12/15/2022
New Year, New YOU!
The toughest thing about the end of the year is the regrets. Promises were made but not fulfilled. Anxiety is caused by a lack of control. People have every intention of being in better shape, kinder to family and friends, and living a life of adventure, but life gets in the way and those good intentions are left behind along with the will to press on to accomplish all that we committed to do on December 31st. Not living up to one’s commitments can lead to depression, and at its worst, suicidal ideation. “This year,” one thinks to him or herself, “is the year it all changes!” But will it?
A group from Princeton University developed a new assessment known as the Passion Quotient (PQ). This assessment measures a person’s passions. Imagine discovering the very purpose of life by intentionally living each and every day to fulfill each passion in life. Anxiety becomes controlled through daily decisions to control one’s destiny through action. Depression becomes a challenge to press on through indecision and indifference. Suicidal ideation becomes a thing of the past replaced by a clear purpose to live and fulfill.
This is the year! The new year is coming. Instead of grieving the past, it is time to plan for the future. Through weekly meetings with a professional therapist, the Passion Quotient (PQ) assessment is the first step along the journey. The discovery of passions leads to the fulfilling of a purpose. The therapists at BestYOUtx are professionally trained to administer the PQ assessment and equipped to uncover purpose through those passions. Eating, breathing, sleeping the very purpose discovered through therapeutic interventions is the way to make 2023 different from any year before.
Every great adventure begins with a plan. Tackling anxiety and depression has more to do with clear and concise steps than it does with a ‘can-do’ attitude. Anxiety is managed, not removed. Get that? Anxiety is a part of life. Individuals take anger management courses, not anger removal classes. Managing anxiety is identifying what causes the feelings of control being lost. Once those causes are identified, they can be faced. For the one who struggles with self-image, the cause could be childhood bullying or negative communication from parents. The causes are as important as the chaos one feels.
Identifying leads to confronting. The Bible states that one should, “Capture every thought and make it obedient…” Thoughts lead to actions. The feelings of anxiety can lead to avoidance, nervousness, or internalizing to the point of sickness. Nail biting, pacing, pulling hair, or rocking are all outward expressions of internalized anxiety. They are a self-soothing technique to calm rather than to confront. Confrontation demands action. The new year brings about the opportunity to confront fear with the purpose of controlling anxiety.
The same could be said of depression. The loss of motivation to move, to change, to grow, to create, or to try is like a 600lb gorilla sitting on a person’s shoulders while the rest of the world expects that person to move forward. The feelings are real and need to be treated as such. Addressing the causes allows one to challenge those causes. Through proper therapeutic intervention, depression can become a thing of the past. Imagine being free of the gorilla and living life with peace and purpose. It takes the same strength to refuse to move forward as it does to take that first step.
The new year is coming. Those prepared to face 2023 with a willingness to change will step forward into a brave new world. One call to the staff of BestYOUtx may be all it takes to address the crippling effects of anxiety, depression, or suicidal ideation. The staff are professionally trained to get clients through the dark valleys, help develop the tools to climb the mountains with purpose and passion, and to applaud when the top is reached, and the victory is won. It is a new year. Will it be a new you? You are only one phone call away from taking that first step to the life you have always dreamed of and certainly deserve to live.
