In-Between: Checking In On Your Mental Health

It's going to be MAY! What a wonderful Month... its' the 2-year anniversary of the podcast, it's my birthday month. and it's Mental Health Awareness Month!

So the main point in this week's episode is to ask yourself, have you checked in on your mental health lately? 

Here's what I'm discussing this week:

• All the crazy life updates - the busyness has been BUSY!
• I'm going to New York City!
• Mental Health Awareness Month
• Questions to ask yourself when checking in on your mental health (& why you should be checking in!) 
  • How do you feel?
  • How does your body feel? 
  • Have you been taking care of your basic needs? 
  • Have you been practicing any self care? 

If you need to talk to someone, please do not hesitate to reach out to a medical professional. You matter and so does your mental health. I'm happy you're here (xoxo). 

Here are some resources from the National Alliance on Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org/get-involved/awareness-events/mental-health-awareness-month/#more-ways-to-get-involved-this-mental-health-awareness-month 

Connect with me:
https://in-between.co
@in.betweenpod on Instagram
@elizabethcheney_ on Instagram
@theinbetweenpodcast on TikTok
The In-Between Podcast on YouTube

Transcript

RODECaster Pro Multichannel: 0:05

Hey, hey, hey, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the in between. I'm your host, Elizabeth Cheney. As you can probably hear, there's a slight sultry tune, sultry sound to my voice. The allergies have drastically improved. We are in much better territory than we were when you last probably heard from me. Um, the drain is not so bad, but I still have this, what I'm calling the Sophia Bush. You know, she always kind of had that sexy, raspy voice, year round all the time. Like, that was just her voice. I was always, like, fascinated by that. I was like, how does your voice sound like you need to, clear it all the time, but yet it doesn't sound annoying? Like, it sounds sexy. Anyways, I don't know where I'm going with that one, but I sound a little bit like I'm trying to woo you, and also like I've been smoking some stogues. So, So, uh, hopefully it doesn't drive you crazy. Anyways, I don't know why I am dissecting my voice here on the podcast for you in real time. Uh, but hello. It's May 1st. Isn't that exciting? One, I put this podcast episode out on the right day of the week. Also, it's May. So many good things happen in May. It's my birthday month. Yes, it's my birthday. For those who don't know, maybe you're new here, but yeah, May is my birthday month. So, uh, fun fact, I'm a triple Taurus. That's about the extent of my Zodiac knowledge. I would love to learn more. I just take it in and think, that's why I'm so intense about things. Triple Taurus, right? What's a Taurus? It's all about the Earth, you'd expect the Taurus to be grounded. The triple Taurus, so mother effin grounded. Yeah, not so much, don't want to turn this into a therapy session before we get too far into it. And speaking of therapy, May is also Mental Health Awareness Month, which, fun fact, that was started in 1949, a long time ago. So allegedly the government's been caring about our mental health since 1949. I was looking for a history on like why that, where it came from. I was looking at history. Wow. Let me get my words out one more time looking up history, bleh, can't get those words out. Sorry, let's just blame my sinuses still. but anyways, I was looking up the history of Mental Health Awareness Month and I couldn't find really anything. It was just like, oh, it was 1949. Because the government wanted to address mental health issues. I did see on one random site, I don't think it was like some sketchy thing, but it was like a blog or something. But they said that it was, uh, started to help combat and bring more awareness around veterans health because I think that was around one of the World Wars. Oh, World War II, maybe. Yes. Oh my gosh. I don't know U. S. history very well. I also don't really know history very well. Look, math, math was like my subject, believe it or not. Can you believe that? I don't even believe it myself. I meet me and I'm like, yeah, I am not a grammar English person. I don't know why I took that turn, but, um. God, grammar, not my, ooh, yeah. My grammar is probably that of like a 10th grader, maybe 11th grade, but definitely not 12th grade. I still have to Google like how the hell do you use a semicolon? Hopefully I'm not the only one, and if I am, well, here is a 32 year old fine ass woman Not knowing how to do grammar. Not knowing how to do semicolons, and let's just be honest. I think the commas are situational too, and that's just punctuation. Don't even get me started on all the other like literary terms, but um, wow. Didn't expect to get a full score look at my brain intelligence when it comes to English, today? Did you not? Okay, so back to mental health awareness month. you know, this all kind of ties into, I didn't even intend to ramble this really on the episode, but it really ties into like the busyness that's been my life the past few weeks. So I was going to get into. So before I get into all that, my last thought on mental health awareness month, besides all the thoughts, but more on its legacy, that makes sense. 1949 veterans that adds up. So back to where she was. Hello people back to where we were. May. Mental Health Awareness Month, my birthday, it's also the two year anniversary of the podcast, which is so crazy. I can't believe it's only been two years. It feels like ten. I'll be honest with you. It's not that I haven't been having a good time, y'all. No, no, no. But when you do this all yourself and you've had to learn so many things, like I could write a book on all the things I've learned. Maybe I will. Maybe I'll make a course and I'll charge you for it. Wink, wink. But, No, I, it's, it is a labor of love, right? I've come a long way, I'm so proud. You listen to the first episode, then you listen to this one. Hopefully you hear a big difference. If not, maybe I should look inward a little bit. But, I'm just, I'm just playing. but, no, for seriously, for seriousness. I was trying to say for real and then seriously. So for seriousness came out, maybe that's a new phrase that we'll just coin. But anyways, for real, I can't believe it's been two years. It does feel like 10 years because we've been doing so many damn things to get to this point. But you know, now when I go to do an episode, it's like such a rhythm. It's like a fluid motion, if you will. It's like a part of who I am. It's great. It's great. Uh, until something's not, and then I'm like, well, shit, back to the drawing board. But, with it being the anniversary, I'm really excited. I do not have any kind of special giveaways. I, I should, I should totally plan ahead for next year and do that because May is such an epic month. Between my birthday, the podcast anniversary, and mental health awareness month, and that being like, you know, a huge part, pillar, whatever you want to call it, of my shtick, my podcast, something I've been a big advocate for, I should go out with a big bang. Thank you. And instead, you're just getting me way too excited giving you all the thoughts and I'm trying to get them all out in, I guess, a single breath. So, let me take a deep breath. So, now I'm gonna like take a few steps back to what I said just a few moments ago about what the heck's been going on. So, yeah, I am feeling a little all over the place. Uh, another word for that is overwhelmed. Uh, life has been just so busy The past few weeks I would say three the past three weeks. I don't think i've really got a breath in you know, i'm good. I have survived I don't think I am a complete pancake of emotion and mental health nothingness but I do think the hustle and bustle has caught up with me. And I thought, well, what a better update to give on mental health awareness month day one, right? Right. So let's just jump into it. It's it's some of it's been good busyness. A lot of it's been good busyness. Okay. Like a lot of it has been great. Uh, but let's just say like last weekend, last Sunday, Stan was at a NASCAR race of all the things, so random. And I called my mom and I was like, look. Cindy, I'm overwhelmed. I think I may have cried a little bit, but I was like, look, I do not need advice from you. I do not need it. I just need you to hear me. I just need to vent this out. I just need you to remind me that this is a season. This is just a period. This is not a forever. Because I'll be honest with you. It's, there's a lot, and I think I've actually said this before, but There is so much sacrifice that comes with this podcast. Good sacrifice. Sacrifice that I choose. So this is not me, way, way, way, kind of thing, but I guess I am kind of wah, wah, way. If you got that, then great. If not, well, I'm sorry. Welcome to me. This is what I'm like. But I, and I just lost my train of thought with that ridiculous sound effect. Oh, yeah. Okay. So there's a lot of sacrifice that comes with this and by sacrifice, it's like your, your sanity a little bit. It's a one woman show. And I mean, I got ADHD and I got my own other shit I have to constantly work on and I'm trudging through. And I've learned a lot of other life lessons and things with my ADHD and anxiety through this podcasting process too. So it's like, As I've become a better podcaster, I've also, been a better human. I mean, that was already a, a work in progress. Like, we were already working on ourselves before we launched the podcast. Go back and listen to early episodes. I talk about it. But, which, I think I also talk about it all the time. But you know what I mean. We've come a long way. But it feels like 10 years. Wow, am I back on the 10 years? That wasn't even the point I was trying to make. Wow. The point I was making is, I'm back on the 10 years. A lot of sacrifice comes with the podcast, so that has a lot of time and energy. And now that I have this website and I have gotten a little good if I say so myself. Especially with my content and the clips I post and the production value, people. I mean, good lord. but With all the growth with that, I'm also putting myself out there more. I mean, I've always, I've always stretched myself thin with that, but the past three weeks I've had dinners galore, it was other events. that I maybe wouldn't normally go to if it was just for fun and not that I didn't have fun. But I, I went to this ATL bucket list event. ATL bucket list is a really popular Atlanta blogger, Instagram person, whatever content creator, I don't know what you want to call them, and she posted a nine year anniversary, Party for her account and I went because my friend was like hey This could be a great place for you to meet people you never know and sure enough I met some really awesome freaking people and some pretty cool connections if I say so myself. I would say it was a success. It was awesome. Let's see. I went and spoke at my alma mater and that was great for an alumni event. I love that. Those are the kinds of things that fill my heart for my soul. Like just give me a life. I had this amazing creative photo shoot. Y'all just. Oh my gosh, just wait till you see these pictures and with that experience, I met a badass chick who is now a new friend. I got to meet this cool dude from the place that we rented it at. Y'all, that was like a whole scenario. Like this guy rents his house out. It's like, not Airbnb, but it's, it's called peer space, Which is like an Airbnb app is what I mean by that comparison. But like his house is like all decked out like mid century. He's got a tiki room, he's got a pool, super cool setup. And like, people, film, photographers, whatever will rent out his space. He's had music videos. He's at photoshoots, all this cool shit. He's having me there now. I mean now it's really a party. I'm just playing but he was really cool. And then we found all these really weird connections. I just gotta say guys, the world is way too freaking small. So see all these exciting things going on in my life. I had, oh God, I even forgot. I had double recordings this past weekend. I had one on Saturday that I'm super, super excited about. And then I had double recording with this gentleman, this gentleman. Oh my God. What am I a proper Southern lady? This gentleman and I, well, I don't know why I just went to like a, Cockney accent versus a Southern one. Maybe I was trying to Josh you and it was like English Southern, which I'm just assuming that's where Cockney accent comes from. I'm ignorant. What can I say? But I was, uh, what I was saying is, uh, this guy, I, he is the host of this podcast called your morning drive. He and I did a double recording, that's partially why my voice is gone, and I've been meeting up with people, mentoring people, holy moly, so much. And it was just like, go, and go. And I was trying to see friends, and see my family, and talk to people, and maybe I know too many people. And I just, Started feeling all the anxiety, get up to here. So when I finally realized this week I had a lot of breaks, I don't have a fricking everything. I don't have a single. How do I say this? Oh gosh, let me get my words together. I got overwhelmed just retelling you how overwhelmed I was. I do not have an event every single day this week like I have the past three weeks. And yes, it has been something every single freaking day. And most often it's been like big things. Things that take up chunks of time, my energy, my attention. And again, I'm not complaining too much about most of it. Most of it was great. But the stuff that wasn't great, I was not a fan of. It's the stress, but anyways. Oh, and then our realtor texts me and says, Hey, I quit. I'm just kidding. That was very dramatic. I just kind of want to make you. Oh my God. No, I kind of saw this coming and like, that's a whole other like conversation. Really realty. Is that the word? Real estating. Real estating. I don't think that's the word, but we're going to roll with it because I like the way it sounds. Real estating was definitely her side gig. It was not her main passion and her main, honestly, probably income driver too. And I I realized a little while ago that I think I needed to find a different realtor anyway. One that was a little bit more in touch with the areas we were looking at and also like one that was, I don't know, more committed. And I don't mean that rudely, I promise. Because also, like, I need somebody more aggressive. Like, I need somebody in this aspect of my life to tell me what to do. You know what I mean? Like, my indecisiveness with the whole real estate thing is, Woo! Just a thing. My goodness. So that happens, but it's, again, I think that was a blessing in disguise, not a thing I know it was, and like, her and I are still have a relationship. Um, like, you know, she's like, please keep me posted on how things go, and I'm like, absolutely, absolutely. So, yeah, whatever, great, let's just keep on piling things on. But, thankfully, that was actually a good thing. That actually was a relief, so, cause I didn't have to have the awkward conversation. Where I was like, hey, I think I need to part ways. But you know, now that I say it out loud, it probably isn't that big of a deal. You know what I'm saying? I went and saw my cousin's new baby, I think I talked about. So I've kind of told you some of these things, but just all of it collectively, it's been a lot. Okay? It's been a lot. I'm at the point in my overwhelmingness where like, I'm not opening up text messages and the more the text number climbs, the more anxiety I get. But rather than, I don't know, open them, mute it, whatever, move notification, I'm immobilized. And, you know, once you finally respond to all your text messages, then all the replies come back to the response. So, I'm just in a swirl pool of text message hell. So, if you are currently texting with me, and I have been delayed in my responses, I do apologize, especially if I'm the one who started said conversation. It's just because, well, ADHD, this just popped in my head, and I just want to say, hey, I love you, hope you're doing well. Hope you're doing good. What's new? I will get back to you. Maybe I should sit like an automatic response. It says, uh, Elizabeth is overwhelmed. She will respond back to your text message in two to four business days. Goodness gracious on the plus side. There's lots of plus sides on a plus side. I finally have a chill break on a plus side. My birthday is coming up. Me and Santa are going to Blue Ridge, get a little mountain getaway, uh, just to honestly maybe sleep, be outside and work on the podcast. like planning and shit like that. Anyways, whoa, that was a lot Let's see. I'm gonna look at my little notes here. Oh, apparently Taylor Swift have his, um, Taylor Swift has a new album. I wrote Dead Poet Society, but I actually think that's not what it's called. I think that is what the movie is called. I think hers is Tortured Poet Society. And if not, well, there is your answer on whether I'm a Swiftie or not. No hate, no shade. Just not a fan. I mean, I'm indifferent. That's probably the better word Let's see oh duh Can't believe I forgot this part. I'm going to NYC. I'm super excited. That's NYC as in New York City. I've never really been. I say never really because it's very specific. So I went to New Jersey once. It's a different story for a different day. Hashtag daddy issues. And, uh, we took a train from Edison or Trenton, Edison, New Jersey. That's where he lives. Edison, New Jersey to New York City because I'd never been in New York City. So we literally came out of the train station. We went to some little restaurant, which I don't even remember the name, of course not, off the side of the street. And then we went to Times Square and then I came home. I don't remember much of it. We were literally in New York for three hours, maybe two and a half. So I don't think that counts. I didn't get to really see anything. like at all. And by Times Square, I just remember seeing the Hershey store. Like I didn't even see like Good Morning America and all those cool things. So I'm very excited. And what's even more special is it's with my mother. My mom is going, it's me and mom, and I think her first experience in New York was like also the two and a half hour slash three hour visit that I had with her as well. So this is a big for both of us. So if you have any recommendations on what we should do, eat and see, don't worry, I'm already overwhelmed, but please send them my way. What I'm gathering from this whole New York research experience is that, you know, you're not going to fit it in, in four and a half days. Like we have four full days. And then, well, and then we have like a half day the day we leave, because we fly in super early. So, all day Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then we fly out late afternoon Sunday. So, I'd love to hear your recs. I'd love to hear your recs. but, before we end today's episode, I wanted to talk about Mental Health Awareness Month just a little bit. Uh, I saw this interesting statistic on the National Alliance on Mental Illness, um, their website, which is the N A M I, I don't know if that's like NAMI, NAMI, NAMI, I have no idea, but it's the National Alliance on Mental Illness. And they said that the average delay between onset of mental health symptoms and seeking treatment. Is 11 years, 11 years. Oh my God. If I had gone through what I went through in 2021, 2020 for like Nine more years. Oh, oh, who knows what more damage, like what level of damage would have been done? And I don't even mean this in a joking way. I'm serious. When you hold on to things like that for that long, it's, it does affect you. But 11 years, if that resonates with you, not saying you've been sitting on a diagnosis for 11 years, but if you, maybe you've been feeling guilty that you haven't gotten help or you haven't made that effort, you're not alone. That's the average. I mean, so many other people are struggling to get treatment themselves. You know, I started the episode with all the updates and kind of the crazy rambling to one, give you the updates, but to kind of segue into what I had to do was my own mental health check in. Um, this past weekend, I didn't have like any major breakdown because like I was kind of cognizant that was at my limit. I was kind of stretched too thin. And I was just like, all right. I can see the finish line. I'm mentally prepared going into this. I knew what was, I knew this was going to be super busy this time, this timeline, this time period, but man, I'm burnout. I just got to get to the finish line and then I can relax and then I can breathe. And I did, I was able to take a, take a deep breath, not busy myself with a bunch of more work because I didn't have all these other responsibilities taking up my time. And I feel like I was able to do that and not have a super negative inner narrative because I've been doing so much work on myself, you know, over the years and working on my mental health and I have a pretty solid inner narrative, you know what I mean? But in that check in, I was like taking an inventory of like, how am I feeling? I'm overwhelmed. Okay. Well, this is temporary. This is not forever. This is just because of all the juggling. You're not going to have two jobs, the podcast and your nine to five forever. That's temporary. It's temporary. You know, a lot of the podcast learning curves are, are that learning curves. Like it's just, you got to learn the new process, learn the new thing, learn what this affiliate program does. It's always something new and I love that. I want to lean into that. I never want that magic to go away. So when it's overwhelming, when it's heavy, when it's too much, I just got to take a step back, take a deep breath and just, whew. I don't have to do anymore today because I've already done so much and let me remind myself one more time all the things that I've done and all the amazing things I've accomplished. Last week I started feeling pressure, uh, uh, I need to do more. And I was, I knew it was being like, I don't know, it was being, it was worse because of all the other shit I had going on, the busyness and that stress, but I was able to pause and say, Whoa, you know where you're at currently, where you're at in the timeline this week. You know, all the things going on. Why are you thinking about what you haven't done, and you need to look at all the things you have done? Remember all that shit I said in the beginning? That's a bunch of stuff! It's a bunch of stuff! And it's a bunch of great stuff! And I'm proud of it. So, to end today's episode, especially as we kick into Mental Health Awareness Month, I want you to do a mental health check in. I want you to do them more often than you probably do already. Do it every day. Do it once a week. Do it every other week. Do it every couple days. Do it multiple times a day for all I care. Anytime you notice a huge shift in your emotions, take a moment to check in with yourself. Well, Elizabeth, how do I do that? Well, first off, take a moment to just think about how are you feeling? Are you nervous? Are you scared? Are you stressed? Are you happy? Are you sad? What's your physical body doing? Do you feel dysregulated? Do you feel shaky? Does it feel really tight in your chest? Do you feel relaxed? Have you been taking care of yourself? And as you all know, I've been very honest about my health and my journey and my struggles with my mental health in many, many different episodes. And I know what it's like when you can't even do the bare basics. So I mean this with all of the love, so much love, every single drop of love in my heart. When I say, are you meeting your basic needs? Are you eating? Are you drinking water? Are you sleeping? Are you brushing your teeth? Are you changing your clothes? Are you taking a bath and washing yourself? Sometimes we need that reminder, and I mean that. Sometimes even the bare necessities are really hard. I might even argue impossible. So challenge yourself to do one. My trick back in the day was, I'd look at the toothpaste and I'd think to myself, Okay, it's gonna take me a minute or two to brush my teeth. I can give myself two minutes in breaking down this simple task that seemed so overwhelming to me at the time, breaking it down on like a quantitative amount. It was like the logic side of my brain could grasp that even though everything else just seems so far removed. I could grasp that number and I could commit to that. Maybe that's what you need to shift your narrative. Shift the perspective just slightly. and then back to checking in like are you doing any kind of self care? Are you doing anything that refills you, restores your energy, whether it's watching a show, going for a walk, going outside, letting the sunshine hit your face just for a few minutes. Sometimes when I feel really overwhelmed and I can't do anything else in the moment to fix it, I take a deep breath. I used not to believe in that kind of thing. I know for those who know the power of breathing, maybe you're in yoga, whatever, you're like, oh my god. And for those who are maybe like me, like a deep breath is not gonna regulate my nervous system. No, maybe a deep breath isn't gonna completely solve that. But it is going to ground you in a way that you didn't realize. When you take a deep breath and you mentally see it come in from the top of your head, on your neck and your shoulders and your fingertips, on your torso, down your waist, on your legs, knees, your shins, down to your toes. You feel all of that in your body and that sensation can, can kind of zap you out of it for the moment. It can kind of bring you back to earth, can kind of bring you back to the present, bring you back to the moment. Maybe then you can have that mental check in. How am I feeling? How's my body feel? Am I taking care of myself? And when you're overwhelmed with maybe addressing those questions, take that deep breath again. Maybe your mental health chicken's a little different than that. Maybe it's just okay. I'm, maybe you're like me and you're juggling so many different things. Some things you can't let go of. Some things you can and some things you really, if you can, you want to hold on to it. You really don't want to let it go. Take a deep breath. Ground yourself in the chaos and I think you might have a little bit more clarity after that. And look, I'm not a therapist, I'm not a counselor, I'm not a licensed professional, but I am a huge advocate and believer in therapy. And you know, I don't know who needs to hear this, but you're not less than if you go to therapy. If anything, I think it's really brave and really powerful. So if you take your mental health check in this month, whenever it is, because you're going to do it, everyone's going to do it. We're all going to do it. We're all going to check in and make sure we're present. Make sure we're okay. Give that little self love, self recognition, self awareness. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Don't be afraid to look for help. I know it can feel overwhelming. I mean, shoot, it is. God, who wants to do research? It's almost like homework for your therapist. And God forbid they don't work out. But, been there, done that. And guess what? there are greener pastures on the other side of the fence. Believe it or not. So let's make May great. It's a whole new month, a whole new set of possibilities, a whole new set of exciting puzzles to put together, curveballs to dodge. Again, like so many exciting things and I mean gosh, have so many friends who have made birthdays. It's wild. So chances are you got tons of birthdays to celebrate this month, too. So check in with yourself. You matter. I'm so happy you're here. And by here, yes, I mean the podcast, but also just here on earth. I'm glad you're alive. I wonder what magic you're going to do. I wonder what you've already done. Think about that. The ripple effect you've probably already made. Isn't that crazy? Think about, I'm just going to pause. I'm going to end the episode on this. Think about all the people that you probably have no memory of that. You made them smile. That you made their day, that you made, maybe something unbearable just a little bit better even. Think about the effects that your presence and your interactions may have had on someone. I think that's exciting to think about. And I don't even mean anything grandiose. It could have been you opening the door for someone. It could have been you smiling at someone just saying, Hey, how are you? We never know what people are going through. So thank you for being here. Thank you for listening to the in between. And, uh, happy May. Happy birthday to me. Don't worry, we'll talk again before then. And, um, happy mental health awareness month. I'll be back for an all new episode next week. I'm going to have like a, that person I was talking about, the recording your morning drive, it seems Logan, he's going to be on the podcast next week. I feel like I really just butchered that delivery, but I'm kind of exhausted. Remember, she's busy. Y'all I did eat before this episode is I wouldn't be ravenous by the end of it, but that also might've been not the best idea because the hunger fuels me. And the, the food sleeps me, which was not proper grammar, but that's okay, because remember, she's not a grammar girl. Yes. So for all my new faces, please follow me on Instagram at end up between pod and at Elizabeth Cheney underscore. And yes, please follow both because well, one's the pod account and one's me. So hello, you got to follow both and then tick tock YouTube at the in between podcast. And if you haven't done so already, and if you really are enjoying the show, I would really appreciate if you would leave me a five star review on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. All right. That's all she wrote. Here's to a more calm week and here's to May. I will see you next week. Bye