocktail for fun and I know that it's not gonna kind of
affect me because I'm in this better place and I'm pretty stable now and put
up my lowest points I found that not drinking alcohol really really helped to
help me stay in control of my moods and help me understand how I was feeling
better it stopped me having these big highs and lows and spikes I mean even if
you're not medicated or taking any kind of medication alcohol is a depressant
which if we're going to put this really really simply basically means it slows
down everything in your brain it can't seem to be helping at first especially
if you have anxiety because it can seem to be making you feel a little bit more
relaxed and chilled out these kind of like positive effects really don't last
long and then afterwards you get these like Oh horrific heightened feelings of
anxiety or depression it really heightens the lows if that makes sense
and commit you feel so much worse so I find that the best thing to do if
you're worried about your mental health or having one of these like low points
or a pat or if you're worried about panic attacks coming on anything like
that the best thing is to try and stay in control of your body and that means
avoiding alcohol we're also avoiding drugs and things
like that and anything that is like a mood altering substance I know it's
tough when you know you maybe want to have a glass of wine with Christmas
dinner but if that's the case and you still want to enjoy yourself a bit maybe
just pour yourself half a glass instead of a full one something like that and
just be very aware of how it is affecting you while you're drinking it
never feel any pressure to drink anything you don't want to and know
where your limits are if you want to find out a little bit more about the
effects of alcohol on depression anxiety you know the mental health issues and
I'll provide some links which I think Kris is going to pop down in the
description for you guys you can read a little bit more about it you know from
someone who is more knowledgeable than me my third bit of advice might sound
really really simple but this was a life changer for me and let's just simply
plan in advance one of the big things that would always trigger panic attacks
for me and I used to get them really badly I have one of the things that
triggered it for me was feeling out of control so taking control of Christmas
really helped me it's Oh God it's such a crazy time right
cuz honored by anyone else but every Christmas for me I have to take like at
least three trains to go visit my family and there was really long they're always
like really crowded stations it's always so busy I usually end up stood on the
train for like three hours and it's just it's a nightmare and I have to like haul
my presents up there as well really heavy I was always worried about money
so I can't do those can't do this booking trains but uh and now I'd
actually get to Peniston and I would be so stressed about seeing people I went
to school with and I just like I have all this anxiety building up and I can't
tell you the number of train stations around this country that I've cried on
it's an embarrassing number so couple of things that helped me there was to start
planning early in advance that meant booking trains early so I'd actually get
a seat and not be stood up on the trains it meant planning my route really
carefully to have like the minimum number of changes but also giving plenty
of time between train changes to take into account like late trains and I
wouldn't be rushing around the stations and stuff like that another thing I did
was instead of doing my Christmas shopping in person now I do it all
online so I can just get everything sent up to my parents house in South
Yorkshire and it's all waiting for me there when I go up on Christmas Eve and
all I need to do is unpack it and wrap it all up and it's all done ready so
there's no looking big bags across the country it's just I go up with a
rucksack now and Kyra obviously and down and and it's just it's easy for us it's
so much easier and so I don't have to wait around in Sheffield for like an
hour and a half waiting for a train and they get in a long train back to tennis
turns on and I asked my sister for help and now she picks me up at the train
station so I don't have to spend as much time worrying about bumping into people
I don't want to see it's the little things but planning like that in advance
gives me a sense of being more in control it means there's less stuff to
go wrong there's less unexpected stuff and it just makes everything so much
more easier and simpler for me and I'm less prone to panic attacks now which is
very very good of course it is important remember that you can't control
everything chances are some things are going to go
wrong in which case have a contingency plan and have some little techniques in
place if you feel your anxiety rising you know
how to calm yourself down for me it's a series of breathing exercises and
counting exercises that really help kind of I always say it's kind of resets my
brain that's that's what really helped me but there are some great apps out
there like headspace and calm home and stuff like that figure out what works
best for you and have them ready to go if you do feel do you feel your anxiety
rising that means as soon as you feel a panic attack coming on you can stop
dinners tracks you're ready you're prepared
it's all about feeling in control and taking control because you can do that
you have the power and the skill to do that and in a similar vein to this make
sure that if you are taking medication make sure you've got enough to see you
over the Christmas period usually if you are gonna run out while you're away you
can go to a pharmacy or your doctor early and get a little bit extra to kind
of tide you over if you're going to be away but again make sure you're prepared
you're not forgetting your medication you're definitely taking it with you
you've got the correct doses you've got the right amount just double-check
before you leave and finally my last little bit of advice which again might
sound really simple but it's one that I always used to forget so it's something
that's kind of worth reminding yourself of is don't overload yourself Christmas
is stressful at the best of times when you're dealing with mental health issues
it can be a nightmare don't feel like you owe it to everyone else to do this
and do this and do this and do this just take a step back and remember that
Christmas should be about having fun and relaxing and you deserve to do that it
doesn't have to be about everyone else it can just be about you doing what you
want to do or what you don't want to do you know if you just want to sit there
and veg out for a week you do that you don't owe it to anyone to do anything
fancy or go to these club nights or go here or do this same thing with buying
presents if you're worried about money only buy what you can afford people are
going to appreciate that you put in thought rather than that you've you know
gone into debt to them don't feel forced to go on nights out don't feel like you
have to do anything drink anything take anything that you're not comfortable
with if you're visiting family and staying with them only stay you know the
minimum number of nights that you feel comfortable with don't force yourself
they're longer if it's going to make you unhappy it is okay to say no to people
it's important that you know your limits you know what you can
you can't do and you kind of live within those limits again this goes back to
talking to the people around you if you explain to them why you can or can't do
certain things they'll be way more understanding if you
say sorry I can't really face a club tonight you guys go out without me or
sorry I don't really want to go to the pub maybe we could have you know a
little game night in instead or something like that
so yeah I'm gonna end up there I know some of these seemed a little bit basic
but they're things that really really helped me over the Christmas period and
they still do you know it's what the 13th of December at the minute and I've
already got my train tickets booked I've got my plan while I'm up there all in
place I got all my Christmas presents for and ready at my parents house
waiting to be wrapped I am sorted which means these next like
two weeks before Christmas I can just sit back and relax go to the pub with my
friends on a night if you want have some film nights in with them you know I'm
I'm just relaxing and enjoying this because I've already got my plan in
place and I feel good about it you know I mean there's honestly a lot more that
I could suggest or you know stories I could tell you guys about things that
have helped and things that haven't helped but honestly everyone's different
and I think the biggest bit of advice I can give you is just understand yourself
understand what works for you understand what doesn't what triggers you what
helps you who can help you Christmas can be stressful but it shouldn't have to be
it should just be about relaxing and having fun and enjoying yourself you
deserve to have that you deserve to have a break and if you are feeling stressed
or you are a low point just remember that it's just Christmas in the grand
scheme of things it doesn't really matter it'll be over in a couple of
weeks and we'll be another one along next year so it's not really a big deal
you don't have to worry about it that much and it's okay to kind of take a
step back from things and say no this year I need to focus on me and my health
because that's what's important but anyway I'm kind of rambling at this
point hopefully this least helps so if you guys a little bit or gave you an
idea of how you can help yourselves or other people I don't know but like I say
share your advice or how you deal with kind of looking after your mental health
at Christmas noble holiday period share those ideas down in the comments below
because I definite want to hear some of your stories and
advice and what you guys have been through don't forget to go check out my
channel and Christmas video over there and before I finish once again a huge
thank you to Chris for popping me on his channel like this it's a really great
opportunity I know I'm not as cool or as smart as he is but I'm trying okay but
thank you so much for watching today and even though this isn't my channel I hope
I'll see you again soon
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