Finding Calm in my Chaos: The surprising support for Anxiety, Depression and ADHD
Published on: Jan 27, 2025
Does this sound like you?
Have you ever felt like you're drowning in your own life? Like you're physically sick with worry that you'll make the wrong decision about something incredibly simple? Like you're somehow managing to be "successful" while simultaneously falling apart?
Do you feel:
Physically sick with worry about work, school or other important parts of your life
Like you're constantly exhausted yet somehow expected to keep going
That your brain is bouncing back and forth, with no ability to just. get. the. task. done.
That your bran immediately goes to worst case scenario for every little thing
That interruptions during a rare moment of focus can completely derail you
That stress and overwhelm are the only way to feel like you’re working hard enough
That you can only get to sleep from exhaustion
You're not alone. And you're not broken. You just need different supports.
Keep reading to learn how one woman's journey with anxiety, depression and ADHD.
Hi, I'm Amy, founder of For the Cubs. My entire life has been shaped by anxiety, depression, and ADHD—though I didn't always have the words for what I was experiencing. Here's my story of how I figured out how to overcome these struggles and stopped them from ruling my life.
The Turning Point
In my late 30s, after decades in high-pressure corporate environments where stress was practically a badge of honor, I started to wonder: Is this really all there is?
It had been hardwired into my head that I needed to be stressed, anxious, and exhausted at all times—otherwise I wasn't working hard enough. When the company I was working for was sold and I moved into an executive leadership position at the acquiring company, only to face restructuring, I turned to consulting. The intense pressure felt familiar, almost comforting in its discomfort.
Even as I started For the Cubs, I found myself pinwheeling every day, paralyzed by options without someone blowing up my phone with Slacks or emails demanding project updates. Simple tasks took hours to complete, which was frustrating, because I knew how long they should take. What I thought would be the solution to my stress from corporate America, actually just surfaced a whole other set of challenges.
When my doctor suggested I might have ADHD, I laughed. What I knew of ADHD was the disruptive kids in class, clowning around and being annoying. I had no idea that for women, it looks completely different.
Amy spent any downtime exhausted and disassociated
The Simple Tools That Changed Everything
As the fog began to clear and my ADHD diagnosis was confirmed, I realized what had been helping me through the hardest days so I could experience the brighter ones were simple tools that were my constant go-tos for support.
🐻 Meet Percy: The 3 LB. Hug Bear
My experience: When I couldn't get off the couch and going outside felt too much, I found myself holding my dog, petting his velvet-like fur, and finding comfort in his snuggly warmth. I would seek out hugs from my partner, who gives the best hugs and has always held me up when I felt like I was going to fall apart.
But it wasn’t until I was going through foster-parent training that I learned humans need 8-12 hugs a day for emotional well-being, that everything clicked. Hugs have played a critical role in supporting me through hard moments and still play a vital role in my ability to be productive, effectively parent the children in my home, and be a present partner. And what I appreciated most, was not everyone has a snuggly pet or a trusted person they can be completely vulnerable with. And that’s how I came up with Percy, the 3 lb. hug bear…
How Percy helps you: Percy is designed to mimic those essential, nurturing hugs, offering that deep pressure therapy that helped me keep going when days felt really hard and heavy. I created three prototypes before landing on the final version you can buy today. His weight is evenly distributed throughout his body and paws, and he’s a little floppy, so that when you hold him, it really does feel like a hug.
His fur is extra soft and when you roll the unscented clay beads around, the sound also offers calming sensory input. Another important aspect is that he can be warmed or cooled. Warming him can offer snuggly comfort when you’re curled up on the couch, decompressing from a long day. Whereas cooling him can be soothing to a dysregulated nervous system that is on high alert.
When you pick up your Percy, know that he's not just giving you hugs when you need them most—he's designed to allow your mind and body to reset and rest. The fact that he’s adorable is just a bonus.
Listen to Percy's sensory sounds in action
The Reality of Managing Daily Life
Managing anxiety, depression, and ADHD requires a multifaceted approach. When I was bouncing from tab to tab on my internet browser as my brain pinwheeled, taking hours to complete basic tasks, or becoming completely dysregulated if someone interrupted a rare moment of hyper-focus, I discovered that putting weight on my lap while working or crossing my legs created pressure that somehow helped me focus.
What I later realized was that deep pressure therapy is incredibly important for people experiencing ADHD, depression, anxiety, and insomnia. That discovery is now woven into everything we create at For the Cubs.
I rely on medication every day alongside these natural therapies to be a functional business owner, friend, wife, and mother. And most importantly, to enjoy life. Therapy has helped me immensely, and I encourage you to seek it out if you are even remotely curious and have the resources.
But in the moments between therapy sessions, in the daily grind of trying to exist in a world that wasn't designed for minds like ours, these tools have been my anchors.
Find Your Support System
Amy, founder of For the Cubs and Percy, the 3 lb. hug bear.
For the Cubs products were born from my lived experience with anxiety, depression, and ADHD. They're the tools I discovered through years of trial and error, through therapy sessions and late nights, through corporate burnout and the quiet discovery of what actually helps.
Percy isn't a miracle cure. Percy's a gentle, consistent support that make each day a little softer, a little lighter, and a little more manageable.
Because sometimes, that's all we need to find our way back to ourselves.