You ever have those moments where you got so wrapped up in your head and own thoughts you lost sight of everything else? Sometimes, as someone with severe anxiety, I can get wrapped up in my own thoughts. What happens is I hyper-fixate on something. I travel down these rabbit holes of endless ‘what if’ scenarios. How exactly do I get out of those situations? I’m glad you asked.
For me, I practice grounding myself more. I typically try to remove myself from the physical place I’m in. Going outside, into the fresh air, will often help bring me back down. I’ll walk outside, close my eyes and simply breathe. I focus on one thing, trying to calm my mind down. Typically, grounding myself will help. However, it doesn’t always.
If grounding doesn’t work, I move to relying on my senses. I find something to touch, something soft that reminds me of a happy memory. I light a candle or turn on a wax warmer to help bring myself into a nirvana state of mind. Again, I close my eyes and lay down, focusing on the smell and creating a vision in my head. I focus on the sounds that I can hear and the way the air feels on my body.
Now if that doesn’t work, I turn to my safe person. I know they can bring me back down from the ballooning feeling growing within the darkest depths of my mind. This person brings me back simply with the sound of their voice. Reminding me of reality and bringing me back from the long ride through my mind.
I never give up, though. I always fight. I may have to fight harder and harder every time, but I will never stop fighting. We can’t stop fighting. We won’t stop fighting. Together.
Tyler Wittkofsky is a multi-genre author, blogger, award-winning marketing and communications professional, and fierce mental health advocate from the southern coast of North Carolina. Tyler has been writing short stories for as long as he can remember. Growing up the grandson of an English teacher, Tyler had a constant fuel to his creative fire in his grandmother.
He started writing poetry in 2012 to cope with his mental health struggles with anxiety, bipolar, and depression. Using poetry as an escape, he developed a unique style of poetry that has left readers saying, “Tyler’s voice is compassionate, even while suffering, and I felt the despair and loneliness seeping out through his words.” His first poetry collection, composed of poems written from 2012 to 2016, was published in March 2020.
He began his first novel in 2019. The novel, (Not) Alone, was a story based on true events surrounding the struggles of living with mental illness. Described by readers as “An Intimate Closure with Mental Illness,” this began Tyler’s revitalized passion for mental health. He decided that his writing would have a focus on mental health.
His next novel, The Seeds of Love: Sunflower Kisses Book One, was his debut romance novel and debut series. Described as “a great job of relaying the realistic emotions of young love and emotional drama that is particularly difficult for young adults…”, his debut romance novel was met with much success.
In 2021, Tyler began writing short stories. He was accepted into several anthologies in mid-2021, expected for publication in early 2022. He also writes supernatural horror and historical fantasy for the online magazines In the Pantheon and In the Crescent. He has work published through Five Minute Affairs as well.
He built his website www.TeaButWithCoffee.com in 2021. On this site, he started his blogging journey. He began writing book reviews, interviewing indie authors, and writing on mental health. This passion sparked a new desire to connect with more people. Tyler is currently in the beginning stages of two podcasts that he hopes to be live by the end of 2021.
Tyler currently lives in Leland, North Carolina with his wife, Grace, and dogs, Dutch and Belle.
You can find him and his works here: https://linktr.ee/wittkofsky
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Tyler Wittkofsky 