Mental Health awareness with one word

Mental health awareness is so important to those who suffer from mental health issues, but is still barely on the radar of those who have no contact with it. This is a massive problem, because it means that those who are uneducated in mental health are unprepared to deal with it. Awareness is important so that when you do come across mental illness, whether it be you, a family member, a co-worker or a friend, you both have a better sense of what it is they're fighting. Understanding your enemies is the first step to conquering them.

I can talk forever about my experiences with mental health, and I hope part of that can help others come to terms with it, but if awareness is going to improve, understanding needs to cover a larger spectrum than one person’s experience.

Over this week I have asked dozens of people, all with a mental health problem of some description, to describe their mental health issue using one word. Despite my own experiences, I was still shocked at how emotive and all-consuming the responses were. These words come from a range of people who experience a huge range of disorders, from Depression to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Eating Disorders and Post Natal Depression, among many more. These are words which everyone should read and consider. Think about how your life may be different with a constant feeling of your mental health being:

restricting, limiting, consuming, misunderstood, crushing, disconnected, soul-sucking, emotional, debilitating, overwhelming, frustrating, asphyxiating, guilty, crushing, absorbing, isolating, exhausting, crushing, looming, sporadic, engulfing, mountainous.

 

They feel ‘worthlessness’.  ‘Resigned’. Like a ‘Burden’. ‘Cursed’ even. These are all words from people who are surviving like this every day, putting on a face to hide feeling like they are ‘limited’ or ‘disconnected’.

But two words stood out to me; the first is  ‘Determined’.

On a list of heart breaking words, determination still finds a place.

Because mental health sufferers may find it limiting, exhausting, turbulent and overwhelming, but the important part is that we live with these things every day, we face this alongside every normal day to day activity, and we survive. We push through, and the stigma attached means that we often fight it in silence, we go through the pain alone, scared that if we confide in someone they will judge us, or decide we aren't worth the friendship. In reality, we are people who have a huge capacity to understand your emotions without judging you. We know how it feels to have to to fight with ourselves, we know how to be brave and we know how important listening is.

The second word which stood out to me was lonely. It was the only word which was repeated by more than one person. It was the most popular word. Lonely isn’t a symptom, lonely is someone being let down by the people around them when they most need them. Lonely is being too scared to ask for help, lonely is why there is a barrier between those who suffer from mental health issues and those who don’t.

Mental health issues are often romanticised or joked about. Casual references to ‘I’m so OCD’ or ‘i'm so bored I’m going to kill myself’, or even ‘just lighten up, you’re not depressed your just lazy’ can be so hurtful, and are all things I’ve heard people say. So now I want you to remember some of those words above, just one will do, and re-think what you’re saying. Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt every day. It’s in your power to make sure the next person doesn’t make ‘lonely’ their word. And one day, the word can be recovered, or hope.

And if you're someone who does have a mental health issue, I hope you're proud, because fighting invisible illness is so scary, and I'm proud of you for doing it every day. I am proud of your ‘determination’, even if it comes alongside feeling‘emotional’ and ‘crushed’.