Night Time Thoughts

Over the past two weeks, I’ve noticed a lot more people struggling with theirs as well and feeling very alone. Even though mental illness is more talked about now, it still has a negative stigma. People shouldn’t be afraid to be open about who they are and what they have. Depression is a mental illness that is commonly talked about, but not all of it is talked about. Not a lot of people talk about how it makes it really difficult to do things such as washing your hair, brushing your teeth, taking a shower or even getting out of bed. It not ‘poetic’ to literally want to die every single day and have to search for reasons why you shouldn’t kill yourself. It’s not ‘edgy’ to cry yourself to sleep every single night because you hate yourself so much. What’s worse is that I can talk about my depression and have (most) people not judge me. But when it comes to other mental illnesses/ disorders such as PTSD, Borderline Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Dissociative Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder and so many more, people generally feel judged. Because for a lot of these disorders/ illnesses they have negative connotations associated with them. Ignorance is the killer of knowledge.

How can we as a society preach awareness of mental health, yet make others feel shame for speaking about theirs? I’m not saying that everyone does this, but enough people do to the point where a lot of us are afraid to speak out about our mental health. I have been hospitalized for my depression and anxiety in the past and am currently in a partial hospitalization program (PHP). One thing that I’ve noticed in both settings is that people are afraid to get help because the mental health care system needs reforming. We’re afraid to tell others how we feel or what we’re experiencing because we don’t want to be placed in a hospital where we can’t attend school, can’t work and for a lot of people, can’t take care of their children. The more we talk about mental health and take it more seriously, the more change can happen. We have to be educated in the reality of the world. Mental health is just as important as physical and emotional health. Once we start realizing the importance, maybe then we can start to reform the way society views all mental disorders/ illnesses and end the negative stigma.