Mental health awareness

Hello all,

Hope you're all doing well and not ripping your hair out yet! This week has been mental health awareness week which to a lot of people is a topic left unspoken about. Mental illnesses come in many different variations such as; mood disorders (depression & bipolar) anxiety, personality disdorders, psychotic disorders, eating disorders, PTSD and substance abuse disorder. I am in no way shape or form a professional or expert in this subject field and fortunately I have not experienced a mental illness myself. Like most others I have my bad and good days of "accepting myself" and feeling down. There is a big stigma around mental health where people will chose to not talk about how they feel. Or on the other hand a select few feel comfortable expressing themselves and either situation is completely fine.

When people don't talk about their health or mental well being it can be considered that they feel like a burden. Once overcoming this thought it will open up a whole new avenue of help and support on the right path. If someone's feels like a burden it could be related to a previous experience where they have expressed how they felt and not got the response they were looking for. This can then have a negative impact and make them close up completely and not trust others again. I am very much a closed book I bottle a lot up which has always been a bad trait of mine as when it all gets too much I just explode and get so upset. Finding the right people and confining in them helps these situations. I know I have connections with people who I could tell my problems or deepest thoughts and would not get judged.

Mental health is seen as complicated and it can take strength and courage to overcome it or even open up about it. As well as dealing with an illness it is also complicated dealing with someone else's issues. It can be tough when you don't always know the right thing to say. Being too direct or not direct enough, you don't want to feel like you're harassing them but on the flip side you don't want the person to feel like they haven't got anyone. A support network doesn't always have to be one person you could have several people you talk to for different reasons. There could be someone who is an extremely good listener and you like to have a outburst with them. An exercise partner/ walking partner who can take your mind off the world.

At least 1 in 4 people experience a mental illness in a year therefore this is why it is important to speak to people connect with your loved ones and understand that you are not alone. Also be aware that you do not need to fix people, the sooner you start working on yourself the sooner you will find happiness within. Not getting so focused on the latest news stories at the moment and help lower anxiety as we can get so caught up in stories. Papers get paid to sell a story and the more "exciting" it seems the more readers they will get. People will always try and make news sound bigger and more dramatic if they can.

Mental illnesses are a lot more common these days than they were fifty years ago. It is more apparent also that bullying, online trolling and nasty individuals is heightened in this day and age. Everyone will always have a comment or remark to make about whatever you choose to do. If you want to start a new job because you are unhappy do it. If you do not want to buy a done up modern house then don’t, start your own project. Make the new social media account related to the new adventure you plan to take. Do what makes you happy and worry about the rest of the world at a later date.

If you want to talk to someone but you want to stay anonymous here are help lines so you can reach out. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mental-health-helplines/

Please talk. Help each other. And reach out.

Skye x