Broken Parts
May is Mental Health Awareness month. In honor of it, I figured I should write a little bit about this subject.
I have my Bachelor's in Psychology, which arguably doesn't mean diddly squat except that I'm maybe just slightly more educated than a 30 second google search, but the reason I got this degree is because I do feel passionate about mental illnesses and mental health. Originally, I wanted to be a counselor, but that didn't really pan out. Despite that, mental health is still a subject I feel strongly about. That being said, today I heard about a dumb tweet some guy made claiming social anxiety was an illness made up by pharmaceutical companies to sell drugs and that these people should just suck it up and "stop being weak." That's what inspired this little post.
First off, I believe that mental illnesses tend to all have a spectrum. Look at these things with the same sort of lens as Autism, where you have the individuals who are nonverbal and can't complete daily tasks without severe behaviors then you have the individual's who are fully functional that just maybe don't understand your jokes and view everything in a very literal sense. Things like anxiety and depression can happen in just the same fashion. Someone may suffer from anxiety and have little coping mechanisms (picking the skin off their fingers, biting their nails, following a specific routine) that get them through their days and you may never would have known unless they told you. Or you may have someone who is so crippled by it that they can't leave their house and the anxious what ifs or racing thoughts consume every aspect of them. The same with depression, maybe there's a down day where everything feels just a little bit harder or hurts a little more, or maybe you can't bring yourself to even get out of bed and face the idea of going to work that day. Mental health looks different for each person and I don't believe there's always a one size fits all definition.
Social anxiety is just one portion of the mix. Someone with it may not experience the generalized anxiety that others do where they live in a constant heightened state of fight or flight and the smallest things can build, but the idea of running to the grocery store by themselves could send them into a debilitating panic attack. Even if it's not that severe, it is still a very real reaction to a very real illness and the idea that it is made up simply to sell more medication is so mind-blowing to me. Would you tell someone with Diabetes that they don't actually need their Insulin and it exists solely for someone to make a profit off an issue that's all in their head? Of course not, but unfortunately this is still the stigma that some people have of mental illnesses.
I believe wholeheartedly that these are the types of people that make some of those that have diagnosable conditions refuse to speak up. Too many times, these people continue to suffer in silence because they're afraid, ashamed, or even embarrassed about what's going on inside of them. It's not visible, so it shouldn't matter. It's not going to change, so why bother? If they talk about it, then that's admitting that there's a problem that has to be fixed. It's admitting that they have broken parts.
But the thing is, if you suffer from any kind of mental illness you're not broken because of it. You're not weak because someone else can't see the thoughts in your head. You're not less than anyone else. In fact, I think you're stronger than a lot of people, because you've made it through every bad and dark day you've had. You've made it through every anxiety attack, every panic attack, every horrible thought or restricted meal or manic episode. You've pushed through it all and you're still going. You face the day, even if it's not every day. You get up, you're still here, and you keep trying. And that's amazing.
I don't know what it's like to have to wake up every day afraid of what it might bring, but I've known so many incredible people who do. People who are scared of therapy because they have to talk about the things that hurt or others might find out that they're not okay. I just want anyone who feels that to know it's okay to not be okay, no matter how many times you've heard that. It's okay to have those bad days. It's okay to be so scared of going out by yourself that it makes you physically ill. It's even okay if you can't make it out of bed today. Don't let people like Dumb Twitter Guy make you feel like counseling or needing medication to help you get through or even talking about a problem, makes you any less whole. I'm a big advocate for those things, because everyone needs a little help sometimes. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
I hope one day this stigma doesn't exist anymore, because these problems are real and have impacts on so many people's lives. I wish everyone understood that.
It's Mental Health Awareness Month. Be kind to those around you, you never know what could be going on inside their mind.
I have my Bachelor's in Psychology, which arguably doesn't mean diddly squat except that I'm maybe just slightly more educated than a 30 second google search, but the reason I got this degree is because I do feel passionate about mental illnesses and mental health. Originally, I wanted to be a counselor, but that didn't really pan out. Despite that, mental health is still a subject I feel strongly about. That being said, today I heard about a dumb tweet some guy made claiming social anxiety was an illness made up by pharmaceutical companies to sell drugs and that these people should just suck it up and "stop being weak." That's what inspired this little post.
First off, I believe that mental illnesses tend to all have a spectrum. Look at these things with the same sort of lens as Autism, where you have the individuals who are nonverbal and can't complete daily tasks without severe behaviors then you have the individual's who are fully functional that just maybe don't understand your jokes and view everything in a very literal sense. Things like anxiety and depression can happen in just the same fashion. Someone may suffer from anxiety and have little coping mechanisms (picking the skin off their fingers, biting their nails, following a specific routine) that get them through their days and you may never would have known unless they told you. Or you may have someone who is so crippled by it that they can't leave their house and the anxious what ifs or racing thoughts consume every aspect of them. The same with depression, maybe there's a down day where everything feels just a little bit harder or hurts a little more, or maybe you can't bring yourself to even get out of bed and face the idea of going to work that day. Mental health looks different for each person and I don't believe there's always a one size fits all definition.
Social anxiety is just one portion of the mix. Someone with it may not experience the generalized anxiety that others do where they live in a constant heightened state of fight or flight and the smallest things can build, but the idea of running to the grocery store by themselves could send them into a debilitating panic attack. Even if it's not that severe, it is still a very real reaction to a very real illness and the idea that it is made up simply to sell more medication is so mind-blowing to me. Would you tell someone with Diabetes that they don't actually need their Insulin and it exists solely for someone to make a profit off an issue that's all in their head? Of course not, but unfortunately this is still the stigma that some people have of mental illnesses.
I believe wholeheartedly that these are the types of people that make some of those that have diagnosable conditions refuse to speak up. Too many times, these people continue to suffer in silence because they're afraid, ashamed, or even embarrassed about what's going on inside of them. It's not visible, so it shouldn't matter. It's not going to change, so why bother? If they talk about it, then that's admitting that there's a problem that has to be fixed. It's admitting that they have broken parts.
But the thing is, if you suffer from any kind of mental illness you're not broken because of it. You're not weak because someone else can't see the thoughts in your head. You're not less than anyone else. In fact, I think you're stronger than a lot of people, because you've made it through every bad and dark day you've had. You've made it through every anxiety attack, every panic attack, every horrible thought or restricted meal or manic episode. You've pushed through it all and you're still going. You face the day, even if it's not every day. You get up, you're still here, and you keep trying. And that's amazing.
I don't know what it's like to have to wake up every day afraid of what it might bring, but I've known so many incredible people who do. People who are scared of therapy because they have to talk about the things that hurt or others might find out that they're not okay. I just want anyone who feels that to know it's okay to not be okay, no matter how many times you've heard that. It's okay to have those bad days. It's okay to be so scared of going out by yourself that it makes you physically ill. It's even okay if you can't make it out of bed today. Don't let people like Dumb Twitter Guy make you feel like counseling or needing medication to help you get through or even talking about a problem, makes you any less whole. I'm a big advocate for those things, because everyone needs a little help sometimes. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
I hope one day this stigma doesn't exist anymore, because these problems are real and have impacts on so many people's lives. I wish everyone understood that.
It's Mental Health Awareness Month. Be kind to those around you, you never know what could be going on inside their mind.
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