 What's up everybody this is Chris from the Reward Soul where we talk about the problem and we focus on the solution and For those of you who don't know I am a Las Vegas resident I have this channel here where I talk about anxiety depression addiction and all sorts of mental health issues and With the recent Las Vegas mass shooting that took place last night my anxiety has been through the roof and depression is creeping up on me as well and I wasn't gonna do a video on this. I Don't like when people just try to hop on a bandwagon to get more views and things like that But this channel is about working through symptoms of mental illness like anxiety and depression which is hitting me hard So I want to talk about my experience with this and the solutions I have found and it's mainly gonna focus around anxiety and gratitude But anyways last night I was getting ready for bed and I start getting messages I started seeing posts that there's a shooter and in Las Vegas. There's there shootings here It's like any other city But I kept saying more and more and more and then I have people Messaging me and asking me if I'm all right and I'm like what is happening? And I start realizing like the gravity of this situation and it was a mass shooting it wasn't just some random shooting that happens in the city and It was difficult for me to go to sleep and I was just on my way to bed I woke up at about two in the morning and I had even more messages from people asking me if I was okay some people who I hadn't even talked to in years and I saw and at that time the body count was low I think they said it was only 10 or 20 people and 200 injured and Obviously by the time that I'm recording this that number is closer to 60 and 500 people injured and Another thing that I I try not to do is Hop on a train and talking about how this affected me and oh my god I live in this city because I don't want to take away from anybody who was personally affected by this tragedy but for those of you who struggle with anxiety or know about anxiety anxiety is fear-based it triggers the part in our brain responsible for fight flight or freeze and I Living in Las Vegas and just being somebody with anxiety a lot of my anxiety is just completely based on irrational fears A lot of us get anxiety getting into our car driving down the street Anxiety is this mental illness that Switches your brain to worst-case scenarios even when you don't want it to and nothing's triggering it And I know for me when my brain goes to worst-case scenario I have fought many many many times whenever there is any type of tragedy like this around the world I constantly think I live in a city where a terrorist could run rampant so the fact that this finally happened it has just triggered that part of my brain and My thoughts have been a mess all day long I'm recording this after work It was a topic of discussion in the rehab I work at when I was doing my group with them and we were able to discuss it and it's it's very it's very scary I reached out to people I knew and just wanted to make sure that they were okay and make sure that people they knew were okay and That again it's not to take away to those who were clearly affected by this because My heart pours out to all of them and I think it for all of us that needs to be the case It isn't just about where we are weren't we personally affected people lost their lives and people have been injured people have been affected but Like I said, this channel is about talking about the problem and focusing on the solution and that's where gratitude comes in My depression when it arises and I used to be one of the most negative people that you'll ever meet Whenever something like this happens my brain wants to sink me into this depression about how this world is such a terrible place and how can things like this happen and It makes me want to curl up in a ball and never leave my room That is what depression does and my depression Feeds off of situations like this and it makes me want to sit and not do anything my anxiety is Not only fear-based, but a lot of anxiety comes from a lack of control and I've been talking with my girlfriend all morning and trying to figure out where we can donate blood and Been talking to friends trying to find out where we can donate and that's where the gratitude comes in I am so grateful that I live in this city where I cannot even go down and donate blood because there are so many people and My anxiety is trying to pull me in one direction saying you need to do something you need to do something You need to do something But I have to sit and be grateful that I don't even have the Ability to do something because so many people are coming together and doing this on the side right here You'll see a post from my dear friend Ashley who sums it up perfectly and she states Emergency rooms are full donations are flowing in all forms Food clothes blankets water, etc. We have blood donations booked out until Friday and $1.2 million raised to help assist with funeral costs and flights to Vegas for the 28 who are killed and the 515 who are injured the locals hate on Vegas But I really think we've pulled together as a city to do the right thing Keep it up America alive. Love thy neighbor and that's so true I have to be grateful Gratitude pulls me out of depression gratitude pulls me out of my anxiety I am so grateful for this beautiful city that I live in and the fact that so many people from the community are Getting together and filling these blood banks I have so many friends posting about how they're going down and just giving food and water to the people who are waiting in these Long lines and we're just coming together and if you struggle with anxiety or depression or any other form of mental illness I urge you you have to reach you have to reach for this gratitude You have to force your brain to find these things to be grateful for I am grateful That none of my friends and none of my family were hurt I am grateful for all the people who have messaged me and checking in on me I have text messages coming in from my regular phone and my work phone people who I haven't talked to in ages Just checking in on me I have clients who went through my treatment center who have been messaging me and texting me making sure that I'm okay This is amazing. It shows me that I am loved and I am cared about and I just want to end with this Because this is something that mindfulness has helped me with a lot of the videos I've been watching on YouTube we're capping this event and Every single time this comes up people say this is a time where you need to Call the people you love tell them that you love them because you never know when this is going to happen For me, it's different mindfulness and living a life of gratitude. It makes me do this every single day We need to quit being reactive We need to tell people how much we love them and appreciate them and a care for them every single day It should not only be on the holidays or when a tragedy strikes. We need to do this every single day every day I can wake up knowing for a fact that if tragedy strikes the people in my life Know that I love and care about them because I make it a point to do that every single day So I recommend that you do the same not only when tragedy strikes So I appreciate you watching if you're new here My channel is all about dealing with symptoms of mental illness So if you struggle with anxiety or depression, especially around events like this hit the subscribe button down below Because I'm always giving tips on how to work through that. So thanks for watching I appreciate everybody who's been following me and supporting me and all of you fans out there who have reached out to me and Asked and make sure I was okay means a lot to me. So this Chris from the rewired soul and I'll see you next time