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Anxious Parenting Practicalities Part 8: How to Recharge as a Parent with a Mental Health Disorder

Jul 30
4 min

Anxious Parenting Practicalities Part 8: How to Recharge as a Parent with a Mental Health Disorder

I had no idea how to rest and recharge when I first became a father. I imagine many new parents have felt the same. It's easy enough to understand - for one thing, your 'down time' isn't down time anymore. As a friend with young kids once told me, 'your down time is for all the things you couldn't get done while your kids were awake'. Truth well-told, sir. In my experience, the demands of early parenthood can also make you forget an important fact about your mood and ener

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Jason Adams

May 31
6 min

Anxious Parenting Practicalities Pt. 7: Energy Part 2 (the less obvious stuff)

In my last post, I commented on a few (fairly) obvious things that have been sapping my energy in recent months. In this post, we're going to dig a bit deeper into two not-so-obvious drains on my energy (both mental and physical) that I discovered somewhat haphazardly, as well as how those 'drainers' went unnoticed, sometimes for months at a time. Before I begin, though, let me make something clear: I'm only talking about things that drained my energy. It's unlikely that ev

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Jason Adams

Mar 30
5 min

On, Off and OCD: 3 Helpful Steps for Getting Unstuck (and a bit of philosophy)

I recently read a quote that goes something like this: “You can’t understand ‘off’ without understanding ‘on’.” Now, in fairness, this quote isn’t especially original. It’s a unique phrasing of a relatively common philosophical idea: we can’t understand a concept without understanding its opposite. You can’t define light without understanding dark, up has no meaning if you don’t understand down, and so on. In the simplest terms, opposites are inherently, necessarily linked

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Anxious Parenting Practicalities Part 5/10: Starting Meds as a Parent

Jason Adams

Mar 26
8 min

Anxious Parenting Practicalities Part 5/10: Starting Meds as a Parent

Meds...so many options, so many opinions...where do you start? Who do you talk to? More importantly, how does the process of starting meds impact both you and the people closest to you? Naturally, the answers to these questions are subjective, but there are some common threads worth discussing, particularly for those who are looking to start meds for their mental health in the midst of a busy parenting stage. So, let's discuss them! At this point, I think it's prudent to p

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Jason Adams

Mar 1
4 min

Anxious Parenting Practicalities Part 4/10: You Are Not Your Thoughts (wait, what?)

What advice would you give to your younger self? I know - such an annoying question. Profound, I suppose, but not an overly practical use of time, is it? I don’t really think so, anyway. Still, I had a moment recently that provoked just that kind of reflection, and I think it’s worth discussing. Here’s a bit of backstory: I view and post a lot of content on social media as part of my advocacy efforts for #OCD sufferers, and as an author promoting my book. Now, as ever, th

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Jason Adams

Dec 14, 2021
6 min

I'm suffering. Now what?

Highly Predictable Disclaimer: I’m not a therapist. These are my thoughts and reflections from going through the process of admitting a problem and devising (improvising?) a solution. Nothing more, nothing less. If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’ve recently admitted to yourself that something isn’t right. It might be hard to describe, but you know, on some level, that something in your mind and thoughts is not okay. If you’ve ever felt this way, know first

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Jason Adams

Nov 29, 2021
13 min

Preparing to Start Therapy (and some reasons why you might not)

Getting started, keeping going, getting started again … it seems to me that this is the essential rhythm not only of achievements, but of survival, the ground of convinced action, the basis of self-esteem.… Calling a spade a spade may be a bit reductive, but calling a wooden spoon a wooden spoon is the beginning of wisdom. - Seamus Heaney At its core, the therapeutic process is a pretty straightforward treatment model: analyze symptoms, identify a condition, select the best s

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Parental Instincts and OCD: Friends or foes?

Jason Adams

Nov 25, 2021
6 min

Parental Instincts and OCD: Friends or foes?

Instincts and obsessions: is there a difference? I received a diagnosis of OCD for the first time when my boys were just over two months old. Until then, I never suspected I had OCD, mostly because I always figured a certain level of anxiety about my kids was normal. What parent, in their right mind, didn't worry about SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) for hours, days, and weeks on end? What parent, again, in their right mind, didn't worry about things like whether their

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