Boys can also have anxiety!

Translated with Chat GPT

Before I start writing about boys and anxiety, I wanted to give a little update about myself. Morten and I are opening a restaurant. It opens on May 1st, but we're going to practice with family and friends next week 😅 So my brain is very occupied with that at the moment. Little time to check in with myself and truly feel how I'm doing. But one thing I can tell you. I am really proud of myself!! I am really proud of us! Because the Miriam I am now, I wouldn't have been without help. I have more confidence, pride, and peace than I can remember ever having! I look forward to when we've got the restaurant properly up and running in a few weeks. Then I'll really check in with myself and share it all with you. Because it's really helps me a lot!! That's why I've actually made a little twist with the next few blogpost. Since writing helps me so much, I want to share that too. Keep reading, and you'll understand what I mean! Here comes the actual post 🤓

I'm a woman, and I have anxiety. I always will, but I have a plan to take control of it. Eventually, I aim to integrate it into my life, but not let it control my life. During my journey in search of what I can do to gain control over it, I've discovered that many people have anxiety. Children, adolescents, the elderly, rich, poor, celebrities. Yes, many. What I hadn't thought much about before I started this journey was that young boys can have mental illnesses just like young girls. Not that I don't understand that they can, I just haven't heard much about it. There's little about it out there on the worldwide web. Not because it's not the case, but because we don't talk about it. We don't talk about the young boys who can't cope with life. We don't talk about the tough guys who suddenly feel the pressure attack them and fear take over. Few discuss it. And it's frightening how many are struggling without saying a word about it.

I'm open about my anxiety, and it has helped me immensely! I've encountered nothing but understanding, support, and respect. Would a 19-year-old boy have done the same? Would a 14-year-old boy have done it? If the answer is no here, we really need to do something!! One thing we can do is talk to the young boys about it.

Last June, I wrote a bit about my thoughts on men's mental health. I'm very focused on checking in with Sebastian when it comes to feelings and thoughts. I encourage him to check in with his friends again. Both boys and girls, but especially the boys. They are so easily forgotten. Especially those who don't talk about it. He has a friend who has been in our lives since they were in 1st grade and has been with us through a lot over the years. Outwardly, he's a handsome, funny, and genuine 19-year-old. He's achieving a lot! School, soccer, work. Yes, you get the idea. On the outside, he has everything together. Inside... Inside, he's been struggling for many years. Now he's ready to share a bit about it with us! And I couldn't be happier and prouder to contribute to sharing his thoughts on anxiety. That he chooses to be so open about this and share it with us is something we should welcome with open arms and pass on to everyone we can. Encourage talking about it and being honest.

I've had some conversations with Magnus about this anxiety. We're alike in some things and completely different in others. It's really cool to hear how he thinks and experiences things. He's incredibly thoughtful and open about his thoughts on this. We started with the idea that I would write some questions that he would answer. Kind of like I've done with some others here on the blog a few times before. Magnus found it a bit difficult at first, so we sat down and talked through the questions. I can promise you that it was incredibly useful for me and really interesting to listen to him. To hear what he's tried, what he wants to achieve, who he talks to, and how he deals with things in everyday life. This helped him get started with writing. Really! Because it turns out that Magnus has a lot to say. He has a lot of wishes, experiences, and thoughts he wants to share with us. So the result is simply that Magnus will write several posts that we'll publish here for a while. I'll share some of my own in between, but I think it's important to make people realize that mental health is something EVERYONE has. Even tough guys at the beginning of adulthood. So next Sunday, the first post from Magnus will be coming. It'll be worth the wait!

Hope you have a day filled with laughter, giggles and smiles 🧡