#MentalHealthAwarenessWeek

Honestly who’s really surprised that after not posting anything for a while, my post is about #mentalhealthawarenessweek? 

Those of you who I’m close to will know I have depression and anxiety, and will likely already know how hard it can be (mostly because I’m always moody!) but in all seriousness, I think it’s so important to be open and to speak out about this so others can get help. Believe me, it is THE hardest thing to be able to gain the confidence to ask for help, or even to admit that you need help - god knows it took me long enough! It’s really really scary but once you get over that step, there are so many resources out there to help any and everyone, like medication, therapy, or even just having a friend to cry on (you all know who you are and I honestly cannot thank you enough). 

I know I’ve already written a post about this topic, but it’s obviously something close to my heart, and it’s still seen as a somewhat taboo subject, that I think it just makes it even more important to raise the discussion about it, because realistically that’s the only way anything will change! 

I’ve seen a lot of tweets recently about how young people ‘shouldn’t’ be depressed this young because they don’t have to pay bills, they don’t have a lot of responsibility, and stupid things like that. Just want to take this one moment to say that if you think that; screw you and please don’t talk to me, I’m more than happy to never speak to someone who thinks that - it’s absolute bullshit. We are under an enormous amount of pressure from exams, having a decent job, saving money for the future, all while trying to appear happy. I know that for me at least, this concept of needing to appear happy all the time has really screwed me over because I’m dealing with things and feelings now that I could’ve dealt with years ago when it first happened, instead of feeling the need to suppress them to make others happy, which has just worked completely backward - and I’m sure a lot of us out there feel the same way.

Personally I think the hardest thing about MH is that there is rarely a straight answer as to why we feel this way, it just is, and people who don’t suffer from a form MH find that hard to understand, because surely you would think there’d be a reason for everything? It’s not your fault if you don’t know why you’re sad, and it’s totally normal, and that’s okay. 

There are so many different forms of MH, and different ways of how people deal with it, and (nearly all) of them are okay. Just be supportive, and don’t be a dick to people, and the world will be a happier place!

I know it’s quite rambly, and I’ve already said all of this in my last post about it, but dealing with this stuff day in, day out is really hard, and if people can read this and know that they’re not alone in it, then I’m happy.

George xx