This picture is the opposite of my life: perfect.

Yes, I have a good job, and I like to share my insights time management and productivity, and I travel a lot, and I generally try to be a decent, caring, thoughtful person.

But what most people don’t see is my never-ending battle with mental health. More specifically, Generalized Anxiety Disorder and OCD.

These disorders have negatively impacted my life in more ways than you know, from constant physical pain, to panic attacks, to negatively affecting my relationships.

Unfortunately, there is often a big divide between my intentions and my compulsive actions, which originate from constant stress and obsessive thought processes — most of the which I simply can’t control.

To the average person, this might sound unrelatable, but I’m here to tell you that no matter how much I do in terms of weekly talk therapy, prescription medication, exercise, and other therapeutic efforts, this is without a doubt the biggest challenge of my life. And often times, I feel helpless.

I’m writing this post not as a call for help or attention, but to try to show the less glamorous aspects of my life, and to demonstrate that mental health is a serious epidemic.

~Josh