I Say All the Bad Words Out Loud: The Power of Talking about our Mental Health and being a Warrior

In the latest podcast episode, listeners are invited into a profound narrative of battling bipolar disorder and depression. Going beyond mere dialogue, this episode serves as a heartfelt confessional, demonstrating the remarkable power of vocalizing mental health struggles. It offers an empowering guide for those seeking liberation through advocacy and candid conversations about mental health.

Throughout the episode, the host shares reflections on their journey with both humor and depth, highlighting the missteps and victories encountered along the way. From light-hearted anecdotes about retail therapy to profound moments where speaking out loud became a source of strength, the host’s transparency about mental health challenges encourages listeners to embrace vulnerability as a means to empowerment.

The introduction of the Mental Health Warrior Program marks a pivotal moment, presenting itself as a toolkit equipped to equip individuals with strategies and techniques necessary to navigate life’s mental and emotional challenges. It’s a compelling blend of storytelling and practical advice, providing listeners with a sense of camaraderie and a toolkit to help them emerge as champions of their mental health.

As the host signs off, there's a palpable sense of optimism—a reminder that as Mental Health Warriors, there is a community and a set of tools ready to support anyone on their journey to wellness!

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Bruce Schutter & the Mental Health Warrior Program:

After struggling with Bipolar, Alcoholism and Anxiety Disorder for over 20+ years, I reached a breaking point where I attempted suicide. But with a second chance at life, I set out to find an answer to my life’s challenges. I discovered that Mental Health is the key to triumphing over any challenge in life!

Armed with this knowledge, I created the Mental Health Warrior Program. A new self-help approach, centered on mindset and lifestyle changes, so you can triumph over your life’s challenges!

For you are a Mental Health Warrior, and “The Power to Change Your Life is within Your Grasp!”

Bruce Schutter 
(Creator and Daily User of the Mental Health Warrior Program and Challenge Coin) 

Chapters

• 0:00 The Power of Talking Out Loud
• 11:56 Empowerment Through Mental Health Warrior Program

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hi everybody, bruce Shooter here with the Mental Health Warrior Program podcast, no Surrender. Now, today I want to have a little bit of fun but also be serious. Yeah, we're going to do both together. Today we're going to talk about how I say all the bad words out loud and yet I'm still here. Okay, you're probably wondering what is that about and how does that relate to a mental health warrior and try and think over our challenges.

Speaker 1: 0:27

Well, the first thing is we are really talking about the power of talking and we are saying it is so powerful that you can even talk about subjects that today, even still, we struggle with as society or in general, to talk about. Now, what do I mean by that? Well, what I mean by that is probably you can name 50 times somebody has stopped you, no matter where you're at in a line, somewhere at a restaurant and they proceed to tell you about some physical challenge or the latest injury they had. But I bet it's tough to remember the last time somebody stopped you and you were chatting with them and they said oh, let me tell you about my latest struggles with depression, let me tell you what it's like with bipolar disorder. No, this is where we don't talk enough, and if we do, it's usually in whispers. So today we're going to break that down and I want to show you from my personal experiences how I've said all of these bad words out loud and I'm still standing. Yes, I know it's a little funny, but there is truth behind the laughter. So some of these words I have said in a line at a fast food place bipolar disorder, alcoholism, anxiety disorders, PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, mania, hypermania, mixed emotions, all of these things. Okay, maybe that last one's not as scary, but you get the point. I've said all these words out loud. Now the reason I'm chuckling as I even say this is because you might think, well, those words aren't going to take you down, but they did.

Speaker 1: 2:12

Because when the past before, I certainly feared having these challenges I certainly did not even for years have a diagnosis. Now I knew inside that there were some things going wrong or I was unable to handle my emotions, maybe partly due to these bipolar disorder or other disorders I had, but also because I never learned how to manage my emotions. So I kind of felt broken across the board but I didn't know what to do about it. And that starting point that I always reference. I certainly didn't know how to talk about it out loud, let alone to myself. So we're kind of making fun, because once I started saying these bad words and I'm using air quotes here, but I'm using that as a bit of humor I started saying these bad words out loud. I found not only did I get comfortable with them, but I started some amazing conversations. Only did I get comfortable with them, but I started some amazing conversations and those conversations showed me one I was not alone and two there were some solutions out there.

Speaker 1: 3:11

Now, at that point I still felt like we all needed a solution that we could use every day, which led me to create the Mental Health Warrior Program, because it's a self-help approach and it's based primarily centered on I should say based on lifestyle changes and mindset changes that we can make, which means we are empowered each and every day, and part of that empowerment, to circle back, is we can say these bad words out loud today and you will not break. Matter of fact, sometimes you can even laugh a bit about them and it shows how far you've come, because sometimes I look back and I think some of the short-term solutions I chose and they're pretty hilarious when I really see them today, because I am further down the path and can manage my emotions. Now, there were times I've mentioned this before I used to try to buy my way out of depression. Bipolar depression, just depression, let's call it Either one. Depression is depression and it's that bad word we don't want to talk about, certainly didn't even want to acknowledge it when it came on.

Speaker 1: 4:19

I went to a short-term solution of buying something over the top. Now, one of my stories we had at that time a Jeep Wrangler and I decided to go to an electronics store, which I won't name, and buy a full stereo system, a full surround sound system. Now, this is not the modern ones we have today with their really small little speakers and you can place them around the room and not even see them. This is some years ago and it was the full tower speakers. It was the multi-component things. Now again, let's not even get into the fact that I couldn't afford it really and that that was going to come back and further deepen my depression. But let's imagine you go in the store, you buy all these components, you buy all the speakers, surround sound speakers, stands, and then you have to put it into a Jeep Wrangler. Well, let me tell you, I mastered the game of Tetris back when that came out. Well, I mastered how to fit an entire ginormous system into a Jeep Wrangler and still get home in one trip.

Speaker 1: 5:22

Now I can laugh about that, because it's just over the top, and today I certainly see the pitfalls. Like I mentioned, the bills, the fact that it's short-lived, the fact that I made more work and anxiety and just hooking it up for myself. The foolishness today, I can chuckle at. What I'm not chuckling about, though, is that it was a bad approach that further deepened my depression and actually brought in more anxiety. But today you can hear what we're doing right now.

Speaker 1: 5:53

We are talking about those bad words out loud, and I will guarantee you, when you start talking about them, they lose a lot of that power they have over us when we ignore them or just try to talk about them quietly again. So one of the biggest things we can do, and you can do and I'm using myself as a fun example is say those bad words out loud, and I mean any of those disorders. Say those bad words out loud, and I mean any of those disorders. I mean any of those times when you just say I'm struggling with anxiety in general, I'm struggling with depression, I am struggling with any number of challenges and they are bringing out negative emotions. You can talk about them out loud and they will not break you.

Speaker 1: 6:39

Which is why I'm doing this podcast to tell you that, because I was surprised myself, because I thought again when I started talking about these, I would feel worse about myself and I thought others would look and feel worse about me. If that makes sense, they would look at it and say it as negative. If that makes sense, they would look at it and say as a negative. I was completely surprised because it actually strengthened how I felt about myself and it strengthened me because I was dealing with them and able to talk about those words out loud. And, secondly, people understood me more and they were actually impressed, if you will, that I was talking about certain words that sometimes they wanted to talk about too. So we opened the door to have conversations from people.

Speaker 1: 7:26

Instead of just chatting about the weather, we're talking about something really important our emotions and ways to handle them, and just ways to handle the good and the bad. That's the other part, because emotions and being a mental health warrior is not just about struggling and getting through the tough emotions. It is about embracing all of them so that we can live life and accept the wins, accept the good, and we can turn things around like these bad words and they can become positives. Because when you're managing them, when you're dealing with them, when you even accept them, think about how different that is. As we're saying it right now, it's powerful, it is exciting and it is empowering. And those are all the words of the program, because that's what being a warrior is about. We're unafraid, as a warrior, to step up to our challenges.

Speaker 1: 8:21

So what I'm going to suggest to you is one of those things is, if you're struggling with challenges or you're having trouble talking, like I am right now, got a little parched there, got ready, we're back here. Okay, we're going to talk about the challenge. The idea is, if you are struggling and you get a diagnosis or you're just simply self-aware of some of these challenges, is, start talking about them out loud and prove to yourself you will not break, and then get that second point where you start to see it empowers you. Now, along the way, we're going to throw in that third step once you start saying the bad words out loud. And that is going to explore and learning how to be a mental health warrior, because I don't want to just send you out and start getting empowered and then have you stumble or have you fall.

Speaker 1: 9:15

And I did that a lot. I started on a path, good intentions, but I needed some guidance, some structure, which is why I created the Mental Health Warrior Program and why I'm bringing it to you today, because together we can follow some of the guidance, we can use the different tools and it gives us tangible things we can go back to put in our warrior arsenal and then always be prepared to meet our challenges. So we're taking this to that third step. First thing we did we stood up and said those bad words out loud. Second thing is we were surprised because we got empowered, we got strengthened. And third thing is now we see why we can be warriors and how to be warriors, because now we're moving forward and we have tools and solutions and lifestyle changes that you can make all part of the program and all stuff I use every day. So I'm not bringing this to you as just an exercise. I'm bringing it to you as proof because I have done these three steps and I have found it amazing, and it was so amazing that I wanted to do a quick episode on this and talk to you about the power.

Speaker 1: 10:24

Again, let's chuckle a bit. We're saying the bad words out loud and, yes, we're not going into some of those other words and this isn't about swear words, but funny enough if you think about it. Sometimes it's funny how acceptable it is to maybe say some of the swear words, but again, we still seem to struggle with mental health terms and we still seem to feel a little odd saying them out loud. Well, that's just something we're all going to work on together and it's something we can all overcome because again, in the days as more information comes out, we're all getting more comfortable with this and, as a warrior, we certainly see the benefits which, again, we're not going to just do something for the sake of doing it. So I hope you were excited and found this kind of fun, like I said, some little bit of humor. We got a couple of stories going and again, I'm sure you have your stories and it just is great to be able to laugh a little bit and chuckle because again, it shows you, once we start talking, how comfortable we can get.

Speaker 1: 11:26

But we all have challenges. We have to remember that and it's okay to have challenges. The trick is we're going to take action on them today and that's something I remind myself every day. I'm taking action and a lot of times it's just reminding myself, by saying those words out loud, that these are my challenges and that's okay because I have ways to triumph over them. But they will be there and I'm okay with that and I know you can too. So we're going to leave you on that positive note.

Speaker 1: 11:56

We're also going to leave you with go to BruceShootercom to learn about the mental health warrior program, to learn more about all these different topics and tools and solutions as a warrior that you can use. We've got nine books out there right now with a variety of lifestyle changes and mindset changes to help you learn to manage your emotions and triumph over any challenge life throws your way. We have a mental health warrior challenge coin. It's portable motivation, it's a way to carry the program with you and a reminder that you are a mental health warrior and that you're not afraid to basically manage your mental health and talk about it, just like we were saying.

Speaker 1: 12:38

So the coin again, sometimes I pulled out to talk about it and I'm showing the bad words mental health, ooh, showing that again it's a powerful phone way to break the ice and get a great conversation going. So I think we've proven it's fun to say the bad words out loud, but also powerful. Now I'm going to sign off. Hope to see you on the site checking out the resources, checking out the free book. We have to get you started. Look forward to talking with you more next episode, bruce signing off, but always remember you are a mental health warrior and that means the power to change your life is within your grasp. So let's use it today. Talk more later. Bye.