Mental Health with Mel

Hello everyone!  I hope you are all staying safe and healthy, and that you've been able to enjoy 2021's holiday season.  I know this time of year isn't always pleasant for a lot of you, and for any number of reasons. I won't go into the details because if you know, you know. But I just wanted to use this post as a gentle reminder that even if you're having a grand old time with family and loved ones, not everyone is able to do the same.  Now, I also understand that sometimes people make the conscious decision to stay by themselves this time of year instead of gathering with a large group of people, whatever their reasoning may be (of course, we're *still* in a global pandemic this season so, I'm sure that's a driving factor for many!). Some of these folks are happy with it; others don't have a choice, and may feel extra lonely.  Reach out to those individuals. Even if it's just a quick text or DM to say a pleasant holiday greeting, I'm pretty...

Hi everyone. I was worried that my monthly post was overdue, but when I saw that my last update was 11/15, I decided that posting three days later in December really isn't all that bad! I just wanted to check in to see how you're all doing; I know the holidays can be a tricky subject for some folks for a variety of reasons - and especially now that we're nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, it's even more difficult when it's *still* not safe to visit loved ones.  As for me, overall, I'm happy to say that I'm doing very, VERY well.  I haven't talked about this yet, only because I wanted to share a bit of my own personal history with mental health to explain how I've reached this point in my journey.  *takes a deep breath* So... Back in September, I'd started what would be a three-month Leave of Absence from my full-time job because due to a number of reasons that I won't bore you with, my mental state was tanking through most of the su...