I talked to a therapist today and it wasn’t easy. As the founder of a mental health nonprofit, I am constantly promoting that others seek help for their mental health without fear of stigma or judgement, and yet it took more courage than I am proud to admit to heed my own advice. When I felt my mental health slipping and new symptoms arising, especially amid the third trimester of my pregnancy, I knew it was time to seek help, but I also felt afraid, as many understandably people do. I was afraid that seeking help meant I was regressing from the progress I had made. I was afraid that admitting I need help meant I was no longer strong or “normal.” Fortunately, I pushed myself past these irrational worries and I made the decision to seek treatment.

I talked to a therapist today and it felt great...

​Like it or not, we are all gladiators. We go to sleep and wake up in a social arena from which there is no escape. Challenge upon challenge confronts us, walls restrain us, and a mob of spectators mocks, sneers, or cheers us. Each and every day brings new battles whether we want them or not and whether we're up to them or not. Life forces us to face one skirmish after another - no choice in the matter. ​What we can choose, though, is which kind of gladiator to be, victor or victim...

​Stress is a feeling that's created when we react to particular events. It's the body's way of rising to a challenge and preparing to meet a tough situation with focus, strength, stamina, and heightened alertness.

The events that provoke stress are called stressors, and they cover a whole range of situations - everything from outright physical danger to making a class presentation or taking a semester's worth of your toughest subject.