The Power of a Self-Help Approach to Mental Health: Master Your Emotions and Triumph over Challenges!

Buckle up as I, Bruce Schutter, pull back the curtain on my own skirmishes with the demons of mental health. From the clutches of Bipolar and Anxiety Disorders to the chaos wrought by PTSD and Alcoholism, I've battled each one and carved a path to empowerment with the Mental Health Warrior Program. It’s a journey that reshaped my existence, as I discovered the 'duh rule'—the simple, yet profound realization that we are the masters of our emotions.

In this raw and unflinching narrative, I'm laying down the gauntlet for anyone feeling besieged by their own mental struggles, revealing how you, too, can harness the power to turn your battles into victories. Through the cacophony of everyday life, from the pressure cooker of the workplace to the snarl of rush-hour traffic, I’ve tested the mettle of my Mental Health Warrior Tools.

These aren't just fleeting lifelines; they are the sturdy anchors that have steadied my ship in the roughest of seas. And in a world where one-size-fits-all solutions fall short, I underscore the 'N = 1' strategy. It's about personalizing your Mental Health Warrior Arsenal, refining it to fit like a glove, and emerging as the hero in your story. 

The Mental Health Warrior Program isn't just a guiding light—it's a promise that with the right tools and a warrior's heart, you can reclaim your inner fortitude and stand tall in life!

-----
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!

Each book in the program offers a unique solution, drawn from real-life experiences, for building strong mental health. These books are designed to serve as your daily companion, guiding you on a life-long path to mental wellness. And to further support your journey, I've designed the Mental Health Warrior Challenge Coin – that you can carry with you every day, so you can celebrate your achievements and support your mental health!

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

Chapters

• 0:00 Empowering Self-Help for Mental Health
• 7:10 Self-Help Approach for Mental Health
• 15:44 Mental Health Warrior Program Benefits

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hi everybody, bruce Shooter here with the Mental Health Warrior Program Podcast no Surrender. Now we are not going to surrender to life's challenges because we have this program teaching us to be warriors, and what I wanted to bring up is this program is based on a self-help approach, which is new and exciting, because we are going to show how we can become empowered and be able to triumph over any challenge that life throws our way. Now, why is this important? Well, we're going to talk about that in a minute. I've got three reasons and a couple stories to talk with you about that, but first let me give you a quick little background Now, for 20 years, my life's challenges of bipolar disorder, alcoholism, anxiety disorders, ptsd and a number of other challenges in life Well, those dictated what I did each day.

Speaker 1: 0:52

They dictated how I lived my life and unfortunately, they did not put me on a good path, because challenges like depression were sending us into anxiety-filled days. That certainly is not going to work out. So you can get the idea that it kept robbing me of my power and I became powerless. I got to the point where I didn't even want to live anymore and tried to end it all. That I tell you because I have been there, but also to show you the extent that if we don't take care of our emotions and we don't have the approach of a mental health warrior, we can end up in a really bad spot. But I want to talk about this because we can take back this power and I thought it was important to kind of step back. I've talked a lot about some of the pieces of the program and how to be a warrior, but I wanted to focus on the self-help angle and why that's so important and so powerful.

Speaker 1: 1:49

So let's jump into this podcast. So we wanted to start out. We kind of just gave you a little sneak preview of my story, but I just want to talk about how my days were. My days were filled with all of these challenges. I say running my life. Now what happened was because I couldn't handle any running my life. Now what happened was because I couldn't handle any of my emotions.

Speaker 1: 2:08

So something at work would set me off an anxiety-filled meeting or a project with a tight deadline, things like that and I was working in the IT field at that time and things like that were very difficult for me to handle because, again, I'd never learned to process my emotions or to manage them. So I didn't know how to actually accept the good or the bad. So a lot of times I did good things, did a good project, got something done, didn't know how to handle that. I always worried it was going to turn bad. On the second hand, when things did go bad or there were some problems, I almost couldn't handle that, to the extent that I would almost stop in my tracks and say, oh my God, there's this huge meeting. How am I ever going to get through that? Now, again, you can imagine, going through this day after day is not a good way to live, not to mention trying to use short-term solutions like drinking each night to try to numb the emotions or to get through them. As I talk about that and it's not so much just trying to avoid them Sometimes that was my technique, if you will, a very bad one to get through some of the challenges.

Speaker 1: 3:17

Again, I thought I was being very smart with all these short-term solutions. I thought that if I just kept moving forward, I would just keep going in life. Well, technically that was true and I was moving forward, but what was happening was inside. I was crumbling and I've talked about this. It essentially kept robbing me of that power. So now you can start to see that this approach where before I am just not managing my mental health that was a very bad course. Now, what I've created and what we are exploring today is the Mental Health Warrior Program, being a warrior each and every day.

Speaker 1: 3:56

And let's circle back to what I said at the beginning. We're talking about the power of a self-help approach. Now, the number one thing is I'm going to bring this up because I got three points I want to run by you because I think you will see and it will help you uncover why this is such a powerful approach for taking care and managing our mental health and leading us on a path to triumph. Now, the first one is what I call the duh rule, because again, I knew it and you probably know this, but we're going to talk about it because sometimes we miss this key fact and it's very important. The first point is we are at the center of everything that happens in our life. Now, let that sit in just for a second, because I know you'll say, bruce, that certainly is the da roll and again, our emotions are right there with us. Now we get into something you may not have thought of and I certainly missed that point.

Speaker 1: 4:52

A lot of times I thought, oh, I'm in the middle of everything but I have no control, and then I forgot my emotions are there with me each and every second of the day. Because again, when you step back you can say well, sure, bruce, I can see from your story how your emotions were causing all these problems and you couldn't manage them. But sometimes we forget we are at the center, our emotions are right there with us. Now, if we have a self-help approach, we can flip that around and realize that means we can carry power with us as a mental health warrior each and every day. Now that is over the top exciting, because that means there will never be a time when you're going through whether it's work, personal, just hanging out, just going to get a soda or just sitting around watching TV. You will be powerful when emotions strike or when challenges strike, because a self-help approach will give you the tools and since we're always at the middle and our emotions, we will also always be powerful. So that's really exciting.

Speaker 1: 5:59

And that's the first point I wanted to bring up. And again, I call it the duh rule, because these are things where we miss something that is still right there in front of us, but it often turns out that is a very powerful component and a very powerful part of why this approach is again powerful. So we got a lot of powerful there going. Let's keep on that train of thought. Now the second part is I went through and you may have gone through some support groups. I went through some therapy. I got a lot of help. But the problem was and everybody will realize this again when you're not at an appointment or when you're done a meeting, or when you're just on your own and it's two in the morning and you wake up with racing thoughts, well, that's the next tough situation that we often face. Sure, we're a final with a group of people or with somebody talking about our problems, but what do we do when it's just us? That's the second point where a self-help approach comes to the rescue, and this is exciting and it is very well. We'll use the word powerful because we're on that approach.

Speaker 1: 7:10

A powerful approach because when you're by yourself and there will be times even when you're with your family or when you're driving with friends in the car you will still need to deal with your emotions. Perhaps you're driving, so you're the one that's going to have to deal with bad drivers. Or perhaps you're the one leading a project at work Sure, there's other team members, but you still have to take the lead. And again, when there's times like I talked about, I will wake up, sometimes two, three in the morning, and my thoughts start racing and I start running through all the things I did bad. I will wake up sometimes two, three in the morning and my thoughts start racing and I start running through all the things I did bad, because that is anxiety, trying to tell me, bruce, you've messed up or Bruce, tomorrow's going to be so tough I don't think you can handle it.

Speaker 1: 7:57

And again, I stopped myself because I have mental health warrior tools and I can break through and choose a good response, which is usually one to figure out that what anxiety or what depression is telling me. Is not that true. It is trying to take back its power and we're not going to let it. Secondly, I also know I have tools to calmly think through and choose a good response. So, example, if I have a big meeting the next day or I'm going to be leading something, I know I can use some of the mindset rules, a warrior tool, and what happens is I can use those to calm and center my emotions, I can use them to remind myself that I am taking action and I can control and respond during the meetings. So I'm not powerless and I can push through that anxiety because I have ways to calm down before the meeting. All these tools and I know we can go into those at another time, but the amazing part is they're out there as part of this program.

Speaker 1: 9:01

And now we go back to that self-help approach and why it is so powerful. And in his second point, we know that we will always have all of these tools, solutions and when we make those lifestyle and mindset changes as a warrior, they will be with us and available 24-7. So no longer do you have to worry about feeling in situations where you don't have any support, tools or control, which is fantastic because it allows us to move back and actually move into life unafraid, which I want to bring up and say again because this was a powerful thing for my life and I know you'll find it powerful. I am able to move into the days of uncertainty, new challenges, things that before would literally stop me in my tracks, and I would think I want to do this, but I don't know if I can face the fear, the anxiety, the depression that might come along with if I made a mistake. You get the point that at this time I was not living life, I was stopped, and at this point though, today, I look forward to those challenges. Sure, I'll even be honest, I'm still a little scared sometimes. It just happens. Anxiety doesn't go away with a magic wand, as we've said before, but knowing you have the tools, or knowing if you're struggling, like I do with bipolar, and it might send me spinning around on my emotions, it might send me into depression and mania at the same time. It might bring out depression for no reason, but I have tools and ways to work through it. So, again, I am prepared, even when I'm by myself. So now we have two points we know we're at the center in our motion, so we can always take action. In point two, we know we have the tools and warrior solutions. So, no matter where we're at, we're always fully armed and ready to triumph over life's challenges. Now the best part and I'm saving this for last the best part of the program is something that I like to talk about.

Speaker 1: 11:11

As a warrior, you get to, as the last step of a warrior, on no matter what, you're figuring out what tools to use, where you want to head with your life, all the different pieces of being a warrior and taking care of your mental health. Well, you get to choose. Now I know at that point you're probably thinking well, here's another duh rule, except it's not because I came up with, and the approach we use is N equals one, and this is a very powerful approach and I saved it for last because it is so powerful. But it's exciting because when there's a giant selection of tools or warrior solutions, you might get overwhelmed. But you can always go back to in the last step of choosing what works.

Speaker 1: 11:55

Is n equals one. Now, n equals one came from when you do a scientific experiment. N is equal to the number of participants and that gives people an ability to see how a study went. So maybe there were 500 people involved and you can see what choices they made and what outcomes they got. Now, as a warrior, we're going to use n equals 1. We are the sole participant. We get to test, evaluate and, most importantly here, we get to choose the solutions that work for our life, our lifestyle and our particular challenges.

Speaker 1: 12:33

Now what's exciting about that is there are things I struggle with that you may identify with and say, okay, I've experienced that. You may identify with and say, okay, I've experienced that. So let's say I talk a lot of times I get into traffic and with bipolar makes us a little bit irritable and sometimes I get infuriated with it, and in the past that has led to rage and it has led to a lot of anger. Now you may identify or you may not, but you may also just say I also get frustrated with traffic. Well, see, this is where we get to choose, because I use certain approaches, a solution to center myself before I get into traffic. Now that's my example, just to handle tough traffic I'm talking driving on the interstates and now today I'm calm and I'm prepared for that. Now that's a neat warrior approach. It also identifies this point three N equals one.

Speaker 1: 13:29

I got to choose which tools and which approach works for me, and that's why we have all of these books and have created all of these tools, so that you can then select the ones and the parts of the warrior that work for you. Another example I can give you real quick is one of the things I like to do is cooking and using foods, and cooking therapy in other words, and it's in some of the beginning books about how effective that is to calm down anxiety, to calm down racing thoughts, to pull you out of depression. Down anxiety, to calm down racing thoughts, to pull you out of depression. So, again, cooking therapy using a therapeutic technique, alongside of actually cooking, that's something I truly enjoy and I get benefits of not only triumphing over the challenge, but I get benefits that go along with the pride of cooking something, but that may or may not be something you are interested in doing, something, but that may or may not be something you are interested in doing. And here we go.

Speaker 1: 14:30

The greatest part is, if N equals one, you can choose the ones that work for you, and we have a lot. There are a lot of tools, so do not fear that you won't have anything to choose from, but remember the power that is found in this self-help approach. Whereas the last step, we are now fully armed as warriors, have all these tools that come with us each and every day. But, most importantly, you can choose the approach that works for you. You can choose to set a direction for your life that is a little different than mine or vastly different, and together, though, we can be warriors and we can both triumph, and we can both learn to manage our emotions and we can both keep moving. We can both learn to manage our emotions and we can both keep moving forward in life.

Speaker 1: 15:06

So I'm going to wrap this up because I am over the top excited to have explained this to you, and I hope you're excited because a self-help approach, like I said at the beginning, simply stated self-empowerment and triumph. Who can ask for anything more when we're talking about mental health challenges? Because I certainly know I feel much better being empowered, and who doesn't like triumph? We all want to triumph. That is the point of being a warrior is triumphing over our challenges, so we can keep moving forward in life and accomplishing the things we want to do. So I'm going to sign off here.

Speaker 1: 15:44

Remember, though, go to check out the Mental Health Warrior Program at brucechutercom S-C-H-U-T-T-E-R, or just type in Mental Health Warrior Program out on a Google site and you can see all of the books we have. We've got a free book to get you started there. That'll get you going. We've also got the Mental Health Warrior Challenge Coin, which is my way of bringing the program with me so I can remind myself that I can triumph over things throughout each and every day, with a tangible reminder and something you can pick up, too, to bring and can work for you. So check out all of the resources. I'll be excited to see you there, because I know you are excited because the power of this self-help approach found in the Mental Health Warrior Program. Well, it will help you, like it did me, and together we can triumph over our challenges. Signing off We'll talk more later. Thanks, bye.