Surviving Schizophrenia: My 5-Week YouTube Mental Health Break

Hi everyone, welcome back to Surviving Schizophrenia with Stephen. I want to openly share why I had to take a 5-week mental health break recently from posting videos after consistently creating content here for over 2.5 years to help destigmatize schizophrenia and support others. The intense schedule of working on this channel non-stop for several years, without breaks longer than two weeks, finally started taking a severe toll on me mentally and physically. My depression worsened significantly. I began sleeping in much later (until 1:30 pm), struggled to talk about my channel without getting overwhelmed, and just felt the stress catching up with me. On top of that, I got physically sick, with blood tests showing an elevated white blood cell count. I knew I needed help, so I met with my psychiatrist, who adjusted my antidepressant medication, and my primary doctor, who ran a full panel of tests. Even then, my parents had to wake me up after 1 p.m. because I slept so much. As someone with schizophrenia who hasn't finished school or had a regular job before, maintaining this intense schedule was tough on me. But this channel has been the most significant thing I've ever done. Your incredible, heartfelt comments of support and concern during my break strengthened me. They helped motivate me to take care of myself so I could return to making videos again, which is very cathartic and therapeutic. When you watch my old videos versus now, you can see how much better I'm doing cognitively, emotionally, and functionally since starting this channel, thanks to your fantastic support. Moving forward, I've realized I need to pace myself more and take breaks regularly so that the stress doesn't build up like this again. I've learned my lesson about the importance of taking time to relax and recharge. I think this applies to anyone dealing with a lot of stress, but especially those of us living with mental illness. I'm feeling much better after this five-week break and am excited to ease back into posting videos. I've made a new commitment to taking breaks when needed. I'm still working with my doctors to figure out my sleep issues and get fully back on track. I'm also hoping to find new ways to branch out and connect with people who share my interests, like competitive Pokemon. I also want to connect more with you (our community), so I'm considering getting a post office box to exchange mail and connect! I can't express enough gratitude for this incredible community and all your support. You've helped me come so far in my schizophrenia recovery journey. While I had to step back to prioritize my mental health briefly, I'm fully committed to continuing to be open about my story and advocating against mental health stigma on this channel. If you're struggling with your mental health, please know that you're not alone and that it's more than okay to take breaks when you need to. Thank you so much for watching, and I look forward to connecting with you more in future videos. Take care and see you next time! #SurvivingSchizophrenia #schizophrenia #anxiety #mentalhealth #depression

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