When I first heard the term “mental health screening tools,” I honestly didn’t think it applied to me. I wasn’t in therapy. I wasn’t on medication. I was just… stressed. Or so I thought. Like so many people, I didn’t realize that what I was brushing off as “just stress” had already started to chip…
There was a time I didn’t even realize anxiety had taken such a big seat at my table. It crept in quietly—tight chest, racing thoughts, sleep that never felt like sleep. I tried everything: yoga, breathing exercises, even cutting caffeine (which felt like betrayal). But the thing that surprised me most? A notebook. Journaling for…
The first time a therapist slid a paper across the table and said, “Let’s start with this,” I stared at it like it was a pop quiz I hadn’t studied for. It was the GAD-7 questionnaire. I had no clue what it meant or how answering a few questions could possibly sum up the tangled…
Not knowing what’s going on inside your own mind can be incredibly unsettling. I remember sitting in a waiting room, my foot tapping nonstop, palms damp, heart pounding—not from fear of a diagnosis, but from the fear of not understanding what I was feeling in the first place. Anxiety wasn’t just some nervous energy. It…