Who's we ( If you have to ask who ChickenMan is, clearly you didnt listen to the radio as a kid... )? We is us, the mentally ill. The one's who have depression, anxiety disorder, PND, schizophrenia, multiple personalities. We're everywhere and everyone, and i wanted to take this chance during National Mental Health Week to let the rest of you in on a secret - we're not crazy. Or dangerous. As Matchbox Twenty once put it " I'm not crazy, i'm just a little unwell ". Kudos to you Rob Thomas and band - that sums it up pretty damn well.
I've posted about it on here before a bazillion times but i'm not ashamed to say it again - i have previously suffered from clincial depression and social anxiety disorder. I say previously because i'm not in that dark place anymore, but i know and appreciate that there is always a chance i could succumb again at some stage. If i do it will be okay, because i know i'll have the strength to come through it again. I suffered for a long time, but with a lot of hardwork, great support, and an eventual break in those pyschological barriers, i've gotten better. I've achieved a few personal milestones that in my darkest times i though could only be found under a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Or, in other words, in a fantasy land that i just wasnt every going to get to. But here i am, living the dream, or at least parts of it.
So i'm living proof that mentally ill people are:
a) everyday people. The people you know, the people you meet on the street, the people who work at the mall.
b) not always going to be mentally ill. Just because they're living in the darkness or in a muddled foggy cloud, doesnt mean they wont ever find the sunshine again. Be patient. Be supportive. Be there.
c) not a scourge on society. I couldnt be a scourge if i tried!
I know some of you out there have current mental health issues that your fighting and to you i say - be strong. You CAN do it. In the spirit of Mental Health Week i'm sending you positive vibes and all my cyber love. To those of you are mentally fit and competent i say - congratulations! Oh, and could you please spare some good vibes and cyber love and send it out to everyone under a black cloud this week?
What a beautiful insightful post..thanks for sharing and am so glad you have found your sunshine :)
ReplyDeleteThanks to my son being a good boy and sleeping this morning I am half way through making you a crayon roll. I will just need an address to send it :)
My email address is haylez24@gmail.com
The colors are the same as I had left over material :p
All very true! You know that I have a history of depression but am well now, like you I know I could fall again at any time. People always seem surprised when I tell them about it, the usual response is 'You don't look like you had depression'. Um, what am I supposed to look like then?!
ReplyDeleteIf you'd told me at my darkest point that I would be well again and be able to be off meds for 4 years I wouldn't have believed you but it's true. You can find the sunshine again, the darkness doesn't last.
Great post, Did you know that Mental Health Week has this year been changed to Mental Health Month - for all of October. Gives us a much better chance to put the issues out there and raise awareness. Check out the Mental Health Association Website for more info about it - if you are interested. And keep talking. Its people like you who work so wonderfully towards distigmatizing Mental Illness. xxx
ReplyDelete