This is a special edition of Depression Mode.

I'm John Moe. I'm glad you're here.

It's just the two of us today, me and you.

And this is coming out a couple days before World Mental Health Day on October 10th.

And that seemed like a good time for a kind of state of the union address.

A state of our state, a state of confusion address, our state of terror, anxiety, depression.

And yes, hope.

I wanted to share some discoveries I've had over several years now of making mental health my career things,

specifically discoveries I've made that have hardened into beliefs. Things I think you ought to know. How many things? Six. Six things. I could probably list 500 things, but I don't think we all want to stick around for that. So I've boiled it down to six. I wanted to share some discoveries that I've had over several years now of making mental health my career thing. Specifically, discoveries I've made that have hardened into beliefs, things I think

you want to know.

First thing is, you're okay, automatically. You don't have to be mentally stable enough

to be okay. There is no benchmark you need to reach. There's no state exam to determine your worth.

You don't need to have a certain amount of money in the bank or a clearer enough idea of the future

or something below a maximum amount of problems in order to be okay. There's no personal, psychological, however you want to

measure it worth version of a breathalyzer test that if you blow above a certain number, then you

don't deserve personhood. No, you're in. There's no initiation ritual. You're in the club. There's

no hazing. There aren't any special

jackets, but you know, you can wear a member's only jacket, if you like, if that'll make you feel

better. But you're already there. Now, this was a tough one for me to learn. This is a tough one

for me to remember some days. I know it, but I sometimes need to shove it back into my belief system.

You've maybe heard me say it before.

I've certainly heard me say it before.

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