It’s World Mental Health Day a brilliant cause introduced by the world health organisation, which aims to get people talking about these often “invisible” illnesses that seem to generate stigma and therefore are dismissed as trivial or “all in someones head”.
The day also provides an opportunity "for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide".
As I personally suffer with a mental illness i thought i should have actually have a look at the figures. Although I knew they would be high I was astonished to find that 1 in 4 people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives.
Around 450 million people currently suffer from such conditions, placing mental disorders among the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide.
Understandably everyone is different with how they like to deal with their struggle, some people write many status’ about it on social media and I have so much respect for people who do.
I personally do not hide that I have a mental illness and if somebody asked me I would completely say yes, however I prefer to only go in-depth about it with close friends and people I feel comfortable with and only when i am really struggling.
I’m a big believer in the law of attraction and not labelling myself too much and therefore I don’t like defining myself as a person with anxiety over and over as I think it puts me solely in to that category and I am so much more than that and one day hope to overcome it completely and so don’t want to draw anxious energy and thoughts to myself by bringing it up alot.
That being said on this day of awareness I do believe it’s important to speak about something that is so frequently being swept under the rug or being dealt with by doctors with a one size fits all approach when mental illnesses are all different and require a tailored solution.
An example of this is I have 3 friends with mental illness one has bipolar and personality disorder, one has general anxiety, one has depression and I have social anxiety. We have all be prescribed the same thing by different doctors ?! Would you prescribe someone with Crohn's disease the same thing as someone with epilepsy? Of corse not.
I’m glad that these issues are receiving recognition and I hope that more research goes in to them and society as a whole gains a greater understanding. I have suffered with social anxiety for as long as I can remember. You probably wouldn't know by looking at me or spending time with me but there's a constant hidden battle going on inside my head. With ‘easy’ things such as going to the supermarket regularly being a struggle.
I don't want people to feel sorry for me, I am not a victim. I (along with any other sufferers) are actually badasses for getting through each day like a boss despite the extra challenges that people without an illness don't have.
I just want to raise awareness that Mental illness often can't be seen but that doesn't mean it's not there.
You never know what someone is going through on the inside so be kind. ALWAYS

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