HEALTH: How to Stop Numbing Your Emotions: The Verywell Mind Podcast

lunes, 7 de marzo de 2022

How to Stop Numbing Your Emotions: The Verywell Mind Podcast

How to Stop Numbing Your Emotions With Author Mallory Ervin

Amy Morin, LCSW
Verywell Mind Editor-in-Chief

On today's episode, I talk with Mallory Ervin, who held the title of Miss Kentucky, fourth runner-up to Miss America, and also competed on the reality show, "The Amazing Race," three separate times.

Despite all the success she had on the outside, she didn't feel worthy on the inside.

Now, she's written a bestselling book called "Living Fully," in which she writes about how she finally learned to live a bigger, better life that didn't depend on achievements to be happy.

Why Mallory Ervin Is Mentally Strong

Mallory shares how her prescriptions became a way to numb her emotions. She is open about the fact that she didn't think she needed rehab either. At her mother's insistence, she agreed to treatment while fully expecting the mental health professionals to tell her mother that she was fine.

Now, she realizes that the large amounts of pills she was taking clouded her judgment. And she talks openly about how difficult it was for her to come to terms with the fact that she had a problem.

Mallory shares what she learned in therapy, the changes she is making in her life, and the ongoing steps she is taking to manage her mental health now.

Numbing things out will give you a drastically different life than if you can face what's going on."

— MALLORY ERVIN

What You'll Hear on the Show

How Mallory developed a problem with prescription drugs
How her parents recognized she had a problem
How her mother and her father differed in their response to her problem
How Mallory stayed in denial even while in rehab
What she learned about herself from treatment
How the medication numbed her emotions
What made her stay in treatment
How she held herself accountable after inpatient treatment ended
How to recognize the things you might reach for to numb your emotions in your life
How to access mental health resources if you can't afford a therapist
How journaling helps Mallory recognize unhealthy patterns in her life
The difference between living a full life and a busy life

What You'll Learn About Mental Health and Mental Strength

Sometimes, there's an assumption that if someone is achieving a lot of things in life, they must be happy. And if they're not happy, they must not be grateful. But anyone can develop a mental health issue no matter what's going on in their lives.

There's also an assumption that prescribed medication is OK to take. But just because a physician (or multiple physicians) prescribes a medication doesn't necessarily mean it's always a good idea to take it.

Mallory talks about both of those myths. On the outside, she looked like she had a great life. But she felt miserable on the inside.

And she believed that the medications she was taking were OK. Even though she got multiple doctors to prescribe medicine, she convinced herself she was fine. She now realizes the addiction had affected her judgment.

They think that the absence of bad is a qualifier for good. That is no way to live. Life is meant to be so much bigger and brighter and fuller and more vibrant than that."

— MALLORY ERVIN