In The Mental Unload, psychotherapist, author, and Simple Families podcast host Denaye Barahona offers readers a doable, step-by-step plan and gentle support for reducing the overwhelm of contemporary life.
You feel depleted. But is it anxiety, stress, or just plain exhaustion? The kids' sports schedules or the deadline at work? The appointment for your elderly mother or last night's argument about the dirty dishes? Many of us are so overwhelmed we can't even figure out what's overwhelming us. Sure, there are the actual tasks on our to-do lists. But it's the mental load--the planning and worrying behind the list--that drains us. The mental load is largely invisible to others--and often to ourselves--but it still weighs us down by occupying our time and energy.
With the supportive presence of a friend who happens to be a therapist, Denaye Barahona helps us unpack our own mental load and then reduce it. Based on a popular course Barahona has taught and strategies she has used in counseling sessions, The Mental Unload helps us assess our overwhelm. We learn about the mental load equation and the seesaw of overwhelm. We make mental load cards, which represent responsibilities we want to keep and those we can transform, eliminate, or delegate. We learn the six common thought patterns that create unnecessary mental load, and we create a restoration menu of simple things that energize us.
There's no such thing as no mental load; living in relationship with others means shouldering stress. Yet Barahona helps us to recognize when the mental load is expanding and to tackle it before it sucks us dry. Moving forward with a simplified mental load, we can find purpose and even joy in the things that are truly ours to carry.
