Happy Mental Health Day doesn’t seem right to say. But this is an important day, marked annually on the 10th of October. It is a day to acknowledge and discuss mental health, to bring it out of the shadows and into the conversation. You should discuss your mental health more than just today, and you should be heard for it. But having this day dedicated is an acknowledgement of it, it is an opportunity to spur the conversation.
So here are some quotes about mental health to get you started, and to remind you once more that you are not alone in your struggle.
Many claim to accept mental illness yet believe that you shouldn’t mention it, you especially shouldn’t discuss it online. But if mental illness and mental health struggles are acceptable, then they are also welcome in the public sphere. By forcing it into a box, we only make it more difficult and further fuel the idea that it shouldn’t be mentioned, as no one mentions it.
It is corny and a cliche, but once you start talking about your pain, it gets easier. Sharing your burden lessens its power over you. Saying it out loud makes it feel far more manageable.
All in favour of leaving toxic positivity behind when we enter the new year? Yes, optimism is powerful and motivational. But let’s not pretend that everything is good when it isn’t. Share your struggles to give others the space to share yours.
Particularly as women, we’re led to believe that we need to be bright and bubbly. Well, many days, I am dark and quiet and want to be alone. That is my reality, and it does not make me any less.
You cannot help someone who is not ready to be helped. The decision must come from within. That applies to you, the one struggling as well. You can go to therapy sessions, but unless you are baring your soul for them, being honest about every dark thought and behaviour, you won’t get better. You need to want to get better, to believe that you can.
Hustler culture is exhausting. It makes us think that we should be going 110 miles per hour every hour of every day. Self-care is not a one size fits all. It depends on the person and it depends on the day. Sometimes I push myself to go for a run or write an article, as I know that the pride of completing the task will pull me up. But sometimes, I binge the worst show I can find on Netflix and eat whatever snacks I can find as I need that too. Check-in with yourself and see what works for you and when it does.
You are not less for your struggle and your pain. I spent many years feeling broken, feeling like I was damaged goods. But then I found someone who saw the beauty in my pain, simply because I was still here, despite it all. In many ways, you will be a better person for your struggles with mental health or illness, even if it just because you will lay yourself open for others.
You deserve to get better. Even when your mind tricks you into thinking that you don’t. You deserve to get better, and you will get better. I do not doubt that. Your mental health is a priority; it is not a burden on someone else; it is something you deserve to have going well for you. You are your own priority, and don’t let anyone make you feel guilty for that.
You are strong, simply by still being here. Every day that you choose to get up and try your best is an accomplishment. You are tyring your best, and that is all that people can ask of you. You are on your journey, and you will reach the light on the other side. Some days will be easier than others; sometimes you’ll think you’re at the top of it and then tumble down. But you have a strength in you that you could never have imagined, and that you must show the world.
Are more people depressed nowadays? Or are we simply more open about our struggle, encouraging others to do the same? I got diagnosed with a personality disorder and discovered two friends had the same one. Coincidence? Maybe we attract each other, perhaps we’re at the same age, or maybe we supported each other enough to get help and be open about our disorder.
You are not alone. Don’t let your thoughts or haters ever tell you so. 3.4% of the population suffers from depression, and 3.8% struggle with an anxiety disorder. It is common, and by talking about it, we get to see that in practice.
You don’t need to have a personality disorder to sympathise with mine; I don’t need to have Schizophrenia to acknowledge and appreciate the difficulty it poses. We just need to consider the feelings of our darkest days and know that the individual suffers similarly. We need to believe what people say. Mental illnesses are not about attention, even when someone wants people to know about their struggle, it still isn’t about attention.
You can tell someone that you don’t understand, you never will be able to, but that you’re sorry for the struggle and you’re here for them. That’s all they need to hear. Be that person for someone else, even if you didn’t have one when you needed it most. We may differ in our mental health struggles, but we stand together in our compassion.
A quote from a fictional character, but a quote that hits close to home. I’ve spent so long being scared of my mind. The dark thoughts it produces, seemingly out of nowhere, and the scary things it would make me do. As someone with BPD, my feelings don’t always make sense, the simplest happenings will be twisted into something ugly. But the minute you say the thoughts out loud, share them to another or put ink to paper, they lose their power over you. You will grow to control your mind.
The list is endless, so many people have formed the most beautiful words about this subject, utilising their experiences. But here are the ten that stood out to me today. Feel free to add some in the comments, and to give others the chance to be charmed by the words that touched you most.
Welcome to Symptoms of Living! A place where I like to relieve myself of the barrage of thoughts and ideas filling my mind. Here I'll take a look at various topics, from books to BPD, series to self-harm, there's nothing that we can't, and shouldn't, talk about.
Having struggled with mental illness since the age of 15, one of the hardest parts was how alone I felt in it. While mental illness is beginning to be discussed more openly, and featured in the media, I still think there is room for improvement. So whether it is mental illness or merely mental health, a bad day or a bad year, let's make this a place to approach it and strip it back. Everyone has their own symptoms of living, and you certainly won't be the only one with it.
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