Our Secret Weapon Against Anxiety: How Bruce and Lee Schutter Use the Mental Health Warrior Challenge Coin
- Bruce Schutter
- Jun 17
- 6 min read
Anxiety has a special talent.
It never shows up when you are sitting peacefully with a diet soda, watching a bad horror movie and minding your own business. Nope.
Anxiety waits until you are about to hit “publish” on an article, record a video, speak about the Mental Health Warrior Program or step into a moment where your voice actually matters.
Then anxiety kicks the door open like it owns the place.
“What if nobody likes this article?”
“What if the video sounds ridiculous?”
“What if your hair is doing that weird thing again?”
(That last one may not be an official anxiety symptom, but when you are recording videos, it feels like a crisis worthy of its own emergency response team.)
That is where our secret weapon comes in: The Mental Health Warrior Challenge Coin.
We use the coin as a mental health tool providing Courage-on-the-Go — something we can hold, touch, carry and use in the moment when anxiety starts getting loud.
For me, the coin reminds me that anxiety is not in charge. I am.
And when anxiety says, “You can’t do this,” the coin helps me answer: “Watch me.”
The Warrior Solution
I did not create the Mental Health Warrior Program from theory. I created it from the battlefield of my own life.
For more than 20 years, I battled Bipolar, Alcoholism, Anxiety Disorders and PTSD. There were long seasons when my emotions felt like they were running the entire show. I did not feel like the lead character in my own life. I felt like anxiety, fear, shame and overwhelm had stolen the script, grabbed the director’s chair and started yelling, “Action!” before I was ready.
At my lowest point, I felt so powerless that I tried to end my life.
But I got a second chance. And in that second chance, I discovered something life-changing: Mental health is the key to overcoming any challenge.
Because when we learn to understand, manage and use our emotions, we stop being controlled by them. We begin to respond instead of react. We begin to take action. We begin to build strength in the middle of real life, not just when everything is easy.
That truth became the foundation of the Mental Health Warrior Program — a bold SELF-HELP approach that puts YOU in charge.
And one of the most practical tools in that program is the Mental Health Warrior Challenge Coin.
The coin is not just something shiny to sit on a shelf next to a coffee mug and that one notebook you bought because you were definitely going to start journaling every morning.
The coin is meant to be carried with you every day.
In your pocket.
In your hand.
Wherever life happens.
Because anxiety does not make appointments. It does not politely ask, “Is now a good time to overwhelm you?” It just shows up — before meetings, during stressful projects, in the middle of deadlines or right when you finally decide to take a brave step.
That is why the coin matters. It gives you something real to hold when your thoughts feel scattered. It reminds you to pause, breathe and remember who is in charge. It becomes a daily Mental Health Warrior tool you can use wherever you are.
That is when the coin becomes more than metal. It becomes warrior strength. And today I want to share with you three examples of how I use it and you can too!
Example 1: Before Speaking or Presenting
For me, anxiety loves to show up right before I speak.
It does not matter if I am recording a short video, presenting the Mental Health Warrior Program or preparing to talk in a meeting. Anxiety treats every opportunity like I have been asked to perform brain surgery while juggling flaming swords and reciting the alphabet backward.
I can be completely prepared. Notes ready. Message clear. Camera set. Then suddenly my brain decides we are in danger.
My thoughts start racing. Then anxiety adds, “Also, you blinked weird in the last video.”
Thanks, anxiety. Very helpful. Truly groundbreaking feedback.
That is when I reach for my Mental Health Warrior Challenge Coin.
I hold the coin in my hand and feel its weight. That small physical action pulls me out of the mental storm and back into the moment I am actually standing in.
Then I remind myself why I am doing this. Somewhere, someone may be feeling powerless, overwhelmed or alone. Someone may be battling anxiety, depression, addiction, PTSD or emotions they do not know how to manage. Someone may need to hear that mental health challenges are not the end of the road.
That is when the coin helps me shift. The anxiety is still there, but it no longer owns the room.
I grip the coin. I remember that I am stronger than the anxious moment trying to stop me.
Then I hit record.
I publish the article.
I speak the message.
That is Courage-on-the-Go. Taking action while anxiety is still mumbling complaints in the background.
Example 2: During Stressful Work Projects
Lee uses the coin in her own Warrior way.
At work, she often deals with projects that involve multiple people, moving parts, deadlines, expectations and the wonderful adventure of trying to keep everyone on the same page.
And if you have ever worked on a group project, you know “same page” can sometimes mean one person is on page 2, another is on page 47 and someone else is apparently reading a completely different book written in another language.
That kind of stress can create anxiety fast.
One problem gets solved and three more pop up like emotional whack-a-mole.
Lee could easily let the pressure take over. Anyone could.
That is where the warrior coin helps her pause, so she can respond NOT react.
The coin does not magically make every coworker organized, calm and perfectly aligned. If it did, we would need to lock it in a vault and call NASA.
But the Warrior coin does help Lee stay steady. It gives her a moment between the stress and her response. And sometimes that moment is everything.
Instead of letting anxiety drag her into overwhelm, she uses the coin to reset her focus.
That is Courage-on-the-Go in real life. Just a Warrior choosing calm in the middle of pressure. And honestly, that is a big deal.
Example 3: When Self-Doubt Gets Loud
The third way we use the coin is one we both know well. Self-doubt.
That sneaky little voice that waits until you are already tired, already stressed and already wondering if you are doing enough.
It brings up old struggles, old fears and old labels. It tries to convince us that because we have battled mental health challenges, we are not capable of doing big things, taking bold steps or building a new future.
But the Mental Health Warrior Challenge Coin teaches the opposite. Our struggles are proof that we have survived.
Still, there are moments when both Lee and I feel that old pull. The doubts rise. The anxious thoughts get loud. The inner critic starts typing up a full report with charts, graphs and a dramatic conclusion that says, “You are not enough.”
That is when the Warrior coin helps us stop the spiral and take the next step.
Holding the coin, reminds us that we do not need to solve our entire life in one moment. We only need to have the courage to take the next step.
That is how we use the warrior coin to turn self-doubt into strength. By refusing to let it lead.
Wrap Up
The Mental Health Warrior Challenge Coin has become our secret weapons against anxiety.
Not because it removes every anxious thought. Not because it magically makes life easy. And definitely not because it keeps my hair from doing strange things on video. We are still waiting for that upgrade.
The coin gives your mind something real to hold onto when emotions feel loud. It helps you pause, breathe, reset and respond instead of react.
And that is why it is such an important daily Mental Health Warrior tool.
So if you are struggling with anxiety, try using the Mental Health Warrior Challenge Coin as your Courage-on-the-Go reminder.
Hold it. Remember your strength. Then take the next step.
Because anxiety may show up for the battle — but You are a Mental Health Warrior and YOU are in charge!
Bruce Schutter ⚔️
(Creator of the Mental Health Warrior Program)
Ready to Take Charge of Your Mental Health?
