mental illness

TRADING IN MY SMART PHONE

I’M TRADING IN MY SMART PHONE 📱 FOR A FLIP PHONE 📞 !!!

I am okay. I am not losing my shit. I am good. I just need to get better. I need to recalibrate and be more genuine. I am having Smart Phone Fatigue.

MY TAKE ON THE WORLD:

In my opinion, we are under assault. Our mental health is under assault.

Our well-being is threatened. Our sense of security.

We are in a “Mental Health Crisis” as a country. Substance use disorders are part of this mental health crisis.

They should not be carved out and placed in some silo. It is really troubling.

I have been immersed in this crisis. It’s no joke.

OUT OF RANGE

IT IS NOT WITHIN THE NORMAL RANGE.

NOT TYPICAL, IN TERMS OF INCIDENCE AND INTENSITY. IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYONE IS “ON-EDGE”.

My take on this goes beyond my professional experience.

I have not always been willing to acknowledge or attend to my own mental health.

I am a man who also struggles with depression. Off and on for 20 years.

Recently more on than off. And I have refused to address this issue.

JUST WORK MORE, RIGHT?

I have stubbornly plowed through the dark nights and anxiety-ridden days.

Tell myself.. Work more. That will shut it out. Work more. That will give you a sense of “well-being”. Avoid…

Recently I have been confronted with some things in my personal life that force me to reconcile with my own mental health issues.

The truth is the stigma of mental health (especially the stigma of male depression) has kept me from addressing this issue full on.

Real men don’t cry?

Well, I don’t know about that. But they certainly don’t struggle with depression. Come on. Suck it up.

PLAN OF ACTION

So, I will aggressively address this issue.

I will follow the recommendations. I won’t play around with this anymore.

In addition to all the “standard” mental wellness protocols (meds, therapy, exercise, meditation, eat right, get better sleep etc…); I will also be getting rid of my smartphone.

NO MORE SMART PHONE

I have been thinking about this for quite some time.

When it comes to that damn phone, I don’t like who I am….

📱 Always checking my email. Always checking social media.

“Checking in” on my newsfeed. Seeing all that ridiculous bullshit.

Have you ever watched a group of people staring at their cell phones while waiting in line or while at dinner or in the lobby etc…?

IN THE WEB

Zuckerberg and company have us in the web.

It is really uncool. And I am certain that it undermines my mental health.

The data supports this and my personal experience makes it clear:

SMARTPHONES are part of the problem.

BE A FLIP-PHONE BOY

I will become “flip-phone boy”.

I will still check email, I will still post on social media, I will still “do my job”.

I’m just not going to be part of the smartphone matrix anymore.

I will do these things from a laptop or desktop only.

I must work on getting better if I expect the people I love to work on getting better.

I have been… a hypocrite.

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