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Christina Liao (she/her/hers), Low Entropy Volunteer Writer

Sometimes, days become stormy and you feel worthless. “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,” your brain thinks as you look at the mirror in the morning. “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,” your brain thinks as you leave your house. “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,” your brain thinks as you keep your head down and can’t hear your thoughts over the noise. Everyone can feel insignificant on cloudy days, and when that’s happening it’s crucial to remember that you matter. When your brain says “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,” it’s important to let your heart respond with “I matter, I matter, I matter,” even when you can’t quite bring yourself to believe it. Power through it, and there’s going to be a light on the other end of the tunnel when you get there. 

When you start to feel like you’re worthless or not good enough, it’s key to take a step back, reevaluate yourself and continue on with your day. On some days, it may be hard to look over the dirt and grime, but time prevails and you will eventually feel better, the harder you try. On some days, it seems as if pain becomes an endless pit. Loneliness, worthlessness and overthinking can completely consume your life. When that happens, it is important to take a break from whatever you’re doing and think about the things that make you happy. Go read a book, listen to some calming music, take a walk. Do something that makes you feel at ease. That’s always worked for me, at least. Distracting myself from thoughts about things that I know shouldn’t matter but still worry about has always been a good strategy.

Emotions can become overwhelming, and it’s important to find ways to distract yourself when they do. Whether it’s sitting down and watching some television or meditating, it’s important to compose your feelings and keep them in check. Overthinking is unhealthy, but when you’re stressed it becomes almost second nature to overthink. Stress and anxiety come hand-in-hand. Feeling stressed is unavoidable, but it’s important to handle it in a healthy way. Take some breaks, steady your breathing and sleep better. The stress will pass as time passes. Anxiety however, can become a problem, because if it is a constant in your day then it doesn’t go away. Different people deal with it by using different methods, and it’s important to find your own method that is catered to you. If things become really bad, maybe it’s time to find a trained professional to help you through your troubles. Therapists really help and more people are in therapy than you might think. The stigma against getting help really shouldn’t be a thing, because it’s normal to seek it when you need it.

Many celebrities are advocates of mental health because they have their own problems with it. Someone as successful as Taylor Swift still goes through anxiety like everyone else, and that makes her just as human as anyone else. In fact, Taylor probably has more anxiety than you and I, having to deal with a global audience assessing her appearance every second of her life. It’s important for the stigma against mental health treatment to be nullified, because everyone has their troubles and those involving mental health problems are normal. Even someone like Taylor Swift goes through them and comes out stronger when they get out the other end.

It’s a good strategy to know when you need help and when you’re in a good place – monitor your emotions. Keep a mood tracker handy, write a journal to keep your thoughts in check, whatever works for you is what you need to do to be aware of your mental state. Especially in the midst of this pandemic, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. When you do, remember to relax, distract yourself and just breathe. Power through it, and you’ll come out from a tough spot stronger than ever. Life is messy, and it’s okay to feel like your emotions are overloading your life. Just find healthy ways to contain them when it happens and power through the darkness.

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My name is Christina and I am currently a student at Simon Fraser University in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. I love listening to music, reading, writing and, honestly, anything Marvel. In short, I’m a total nerd. I volunteer as a blog writer here at Low Entropy.