May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
Did those words Mental Health make you feel uncomfortable? You can admit it. Those words make a lot of people uncomfortable. That’s why we need to say it more.
Started in 1949, this is the 70th Mental Health Awareness month. While progress has been made in these past 70 years, there is still a stigma that goes along with a mental health and mental illness.
If you were to have diabetes, or get diagnosed with cancer, you would probably tell someone, you would go get treatment. But when it comes to issues with mental health, people are less likely to tell someone, to seek treatment, to get the help that they need.
We need to be more supportive of people who admit they are struggling. When you tell a person suffering from depression to “cheer up,” or ask them what they have to be depressed about, you’re doing more harm than good. Not only do they feel worse, they’re less likely to reach out in the future.
Anxiety is the same way. You can’t tell someone with anxiety not to worry, or don’t think about it. That’s the issue. They can’t always control it. It’s like your friend slicing their finger open while preparing dinner, and you tell them, “Don’t bleed.”
Now, for a confession. I have a mental illness. I have depression. I’ve had it for as long as I can remember, but I wasn’t officially diagnosed until I was 25. It’s extremely difficult at times, when I feel like I’ve fallen into a pit that I cannot get out of. When I’m so mentally exhausted of dealing with day to day life that I just want to sleep. When the smallest of mistakes make me feel like the stupidest person in the world, and I beat myself up over it.
Thankfully, as I write this, I’m not in that hole. I’m living with depression now, not suffering from it.
Because of my struggles, and the struggles of family and friends, I have participated in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Out of the Darkness Walk for the past couple years, and will participate again this year.
If you are interested in making a donation to the AFSP, here is my fundraising link:
And, if any of my donates $10 or more, you’ll get a small gift from me. In the comment/message section of the donation form, make sure to put in “Project Spread Love,” so I know you’re a reader.
For more information on Mental Health Awareness month, visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness website:
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