We are a family. A family that has been affected by Mental Illness in more ways than we can count. We are a licensed Therapist. We are a former Addict. We are a mother who struggles herself but keeps it in so that she can be strong for her family. We may be your neighbor. Or maybe your coworker. We are the same people that sat across the restaurant from you last weekend, or rubbed elbows with you at that concert. We share our stories with you because we fought our battles alone for so long. It's the reason one of us became a therapist and went into the mental health field. It's the reason we have regular check ins when we don't hear from each other. It's the reason we fight unending for what we believe in and the reason we love passionately and fearlessly. We've seen each other through the worst. Now we get to see each other through the best.
Initially we wanted to share our family story of addiction. However, we quickly realized that it didn't really start, or end, there. We faced so much hatred during that time. So much disgust through our struggles that it became our identity. We lost friends. We lost hope. We searched and searched for help. We made phone calls day and night. But this was before addiction was a widely known and talked about topic and we came up empty handed and navigating it on our own for years. But we persevered as a family. We stood up against the stigma. And we are here to stand up with you. We hope that our words bring comfort to some and insight to others. A staggering 47.6 million adults in the US have experienced some form of mental illness (https://www.nami.org/mhstats). It's time we start standing together instead hiding in shame.
That's the stigma. Because unfortunately, we live in a world where if you break your arm, everyone runs over to sign your cast. But if you tell people you're depressed, everyone runs the other way. That's the stigma. We are so, so, so accepting of any body part breaking down, other than our brains. And that's ignorance. That's pure ignorance. And that ignorance has created a world that doesn't understand depression. That doesn't understand mental health.
~Kevin Breel
~Confessions of a Depressed Comic
I WANT TO INSPIRE PEOPLE. I WANT SOMEONE TO LOOK AT ME AND SAY, "BECAUSE OF YOU, I DIDN'T GIVE UP."
Sometimes, a bad day turns into a bad week, which finally becomes a bad month, which ends up leading to generalized bad times. And you struggle. You feel like you've been thrown into a battlefield you did most certainly not ask for. But you are here. And you have to keep fighting. Sometimes, staying alive is like taking a spoonful of the medicine you hate the most. This syrup solution is bitter, hard to swallow and straight up disgusting. So you block your nose with the other hand and drink it anyways because you have no other options. The same thing happens here. When you don't want to fight anymore because you are just so tired, all you have to do is to blindly trust you're gonna make it out alive. You have to keep fighting. Even if you are crawling on the floor. I don't care, you've got to keep fighting.
Life goes on after death; you will go on after bad times. I promise.
~Author Unknown
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental illness and doesn't know where to go, please visit the link below, to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, to get connected with services in your area. Stay well my friends.