Author Archives: Jon Red

Mental Health – A spike in cases, threat of lockdown: my feelings. Update: near lock-down

I feel that an update is necessary as things have changed since my last post. I will not be writing much about the general situation now as I feel that most people have already lived through something like this and the news is covering this. Instead, I will focus more on my family’s and my situation and my feelings about it.

Mental Health – A spike in cases, threat of lockdown: my feelings

In light of the invisible threat hanging over society, I will be discussing Covid-19 related anxiety and depression, possible antidotes (remember I am not a trained professional), what happened recently in my region, how I feel about it, and the silver lining.

Overwork

It turns out there is such a thing as working too much. I think I have finally found my limit. I am at a crossroads. If I continue down this path I fear it will break me. Mentally or physically. I can already see the cracks forming. When you are inundated with stress and/or lackContinue reading “Overwork”

Flying in a pandemic and self-quarantine

New Zealand to Taiwan The following is based on the rules and conditions in March/April 2020. To stay up to date on the current rules, see the links at the end. It has been just over a year since I left New Zealand to move back to Taiwan. This is my experience of flying inContinue reading “Flying in a pandemic and self-quarantine”

Stress

Stress can cause a whole range of problems, but you can overcome it by changing your thinking about stress and building systems and tools to deal with it. Each time you overcome a stressful situation you build resilience…

…The tough part is getting to the other side. How do you maintain clear thinking and overcome the challenges you face?

Self-analysis – Depression: a “depressive episode”

That was intense. What happened? If you read my last post “Depression: a “depressive episode”” you will see that I found myself in a pretty dark place. Things escalated very quickly to the point I felt unable to control the situation. It had been a long and gradual process that crept up on me andContinue reading “Self-analysis – Depression: a “depressive episode””

Depression: a “depressive episode”

Preface I have very quickly found myself in a deep layer of depression and the only thing I can think to do is to try and write myself out of it. What you are about to read is the mind of someone deep in darkness. I cannot guarantee the quality of this post as itContinue reading “Depression: a “depressive episode””

Dreams

See “Time management” for productivity and efficiency tips. Background When I was younger, I had big dreams and I was uncompromising on achieving these. I did not like the idea of being tied down to a single job or debt-forced to work, unable to take risks, fearful of losing the ability to pay a mortgageContinue reading “Dreams”

Depression: Tiredness

One of the most pervasive symptoms of depression I experience every single day is feeling tired. No matter how many hours of sleep I get, I always feel tired when I wake up and also throughout the day. I have experienced this since I was in high school. Clarity vs brain fog Tiredness affects everything.Continue reading “Depression: Tiredness”

Technology: relationships, mental health and productivity

Technology is wonderful-for education, sharing knowledge, business, and connecting with people you otherwise could not. However, the way we use it is not always in our best interest-for relationships, for our mental health, for productivity. We are always on, yet disconnected from reality, our concentration fragmented.

Depression: how to help

A lot of the stigma that comes with depression is through lack of understanding. It is precisely because of these kinds of statements that I remain fairly anonymous in this journey.
Learn to recognise depression, be kind, be patient, do not judge, build trust, be there. Normalise talking about emotions and mental health.