 But you already knew that if you had to figure out how to cure it. How is it possible to turn such a shitshow into something good? This is one of my most asked questions in the comments in my DMs about mental health. Therefore today is a really special episode. So this guy Dan Mace thinks he knows how to defeat depression. Well let's find out. What is up everybody this is Chris from the Rewired Soul where we talk about the problem but focus on the solution. And if you're new to my channel my channel is all about mental health. What I like to do is pull different topics from the youtube community and try to use those to teach you how to improve your mental and emotional well-being. So for any that kind of stuff make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell. So all of you who have been subscribed for a while you're like hey the set looks different again. Yeah I'm on the couch right now recording this until we get finished unpacking and all that I've just been moving around. You know part of part of your mental health is like just working with what you got okay. And that's actually something we're going to touch on in this video where we're talking about Dan Mace's new video. So what I love about my subscribers my followers like you guys like tweet at me like I had a bunch of people send me this video. So I love Dan. I think he's in recovery too. So those of you who don't know me like I've been sober for the last six and a half years almost but yeah I think Dan's in recovery. He's made some other videos on mental health. He had one about like falling down and like talking about or it was like falling off a building or something like that and it was about anxiety. He's an awesome film creator. I was introduced to him like a lot of people were when he helped Casey Neistat launch 368. But yeah Dan's a really cool guy and I love I love his videos. But yeah throughout this move and stuff I wasn't able to catch this video but just now I just sat down I'm like okay need to watch this and need to talk about it all right. But anyways there will be a link down to his video down below. But yeah I just wanted to kind of break down some of the ideas and things that he was talking about in there. And there's definitely some things that you guys can learn from it and it's really interesting too because there's things that people don't say and I wonder if they know what they're talking about. Like he knows what he's talking about but I wonder if they know what it is. But anyways I'm gonna quit jumping ahead of myself. Let's get started. Out of nowhere I just started feeling really sad when on the outside my life seemed great. It seemed perfect. I had a car, friends, family, a roof over my head. But none of that mattered. I couldn't feel it. Almost in a figurative sense it was like I couldn't see color anymore. And after speaking to a professional I figured out that I have depression which then turned into anxiety. So one of the first things that we can all relate to, not all of us, but some of us can relate to is that that first clip that I just showed you where he's talking about how he had stuff but he wasn't happy. And this is something that I've been trying to beat into your guys' heads forever. You know what I mean? And this is important to realize, like just for a couple reasons. Realize that accumulating stuff isn't going to necessarily make you happy, right? You know, the girlfriend, the job, the car, the money, the stuff, the things, the fancy hobbies, whatever they are. There was no guarantee on that happiness. The thing that always reminds me of that is just when you see celebrities who are struggling with depression, right? They seemingly have everything. Like yeah, it's nice to not have so many financial burdens and all that, but there's no guarantee on your happiness. The best metaphor for this is surfing. The ocean creates this pandemonium and we ride that ship. We don't try control it or tame the beast but rather flow with it. Mindfulness in a second, but I love that. So like that surf analogy where he's talking about riding it, yes, yes, yes. So some of you who have been starting to meditate or getting into mindfulness just in general, here's what your homework is. Find the mindfulness meditation called rain, okay? So something I've talked to you guys about is that we're constantly in a state of attraction or aversion, right? Give us the things that make us feel good. Get rid of the things that make us feel bad. The rain exercise for meditation teaches you how to ride your emotions no matter what it is. You're no longer trying to run away from it. You're learning to embrace it. And what you're doing is rewiring your brain. So rain stands for recognize, accept, investigate, and note, okay? And the biggest part of that is the accept part, right? And basically when you get to that stage of the meditation, you're just noticing what's happening and you're just letting it happen. You're letting your anxiety, you're letting your sadness, you're letting your fears, your worries. Sometimes it's even your anger. This is actually an exercise that I teach to clients at my drug and alcohol treatment center. This is something that's very good for cravings as well. If you're somebody who's trying to quit, you know, eating certain foods or whatever, like this is a great exercise to kind of ride those waves, okay? I remember somebody who was in a meditation class with me, like she was trying to have better eating habits and she timed her craving, which I thought was genius. She timed her craving during the rain exercise and she said like her food craving lasted like, I don't know, six minutes and 45 seconds. But she said it was very helpful because she was present and aware for it. So now she knows like, okay, now that I have this craving for chocolate or whatever it is, it's only going to last six minutes and 45 seconds. It's not going to last forever. It's going to last this long, you know what I mean? People train tirelessly through cognitive behavioral therapy to get this right, but it's actually really easy. You don't think about what's going to happen in a few moments time. You don't think about yesterday. All you think about is now. So right there, right there, everybody. Like this is what I'm saying. Like I don't know if Dan knows it or I don't know if people are just more subtle about trying to get you all to practice mindfulness. But what he's talking about right there is just be present. That's all mindfulness is. Mindfulness is being present, being here, being now. All of you who struggle with anxiety like I do, like anxiety is typically in two different modes, right? We're either tripping about the future, things that haven't happened yet, or worried about things that we already did in the past, that we have no power to change, right? So mindfulness is a practice where we're constantly bringing ourselves back into the moment, back into the moment. So every time, like, so when you're practicing mindfulness, if you're just doing a meditation and your brain's like, oh my God, what's going to happen at that work meeting I have tomorrow? Then you bring it back to the right now, right? It's like, oh my God, what's going to happen on that date? I go on later. Nope, you bring it back to right now. Oh no, what am I going to have for dinner? Nope, you bring it back to right now. And that's all it is. You're training your brain to come back to the moment and recognize what is happening right now. This is my secret potion. It's the ability to think slightly deeper, to be more connected on an empathetic level. My YouTube channel is nothing but a visual diary of me answering my own unanswered questions as I travel through my life. Those last part right here, like, this is something that I've been trying to do on my channel. I've made a few videos about this. And it's weird because like Dan, I think changed the name of this video. Like when I first got linked it, it said like, you know, mental health is your superpower and now it's like called defeating depression. But yes, this is something I've been trying to teach you. Like I did a video about, you know, depression being a good thing. I think I've talked about bipolar being a good thing. And you know, even though there's struggles, like we have to look at these and say like, how can I benefit from this? So somebody like Dan, he takes this as some kind of creative outlet. So let me share with you my experience. So I have a brain that does not stop, okay? And I hated it forever. Again, I wasn't accepting it, right? So my brain would just constantly be going. And I was just like, why is my brain always racing? And it really sucked too because I had insomnia. Like I couldn't go to sleep because my brain just wouldn't stop. Well, like what Dan's saying, I've turned that into a positive. I just, I get comments all the time like, Chris, how do you have so many ideas for videos? Chris, how do you have so much energy? Chris, how do you do this? Because I've learned to take all these racing thoughts and get them out somewhere, whether it's videos or writing it or doing it, like in some way and expressing it. So I've taken this thing that was, you know, a weakness and I've turned it into a strength. Now I have a YouTube channel that's growing. I'm able to help other people and stuff. So this is what we have to do. We have to reframe this stuff and say, okay, maybe this isn't a weakness. Maybe this is actually my strength. Lastly, good for you, Dan. Good for you, brah. Or Brew, how do you say it? Anyways, good for you. Like I'm glad, you know, that he's supporting BetterHelp and BetterHelp's helping him out. You know, like BetterHelp is an organization that I've stood by this entire time. Tristan, my amazing girlfriend, she uses BetterHelp online therapy. She actually met her therapist here in Las Vegas through BetterHelp online therapy. I have other friends who use it. So anyways, like you guys, if you would like to, like Dan said, like no pressure, like I, like here's what I would say. I don't care where you get help. I literally don't care. I don't care if you get help just watching my videos, joining our free Facebook support group, going to a therapist somewhere else, using your health insurance or whatever. I don't care where you get help, just get help for the love of God. Just get help, okay? But if you want to try BetterHelp online therapy, there's a link down in the description below. It's an affiliate link and help support the channel. Like I said, I know a lot of people who have great experiences and like it can't help you, especially if you know, there's not therapists in your area. You just want to do it from the comfort of your own home, whatever it is. Anyways, that's all I got. But yeah, let me know down in the comments below, like how have you been able to turn your mental illness, if you will, or your weakness into a strength, right? Does it help you be more creative? Like do you have some kind of outlet? Is it music? Is it making things? What is it? You know what I mean? So like let's have a conversation down below. Anyways, that's all I got for you with this video. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up. If you're new, make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell because I make a ton of videos. And a huge, huge, huge thank you to everybody supporting the channel over on Patreon. You're all amazing. And if you want to, boom, check out the Rewire & Soul Shop. You can click or tap right there on that icon. You can get one of these shirts. All right, anyways, thanks again for watching. Turn your weakness into a strength, and I'll see you next time.