Overcome the Fears Keeping You Stuck
This week, the focus is on getting past your fears.
Hi there!
You’re sitting in your therapist’s office, trying to find the courage to speak the words that have been swirling around in your head for weeks.
“I think I might be bipolar.”
It feels like a death sentence, or at least, it did to me.
You’ve heard all the horror stories about medications and how they can send you into a spiral of mania or depression. But you don’t want to live in fear anymore. You’re ready to take control of your mental health and start living the life you deserve.
You can face your fears and succeed, and we’ll focus on how this week.
“There is nothing worth doing that is not scary. There is no one who has achieved greatness without wrestling with their own doubts, anxieties, limitations, and demons.”
- Ryan Holiday
I Waited Too Long
I get it. I waited way too long to tell anyone I was struggling.
In my mind, I imagined all the worst-case scenarios, from being committed to a psychiatric facility for the rest of my life to losing all my family and friends. Part of me even feared I would lose touch with reality and never be me again. I feared I’d never hold another job, be in a loving relationship, or live to see my 30th birthday.
Even after I received my bipolar disorder diagnosis, the fear continued. I worried about opening up to my therapist, telling my doctor how I really felt, and sharing my diagnosis with others. I didn’t even want my family and closest friends to know.
Holding on to fear kept me stuck. When I finally started facing my fears, I made progress, but it was a fight. The fear of confronting my memories of childhood abuse even created physical pain. My head pounded, my stomach tied in knots, and there were times I felt like my lungs refused to take in air.
As tough as it was, talking helped. Once I was comfortable talking to my therapist about my worst memories, I opened up to others. By sharing my experiences, I even helped a good friend come to terms with her past abuse.
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Conquer Your Fears
There are a lot of things people fear with mental illness, but do you know what? Most of the things are based on nothing but scary thoughts in your head.
None of the things I feared came true, and that’s likely true for most of what you’re afraid to face.
So, how do you overcome your fears?
The first step is to identify your fears. Are you afraid of taking medication? Are you terrified of being hospitalized? Do you fear being labeled as “crazy”?
Take some time today to identify your fears. Once you know what you’re fighting, you can start to address them.
(Paid Subscribers) Tomorrow, you will take the next step toward conquering your fears.
Monday’s Journal Prompt: Describe a fear that's holding you back. What parts of the fear make it so scary for you? What do you think you can do this week to help conquer your fear?
Until next time, keep fighting.
Scott Ninneman
Did you enjoy reading this post? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, and please hit the restack button to spread the word. 🧡
Additional Reading
The book that started it all…
Scott Ninneman is the author of Speaking Bipolar’s 30 Days of Positivity and the writer behind SpeakingBipolar.com. Living in the mountains of southeast Tennessee, he spends his days crunching numbers as a tax preparer and his nights caring for his mother and writing stories about bipolar life. (And he loves pandas.)
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Brilliant post as always!! Thanks again for sharing Scotland 😊
I've listened to this twice now & going to try & listen to it as often as I can... Hoping for every evening, or morning...
There is so much to clean from it, I need to take notes, or copy the text. Brain muscle memory 😁💪🧠