may: mental health awareness month
for those who don’t know, may is mental health awareness month. for one month, the goal is to provide support, educate the public and fight the stigma. it’s important because there are millions (1 in 5 adults to be exact) who struggle with a mental illness.
if you’re an avid reader, you know that i struggle with anxiety and have for a few years now. and since i have my own platform to speak freely, i think it’s important to talk about it. however, i have a hard time talking about it - it may not seem like it because i’ve mentioned it a few times in my blogs, but i do. i guess i’m not sure why i do, there’s nothing to be ashamed about. so i’m writing this to encourage others to feel comfortable talking about it too.
growing up, i was one of those people who didn’t think anxiety was ‘real’ which sounds silly to say. i don’t know if it’s because i was too young to understand or because i didn’t want to accept that i struggled with it. in high school, i had extremely bad panic attacks. but i never told anyone and never did anything about it because i didn’t realize life shouldn’t be that way. i always thought if i was struggling with my own mental health then i should be able to fix it myself. will anyone care? am i just being dramatic? what are these doctors/psychologists going to tell me that will actually make a difference? those were some of my thoughts for the longest time. i refused to talk about it and fought every therapist that suggested being prescribed anxiety medication. so, it’s okay if you aren’t ready for therapy. my advice would be to focus on what brings you the most anxiety and how you calm yourself down when it’s at its worst.
eventually, i went to therapy all throughout college. i still didn’t want to but i wasn’t sleeping at all, my hair was falling out and sometimes if my anxiety was bad enough, i would start to throw up. so that’s when i decided it was time to talk to someone. and it helped, but i still wasn’t where i wanted to be. i mean - i’m still not where i want to be but i’m working on it and that’s all that matters. these things take time and what you do in that time is what matters.
lately, i worry a lot about other people who struggle with mental illness. we are all going through something most of us haven’t experienced before - people are stuck at home, getting laid off, losing loved ones, working on the front lines during a worldwide pandemic. i think it’s important to make a point to check on our friends and family - call them and ask them how they’re really doing. it helps them to know that they can count on you even when you have your own things going on. even if they don’t want to talk about it, it helps to just pass the time with a loved one.
if you take anything from this blog, i want you to know it’s okay if you struggle with your mental health. you are not alone. so, together, let’s all fight the stigma around mental health and start showing compassion to everyone, especially those who need it most right now. sending you all love and light during these difficult times. -t
♡
click here for my blog on practicing self love.
click here for my blog on managing anxiety during a pandemic.
click here to learn more about mental illness and who you can call.