Be kind to yourself, be kind to others, and be kind to animals (all of them!). It’s free and the simplest yet most beautiful and purest trait you hold. Sprinkle it anywhere and everywhere you can. It will grow seeds and help others to smile with their hearts and mean it. Be kind today, tomorrow and every day.

Mental health issues are something that are increasing more and more every day. Far too many people are made to feel alone and ashamed or embarrassed because of this. The more we speak up about this, encourage each other and others to talk openly about it, the better. One in four people experience a mental health problem each year. What more do we need to do for others to be able to openly talk about these? Going through mental health issues is hard enough without the judgments or fears of what society thinks or will say. These worries and fears shouldn’t even exist and they wouldn’t if we raise more awareness. It is more important at this moment than ever to talk about mental health. This year it has fallen in the middle of this weird time!

FEELING ALONE AND ASKING FOR HELP

Feeling alone is something that you can’t really run away from. Loneliness glues itself to you when you begin to fall ill. You feel it and cannot scrape it off. Always remember … You are not alone, there are many different helplines, forums and groups to join. Not everyone has a support system they can rely on so please use the apps available to reach out. Sometimes even the people that support you don’t understand and you just want to reach out and speak to someone who does. I have an extremely supportive and loving family yet I never feel like they quite understand why I feel the way I do. I use a mental health app and talk to a therapist. Multiple therapists. This may be something that will help you. It’s hard to start as it feels like you ‘need’ help but it is okay to need help and reach for it. It takes a strong person to admit to not feeling right rather than carrying on pretending or trying to hide how you truly feel. When I started feeling this way and people would ask if I’m okay, I couldn’t just say…’yeah, I’m fine’, I would start getting teary and just cry in front of them. I would say I feel strange and weird. Like I’m not me. Not myself. Empty. Like I’m not really here. I knew they never really understood but I had to tell people how I really felt. That I am not okay. I’m not happy. I’m not well. Everyone has their struggles and are fighting every day. We forget this. It’s easy for people to smile and pretend but you never know what truly goes on inside someone’s mind or heart. More reason to be understanding and thoughtful and most importantly, kind! Love helps but with love there needs to be understanding. Otherwise your love becomes meaningless.

When I started feeling this way, people noticed, someone said to me, ‘it seems like you have lost your spark’ – this made me cry. I am not someone that can pretend to be okay, I crumble and cry when people ask if I’m okay. The more someone asked if I’m okay the more I would cry. I don’t know. I cry for everything. I wrote in a previous blogpost about crying and there is nothing wrong with crying. You are only human. We hurt, we cry and we fall apart but that’s the beauty of life. You then have to learn to dry your own tears, pick yourself up and gather your pieces back together.

Most of the helplines and app are free for you to download and use. Sometimes sharing things with a stranger over the phone or on an app is easier then telling someone you have known for years. There are lines you can text if you cannot speak. At times, I would cry so much on the phone that no words really came out and it was too hard to talk.

You are not alone and you are strong. Let’s be more understanding and raise awareness.

Virtual hugs and love to you all x x

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *