The Antacid Years – An Anxiety Origin Story

Mental health matters…every day

A swig of Mylanta for the road

It was the early 80s, and I had just arrived at school. Was it fourth grade? Fifth? Was Tears for Fears playing on the way? I don’t remember. But what I do remember is the little brown bottle of liquid antacid in my backpack.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

See, I would sip on it through the day – a little unwanted treat to tamp down the unrelenting nervousness and unease that constantly welled up in me.

Yeah, it was stomach acid. But the probable cause was a lot of scathing anxiety that was at times proportionate – and sometimes disproportionate – to what was going on through the day.

Bullying? Check. Test scores? Check. A deep-seated fear of life in general? Check.

That little brown bottle saw me through some stuff. And, it made it possible for me to keep lunch down.

It was hard to get through the day on the edge of panic, but I did it.

Day after day after day.

Grade after grade after grade.

There wasn’t a lot anyone could do for me, even though they tried. A lot of the time, I hid it so that I could just get on with things.

See, anxiety felt hardwired somehow. Ingrained in me like my brown eyes and love for Atari and baseball cards.

It was part of me.

Mental health wasn’t on my childhood radar

As a random kid walking the halls of my grade school, I didn’t know that May was Mental Health Awareness Month.

I didn’t even know what the hell mental health was, much less the technical details of anxiety, panic, and fight or flight.

I was just a kid with a bottle of aluminum/magnesium hydroxide sloshing around in his backpack, occasionally ducking into a dark corner to steal a swig.

But over time, I found other ways to cope. I had to.

Turning the corner

After struggling through my early 20s with this soup of anxiety, I knew I had to learn more about what the hell was happening to me and how I could do something about it.

I learned everything I could about stress and anxiety’s toll on the body. I studied and practiced mindfulness and meditation (two things that quite literally saved my life). I dove into the wisdom of the ancients, talked to professionals once a week for an hour, and collected stories from others in my situation.

My desire to help others suffering with this stuff motivated me to become a licensed therapist for a time and even publish books and train professionals on how mindfulness and ancient wisdom can help clients.

Here’s the thing: A lot of people are struggling with this – people you see just walking down the street or having lunch at your favorite spot…they’re fighting this kind of thing.

The numbers are staggering. According to the American Psychiatric Association, in 2024, 43% of U.S. adults said they “feel more anxious” than the previous year, with 70% “particularly anxious” over current events.

Mental Health America found that “nearly 60 million adults experienced a mental illness” in the previous year.

Those are just adults. Believe me, there are millions of children just like I was, walking around school with no explanation or academic understanding for what they feel – just that they are anxious or…something else.

Just that they aren’t comfortable in their skin and want to run home to their bed.

This is real. It’s happening to people of all ages. Now.

Every day should be a mental health awareness day…

So, as I mentioned, May is Mental Health Awareness Month. According to samhsa.gov, it’s a time to “increase awareness of the importance of mental health in Americans’ lives and to celebrate recovery from mental illness.”

Yes, we should think about mental health 365 days a year, and yes, people the world over (not just in the U.S.) should take mental health seriously.

But it’s nice to know that this month is dedicated to something so important.

This month (and every month), remember: Even if you “feel fine” or “don’t have any issues,” keep in mind that the people around you may be struggling with things you don’t see.

The overwhelmed barista. The child who is feeling a little “moody” today. The teacher who seems a little burned out. The aggressive driver.

Some of these folks may be working through it (whatever “it” means to them).

So, think of mental health awareness as something beyond your own mental health. Be compassionate and kind toward others, staying aware of their potential mental health struggles.

If we try to give each other grace and understanding, maybe we can make it more ok to not be ok all the time. That can promote healing, too.

Self-care – an essential buzzword

Here’s the MtE tip: Be mental health minded through the day

This is a heavy topic. I get it. But if you’ve been down the struggle road, you know just how important it is to stay on top of your mental health.

Don’t ignore it.

I know “self-care” has become a buzzword, but perhaps it’s for good reason. It’s a pointer to things that can help us feel better, and a strong reminder to take care of ourselves.

Things got better for me – and everyone around me, honestly – when I started to take care of myself and to put more focus on some of the things I needed to get my life on track.

Self-care is not selfish. In fact, it’s one of the best ways you can be of service to others (because you’ll be more present for them if you’re there for yourself).

So, if you’re on the road of healing, you can:

· Meditate

· Read that book

· Call your friend

· Pick up a new hobby

· Write in your journal

· Look into mindfulness

· Listen to that song you love

· Take that walk around the block

· Spend an extra few minutes in the tub

· Eat foods that lead to better overall health

· Talk to a professional about your emotions

· Take time for yourself once in a while (even just an hour or so)

· Do anything else you feel you need to do to get yourself to a place where you can face the day or lift your mood

Remember: Good mental health takes care and attention. Like a garden, you should constantly tend to your mind.

And if that means swigging antacid from a brown bottle once in a while, so be it.

Just make sure you add something else into the mix to get the long-term results you want…and deserve.

Your mental health matters.

How do you take care of your mental health? Please share so we can all learn.

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To dive deeper into strategies for managing stress and anxiety (including mindfulness and meditation), check out my book, An Audible Silence; or schedule a free 15-minute call to see if coaching might be right for you. For even more, follow me on Instagram or TikTok.

(NOTE: Mastering the Everyday is not medical or mental health advice or diagnosis, and is solely for informational/entertainment purposes. If you need physical or psychiatric care, please reach out to a trained and licensed medical professional.)