Discussing Anxiety and Coping Strategies

Just turned 11

What are you doing?

It's CBD. It's made out of CBD oil.

It doesn't matter. What are you... Why?

It helps us with anxiety and stress.

Helps with wh- what anxiety do you have?

You're 11 years old.

Yeah. I'm, I was born with anxiety.

You don't have anxiety.

How would you know?

Because that's a bunch of bullshit told by

psychiatrists to tell kids like you so they can hook them on

medicine for the rest of their fucking life.

You do not have anxiety. For God's sake-

Yes, I do

... go outside and touch some grass.

I did a few weeks ago.

No, you don't. Clearly, you don't.

Yes, I do.

Clearly, you don't.

Yes, I do.

No, you don't.

Yes, I do.

Where's your father?

Uh, dead.

Uh, is mom raising you?

No.

Who's raising you?

She's dead as well.

Who's raising you?

My,

my foster parents.

So you don't have a mother or a father. You have foster parents.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well, foster-

This makes sense now.

Foster-

This makes sense now. So you've had some...

So you've had trauma in the past that has led you to

believe that you need drugs to get through life. Okay.

Yeah.

That makes sense.

I'm taking a pill.

That makes sense.

I'm taking a-

But let me just tell you,

those drugs that you're using are, are really

not go- they are a crutch.

I'm, I'm being so genuine right now.

You are a young man,

and you putting that poison in your body

is only going to hurt you in the long run.

Have you ever h- do you play any sports?

Not that I like sp- I hate sports, but do you play any?

I play basketball, tennis, and football.

Okay.

And I do shot put.

All of those, all of those sports except for shot put

are pretty much

worthless.

Have you ever tried to get involved in a martial

art in your entire life?

Nope. Not... I'm, I'm planning on to next year.

You really, really should. D- does your...

Like, I'm telling you, the anxiety that you have

will, will disappear.

Because the anxiety comes from like

being scared of the world and, and not having confidence.

It, it's like a big factor sometimes. Most of the time.

But when you eng- like, when you practice a martial art

and you know that you can handle yourself in like a, in a

physical altercation, like a fight,

it gives you a lot of confidence. And that anxiety like melts

away a lot of times. You should really look into it.

All right. Yeah. Um, my school does a martial, like

boxing thing.

Do they actually?

Mm-hmm. Yeah. So middle school.

Oh, that's fucking awesome. You should do that.

Yeah. Thank you.

Fuck yeah, man.

You're like the nicest person I've ever met.

Literally some guy last time, like last call, told me to kill myself,

so.

Well, fuck that guy and let him go straight to hell. No, no,

you, you...

Listen, all I want for you is I want you to be healthy.

I, you know, you, you have, you have so much time ahead of you, man,

and you're

gonna learn so many things and have so many different experiences in

life.

But I really think that, that what you're doing right now...

And I know it's gonna take a little time for you to, to get away from it and, and

that's okay. It,

it, it, it,

you're a little bit dependent on it, so it takes some time.

But I, I, I have, I believe in you,

that you can do it, and you can kick that habit,

and you can pick up some really

healthy habits

that'll build you

as a man. 'Cause you're a f- you're a

man.

And I want you to be a strong and confident man, is what I want.

I tru- I, I am proud of you even right now for

listening to what

I'm saying. 'Cause most young people like yourself

might not listen.

They might

just ignore it.

But you had the wisdom

and the, and the follow-through, and the thought to say,

"I wanna hear what this guy has to say.

He might, he might have something interesting."

Takes a special person.

So I think, like in the next few days, I want you to, I want you to try

that boxing

club.

I want you to find a gym.

Forget about basketball and all that stuff. That stuff is, it's dumb.

Really, I'm serious. It, it, it will never help you.

Yeah.

It won't.

I was thinking of like... I was thinking like of being a therapist one

day, but-

You should. That, that's a good, that's a good career for you.

That's not a bad career.

Yeah. My mom was a therapist before she died.

How did, how did your parents pass, if you don't mind me asking?

A car accident.

I'm sorry.

It was a 18-wheeler.

Yeah, thank you. Yeah. I was in the car with them as well.

I have some really-

But you survived.

Yeah.

So God has plans for you.

God has plans for you.

And you,

you need to seize that opportunity.

And, and the best thing that you can do

now as a young man is build yourself up mentally,

spiritually, and physically so that you could reach

the potential that God wanted you to reach. That's why you survived.

Your parents lived long. They, they're...

I'm sure they were wonderful people, and God bless their souls,

and they brought

you into this world, and, and you're gonna do something that

is gonna

be really awesome one of these days.

And I think the best thing you could do is do away with the drugs.

It'll never help you.

And you, just if you take, if you take 1% of what I've

said and you put it into action,

you're gonna accomplish wonders, man.

All right?

Yes, sir. Thank you.

God bless you.

Thank you. God bless you, too.

Take care of yourself, all right?

Yes, sir. Thank you.