It's that time of year where we all try and remember the importance of gratitude, so I want to take a moment to reflect on why I'm so grateful for the recovery progress I've made in the last year. Recovery is never a linear process, which means I've had my share of backslides, but I've also taken several important steps forward, and that should be celebrated.

I fake normalcy because having a mental illness is isolating and makes me feel different. Facing the outside world can be difficult. Here are five coping methods (positive and negative) I noticed I do when I leave the house that help me fake normalcy.

It might seem pessimistic to plan on having postpartum depression, but if it's something you're nervous about, it's best to be prepared with a postpartum depression support plan.

Halloween mental health stigma can be especially harmful and offensive. For some reason, many people still believe "asylum" themes are appropriate for their haunted houses and costumes like "escaped mental patient" are fun because they get to wear a straightjacket. I believe stigmatizing mental illness in your Halloween celebration only serves to ostracize and insult an already vulnerable group of people, and it is time for it to end.

"Feel the fear and do it anyway" is a popular motivational phrase, but its wisdom is often difficult to actually implement in your life, especially if you deal with anxiety. Fear and anxiety are huge, overwhelming emotions, and many of us struggle to even allow ourselves to feel them, let alone feel them and then continue functioning like a healthy person. Still, that doesn't mean it's impossible. It just means we may need some help to "feel the fear and do it anyway." These are three tips I've developed through years of living with anxiety.

I have recently quit drinking. Drinking has negatively impacted my life for the past few months and I decided to stop a couple weeks ago. I am hoping this will put me on a path to a healthier life both mentally and physically.

Do you need some mental health encouragement? Watch this video.

September is Suicide Awareness Month, and in honor of that, I want to share my experience with feeling semi-suicidal. My hope is that other people who have occupied this awful in-between space will understand that what they're going through is very real, and someone else has been there too. (Note: This post contains a trigger warning.)

As a mental health worker, I am always concerned about how first responders treat mental health concerns and crises. Two such duties are safety checks and dealing with suicide attempts. (Safety checks are when law enforcement checks on someone who has been reported in danger or will possibly harm himself or others.) Here in Toledo, suicide attempts are taken very seriously by emergency services. However, safety checks are of low priority. (Note: This post contains a trigger warning.)

Healthy sleep in recovery from mental illness is absolutely vital, but do you know when you're using sleep as a coping mechanism and when you're using it as avoidance? It can be a very fine line, but in this post and video, I talk about some of the good signs and red flags when it comes to healthy sleep in recovery from mental illness.