It's Mental Health week
I'm sure there's a week or a day out there for just about any cause you could possibly dream up but having a week to focus on Mental Health is a pretty good idea, IMHO. (Note: for older internet readers, or people who've just never gotten the whole Using Capital Letters To Spell Out Whole Phrases, IMHO means In My Humble Opinion. It is most frequently used when people have opinions that are actually not humble. They hold them loud and they hold them strong and they'll fight for them IPCTS - if push comes to shove. I just made that one up though, so don't worry about learning a whole other acronym, or initialism, as I've just seen it called.)
Anyway. Mental Health.
As a teenager I once heard about someone who had committed suicide. We whispered it quietly. He had.... depression. We looked around to make sure no one was listening in. When someone had a breakdown it was noted with wide-open eyes and a sense of, 'well, some people...'
Stigma reigned. But that was the time.
I'm glad we talk about mental health issues openly these days, although, apparently, according to the radio today, people still don't share their struggles as much as the experts say we should. I find it easy to say, "Hey, I had depression. I struggled." But maybe that's because it's past tense and I don't take Zoloft any more.
Of course, depression isn't all there is in 'mental health' issues.
We went on holidays last week and I'll tell you: by the last day I was pretty convinced that I was going a little nuts myself. High anxiety, long, strung out conversations with myself in my head, generally feeling a bit cray-cray and not my regular self at all. (NTOR - note to older readers: cray-cray is modern speak for crazy.) Of course, saying that probably isn't very respectful or PC or the way you should refer to Mental Health issues at all. But when I feel that way, I really do question my own ability to cope with life.
{BTW - NTOR, 'by the way' - once I got home, I was back to normal. Turns out going on holidays with four kids isn't necessarily the most relaxing thing you could ever do....}
Many, many people I know and love struggle with mental health issues. Some have PTSD, others have depression. Some are bipolar, others have been dissociative. A small number have tried to end their lives. I'm so glad they were not successful.
I feel fortunate to (mostly) know what my brain is doing and to feel relatively emotionally stable for the majority of my days. But I know that it's not that easy for many, many others. FInd someone to help. Get what you need. Support groups can be awesome things.
Let's be aware of what people struggle with. Let's find ways to support them. Let's talk about mental health.