Halfway Through 2025 and Still Feeling Behind? You’re Not Alone

Hi there…
Welcome back to ABC of Mental Health — your midweek moment of clarity. As June rolls in, you may be hearing the words: “Can you believe we’re halfway through the year?” And if that thought sparks stress instead of celebration, know this: you’re in good company. Let’s reframe the pressure of productivity and explore gentler ways to meet ourselves — right here, in the middle.

💬 If this resonates, forward it via WhatsApp to someone else who’s running their own silent marathon.

One relevant recommendation:

🌀 Try a Mini Mid-Year Review (Without Judgment)

You don’t need a complete overhaul—just a realignment. Instead of listing everything you didn’t do, ask yourself:

• What mattered most in the last 6 months?

• What drained my energy? What filled my cup?

• What one word describes how I want to feel by December?

Two Quotes on Gentle Growth:

📚 Morgan Harper Nichols, poet and artist, on nonlinear progress:

“Even when you are growing slowly, you are still growing. There is no shame in taking your time.”

Dr. Thema Bryant, psychologist and author, on gentle self-honoring:

“When we measure ourselves only by productivity, we forget to value the parts of us that are healing, learning, and just surviving.”

Three TherapyShorts from TST

1. The Myth of Falling Behind
   A 29-year-old client told me, “Everyone else is running ahead — promotions, marriages, buying homes. I’m stuck.” But as we unpacked it, she realised she was measuring her worth using someone else’s milestones. Progress isn’t always public. Milestones are extremely cultural and need gentle questioning from time to time. Healing, building resilience, even just staying afloat—these are valid forms of moving forward.
   

2. Celebrate Invisible Wins
   A therapist peer recently reminded me that “getting out of bed on rough days is also progress.” Maybe you showed up for a tough conversation. Perhaps you stopped overcommitting. These aren’t things we post about—but they’re growth all the same. Keep a “soft wins” list in your Notes app to remind yourself of what’s blooming beneath the surface.

3. Check Your Expectations (Especially If You're Socialised as Female or Queer)
   Often, clients tell me, “I thought by now I’d be in control of everything—my job, my body, my life.” We then explore how societal timelines (especially for women and queer folks) can create toxic pressure. If you’ve spent years surviving systems not built for you, no wonder you’re exhausted. Capitalism has slowly but surely trapped us in the race of the perfect travel, the ideal AM PM routine, the dream house – but all that does is make us better consumers who constantly feel inadequate and seek “fixes” externally. Let’s try to reframe “falling behind” with “healing forward.”

A QUESTION?

What’s your biggest feeling around hitting the mid-year mark? 

Vote here!

Last week, we asked you how you are most likely to show up for the men in your life, and the responses were… (drumroll please)…

Warmly,

The Social Therapist

💚 P.S. Be gentle with yourself this June. The rest of the year is still yours to shape.