Eckl: Checkin' in

Bleh.

To be honest, that’s how a lot of days during this pandemic have felt – just bleh.

I’ve had plenty of time to just sit around and ponder so many ideas and think about all the different ways we could have potentially been back to normal at this point.

Yet, here we are likely considering the “canceling of the holidays,” meaning everyone is in the same boat.

That boat, unfortunately, seems to float in a constant state of bleh.

For those of you that know me personally, sitting around and thinking all day usually leads me down a road of anxiety-filled speculation.

It’s something I typically do a solid job at hiding, only because I’ve dealt with anxiety since I was 8.

Fortunately for me — at least in my opinion — this state of bleh is a cruddy feeling I’ve felt before.

It’s not common and I’m thankful for that every day, but those ruts can be really hard to break out of.

Especially the first time.

Ultimately, my goal in writing this column isn’t even to express my emotions, but rather to try to reach out to the students and young adults of the world who feel like they’re in their own heads for the first time.

No matter how active you are, the perpetual day-to-day monotony of this pandemic can absolutely take tolls on the psyches of everyone.

So, I wanted to check-in.

Let’s have a conversation

Frankly, discussing mental health is something I typically shy away from in public.

With my friends and family, it’s a much easier topic to broach, but still requires a level of nuance and context. In those conversations, it can be difficult to accurately describe those feelings.

However, I’m interested in having an honest conversation with any high school or college student — athlete or not — about the mental fatigue of the last eight or so months and how you’re handling it.

To be honest, I felt the only way to do that respectfully and openly was to let anyone reading this in on my some of my life and a brief background on me.

It didn’t seem right to ask for any of you to open up to me without reciprocating that trust.

If you’re not comfortable reaching out, I completely understand.

Like I said before, anxiety/depression related conversations can be really tough to have.

My hope is that I can show just how similar people feel right now, and in turn, hopefully it brings some measure of relief to anyone feeling alone.

I will not share any information from any conversations that you don’t wish to be made public.

I just hope I can show the magnitude of people going through a tough time right now and how tough that first time feeling anxious/depressed/panicky can be.

The best lesson I’ve learned — and frankly the most cliché — is it always goes away.

It may not be any better in the next five minutes or the next five months, but those cruddy feelings always go away.

So, I just wanted to check-in and see how you all are doing.

You can reach me in whatever way is most convenient for you.

Just know, a lot more of your peers feel similar to you than you may think – including myself.

Contact the writer:

Email – ceckl@nevadaappeal.com

Twitter – @CarterEckl (Direct messages are open)