How I Got Better
by Frank Gilroy
I’ve struggled with my mental health, but the last year has been different. I finally started feeling like myself again. I wasn’t broken or sick, but I’m a better person now.
I’m sharing this because a few things really helped me. They won’t land for everyone, but they were huge for me and if they help someone, I’ll be happy.
What actually moved the needle was realizing two things worked together: getting real help and really doing my own work. Trying to white-knuckle it alone never worked, and waiting for a doctor to magically fix everything didn’t either. The progress happened when I treated it like a partnership.
A men’s group I joined gave me a reading list, and a few books hit me harder than I expected:
- Taking Responsibility
- by Nathaniel Branden
- Extreme Ownership
- by Jocko Willink
- No More Mr. Nice Guy
- by Robert Glover
They shifted me from worrying about everything outside my control to actually looking inward. I thought I lived that way, but I really wasn’t.
The biggest turning point was going back to my ADHD diagnosis. Not obsessing about it. Just admitting that I needed structure, needed help, and needed to stop pretending I’d figure it out alone.
Once I actually followed through, things started to click. Meds finally make sense. My focus is better. My impulses are calmer, and it’s lifted my mood.
If there is any takeaway here, it is simply this:
I got better when I stopped outsourcing everything to other people AND stopped pretending I didn’t need them.
tags: mental health