{"id":18428,"date":"2024-04-01T07:15:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T11:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/?p=18428"},"modified":"2024-03-31T22:49:59","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T02:49:59","slug":"2023-mental-health-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html","title":{"rendered":"2023 Was On Autopilot + Mental Health Support"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Funmie says I need therapy. She’s probably right. I should probably be exploring mental health support. So much has happened in the past few years, but losing my mom tops them all. My mom passed away in April 2022, and then, the rest of the year just became busy with other changes and realities in my life. Planning a funeral, for example, was a reality I was not ready to face. I did not think I was old enough or experienced enough to be burying a parent. But I did.<\/p>\n

Exploring mental health support is one of those things I have privately and publicly championed. I was all for exploring mental health support, and although I never got around to doing so for myself, it was something I thought I’d do one day when it was convenient for me. I would lie down on someone’s deep, comfortable couch and tell them about all my pains, worries, hopes, and dreams. I’d tell them about my childhood and about motherhood and everything in between. I did not anticipate I’d be living through a loss and needing to talk to someone about it, no I did not plan on having a new pain to discuss, you know? I was just going to talk about the old stuff. <\/p>\n

Then, of course, there are days that I ask myself, “Do I really need to talk to someone?” I mean, I have Jesus, right? He did say that all who labor should come to Him, right? Do I need a human being to listen to me? I don’t know if these thoughts were compelled by pride or humility. Or maybe fear. Pride because I have too much God in me to need a mere mortal. And humility because I recognize that I cannot do it on my own and that God uses humans to help humans. But also fear because what if I talk to the wrong person? What if I talk to a textbook therapist who has no compassion, no Jesus, no emotional intelligence, and no tact? Sure, I could just get a new therapist, but now, the tactless therapist knows my stuff. Oh, what if the therapist is a distraction from the devil? Or maybe I’m just overthinking, as usual. I’m probably overthinking.<\/p>\n

By the time 2023 rolled around, I was just existing. I was functional, but I was not functioning. Does that make any sense? It took me weeks to write this because writing about my mom is hard work. Somehow, though, I feel better every time I do. I did not even start this post with the intention of talking about my mom. I just wanted to come in and say hello.<\/p>\n

\"mental

Picture taken on one random Sunday evening in my bathroom<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Grief is weird. You’re going around, drinking your water, and minding your business, and it hits you in the face. Hard. I am not crying right now, I promise, but I was crying in the first several paragraphs, which is why it took me so long to write this post. I am okay now. <\/p>\n

Yesterday was Easter, and it was nice. In the weeks before Easter, I read many arguments online about whether “Easter” is pagan or not. There were also arguments about whether Good Friday should be celebrated or not because it is ominous to celebrate death. I did not partake in any of these arguments because I found all of them to be utterly ridiculous. I will not say that I have figured out everything about Jesus Christ – because I haven’t, and I think it is impossible to figure out everything – but I think these arguments are mere distractions from the issue on ground: He died for us, and He is risen. Calling it Easter or Resurrection Sunday does not matter as much as your relationship with Him. Of course, I have completely gone off track.<\/p>\n

How have you been?  How was your Easter? And what kind of mental health support are you receiving, if any?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Funmie says I need therapy. She’s probably right. I should probably be exploring mental health support. So much has happened in the past few years, but losing my mom tops them all. My mom passed away in April 2022, and then, the rest of the year just became busy with other changes and realities inRead More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_14738191_14738191":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[561],"tags":[708,54,1574,1573,5],"class_list":["post-18428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal","tag-easter","tag-god","tag-grief","tag-mental-health-support","tag-mom","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n2023 Was On Autopilot + Mental Health Support - Verastic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Vera Ezimora\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html\",\"name\":\"2023 Was On Autopilot + Mental Health Support - Verastic\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Vera-Ezimora-Verastic-Meantal-Health-Support-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-01T11:15:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/2c1b7969fbea03a45b97d54a5228cc1a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Vera-Ezimora-Verastic-Meantal-Health-Support-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Vera-Ezimora-Verastic-Meantal-Health-Support-1.jpg\",\"width\":900,\"height\":705,\"caption\":\"mental health support\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2023 Was On Autopilot + Mental Health Support\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/\",\"name\":\"Verastic\",\"description\":\"Recklessly authentic.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/2c1b7969fbea03a45b97d54a5228cc1a\",\"name\":\"Vera Ezimora\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6c1e19c23a08351aab97f35d3ca650f0b87e7e96937f85baf0faf6e0834bc51?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6c1e19c23a08351aab97f35d3ca650f0b87e7e96937f85baf0faf6e0834bc51?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Vera Ezimora\"},\"description\":\"I mean, I'm a lot of things - a Writer, Blogger, Speaker, Vlogger, Content Creator, Storyteller, Truth-Sayer, Milk-Lover, Yogurt-Addict, Entrepreneur, Daughter, Wife, Mom, & Nwa Jesu. Nigerian girl with Russian roots and future mommy of confusingly identical twin boys.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/verastic.com\",\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/verastic\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/verastic\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/author\/vera\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"2023 Was On Autopilot + Mental Health Support - Verastic","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Vera Ezimora","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html","url":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html","name":"2023 Was On Autopilot + Mental Health Support - Verastic","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Vera-Ezimora-Verastic-Meantal-Health-Support-1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-04-01T11:15:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/2c1b7969fbea03a45b97d54a5228cc1a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Vera-Ezimora-Verastic-Meantal-Health-Support-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Vera-Ezimora-Verastic-Meantal-Health-Support-1.jpg","width":900,"height":705,"caption":"mental health support"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/2023-mental-health-support.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"2023 Was On Autopilot + Mental Health Support"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#website","url":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/","name":"Verastic","description":"Recklessly authentic.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/2c1b7969fbea03a45b97d54a5228cc1a","name":"Vera Ezimora","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6c1e19c23a08351aab97f35d3ca650f0b87e7e96937f85baf0faf6e0834bc51?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6c1e19c23a08351aab97f35d3ca650f0b87e7e96937f85baf0faf6e0834bc51?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Vera Ezimora"},"description":"I mean, I'm a lot of things - a Writer, Blogger, Speaker, Vlogger, Content Creator, Storyteller, Truth-Sayer, Milk-Lover, Yogurt-Addict, Entrepreneur, Daughter, Wife, Mom, & Nwa Jesu. Nigerian girl with Russian roots and future mommy of confusingly identical twin boys.","sameAs":["http:\/\/verastic.com","http:\/\/facebook.com\/verastic","https:\/\/x.com\/verastic"],"url":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/author\/vera"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Vera-Ezimora-Verastic-Meantal-Health-Support-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Mdf8-4Ne","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18428"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18452,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18428\/revisions\/18452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}