This blog post may seem out of place on a writer’s website but it’s Mental Health Awareness Week and as it’s something I’m very passionate about I feel like it warrants a few words.
To me the term ‘mental health’ is getting confused with ‘mental health illness’ and anyone who is suffering from the latter seems to get tarred with the former. I think it’s important to recognise that every single person on the planet has mental health; it’s a huge part of what makes you tick, just like all those vital organs squished inside your body! Our thoughts, both good and bad, are with us every day and I’m a firm believer that we must listen to them. I’ve had various issues with my mental health over the years, some of it has been because I suffer with diabetes and other times there’s been issues with loneliness and a whole bunch of other not so fun stuff. One of my main ‘quirks’ shall we say is that I am able to worry about EVERYTHING. I can stress about the big things like money and my career but I can also get pretty het up about how many runs I can fit in this week or if I’ve got enough washed socks. I know how it sounds. I’m always trying to find out how best to cope when I’m in one of those moods and often sitting down and working on a piece of writing is a huge release for me. Not only do I lose myself in a world I’m creating but I also get a little sense of achievement. As someone who has always been driven by achieving a goal (rightly or wrongly) even just nailing a paragraph I’ve been struggling to write for a while can put a huge smile on my face and get me out of my head. Other times I just want to binge watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine, not talk to a single soul and allow myself to regroup. But writing is definitely what gives me a buzz and even more so since I’ve let some of my crazy ideas out into the world. The response I’ve had since asking for proof-readers has just been so overwhelmingly lovely that I’ve almost been in tears (I also tend to get irrationally emotional when people are nice to me, it’s super inconvenient) and such a surprise. I definitely underestimated how many people would be more than happy to help me just because I asked. And what does this have to do with Mental Health Awareness Week? Well, at the risk of sounding preachy/cheesy/self-riotous and all the other sanctimonious words that come to mind I think that despite what the media may have you believe we are all still part of a community, whether we know it and believe it or not. It could be as small as just you and your partner or it could be that weekly yoga class you’ve been going to for years. Either way, my point is (I promise I’ll get to it) if you’re feeling low or just not quite yourself please get in touch with someone. You don’t even necessarily have to tell them everything that’s going on, I know how hard that can be, but it’s important to reach out in some way. As my incredibly wise mother has said to me; you owe it to yourself to feel good. P.S It’s also worth checking out https://www.mind.org.uk/!
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