It doesn’t individualise
Like me, you might sometimes wonder ‘why?’, why do these bad thoughts and feelings repeatedly happen to me? Well, I can tell you for free, the exact reason why.
You might be new to mental health, you might not have experienced it yet, or you might be a veteran who has battled with it for 20 years or more, just like me. But regardless of where you are on that journey, those childlike questions never seem to stop – why?
Mental health takes no prisoners – to put it bluntly – it doesn’t care who it targets…
It doesn’t see gender.
It doesn’t see religion.
It doesn’t see race.
It doesn’t see disability.
It doesn’t see sexual orientation.
It doesn’t see anything else.
The only thing it preys upon is the delicate human mind.
It’s all about the how
Once you’re ‘comfortable’, and I use that word lightly, with why mental health does what it does, it’s then all about finding out the other answer to another type of questions we constantly ponder in life – how?
Now that you’ve accepted (and this is not an easy thing to do by the way!) that mental health has a grip on your mind, how can I stop it?
Well, personally, I don’t think you’ll ever be able to stop this completely, I’ve accepted that I will have these types of thoughts for the rest of my life.
Since my worst, which I label as my rock bottom, 10 years ago now in 2016, things have gradually become better, a lot more so in the last couple of years – I understand more, I manage better, I know the signs of when I’m about to feel ‘low’, and I am 100% open about things – hence DONTHIDE.
The world is NOT against you
Read the above over and over again until it resonates with you and sticks in your mind.
This is one of the most important things to remember because, no matter how bad you feel, and no matter how bad things can sometimes seem, the world really isn’t against you.
In reality, we are just specks of dust floating around aimlessly while everything else continues to happen – politics, wars, famine, crime, you get the picture.
Whether we like it or not, everything around us keeps happening. It’s just the way life is.
Personally, I find that really hard to comprehend. I sometimes think about what would happen if I wasn’t here and say to myself, “How the hell does the world keep going without me?” – not in a selfish way, but more in the sense that it’s simply unimaginable.
Mental health isn’t any form of sentient being, and it’s not something physical, it’s all mental, and no matter how you feel, Earth will keep on spinning…
If you feel low.
If you feel tired.
If you feel bored.
If you feel happy.
If you feel anxious.
If you feel overwhelmed.
If you feel lonely.
If you feel lost.
If you feel stressed.
If you feel angry.
If you feel frustrated.
If you feel numb.
If you feel stuck.
If you feel afraid.
If you feel restless.
If you feel disconnected.
If you feel unmotivated.
If you feel uncertain.
If you feel heartbroken.
If you feel exhausted.
If you feel misunderstood.
If you feel hopeful.
If you feel grateful.
If you feel proud.
If you feel worried.
If you feel nervous.
If you feel hopeless.
If you feel guilty.
If you feel ashamed.
If you feel jealous.
If you feel resentful.
If you feel impatient.
If you feel calm.
If you feel relaxed.
If you feel excited.
If you feel inspired.
If you feel motivated.
If you feel confident.
If you feel loved.
If you feel lonely.
If you feel broken.
If you feel defeated.
If you feel frightened.
If you feel discouraged.
If you feel overwhelmed.
If you feel abandoned.
If you feel invisible.
If you feel confused.
If you feel burdened.
If you feel doubtful.
If you feel fragile.
If you feel relieved.
If you feel joyful.
If you feel hopeful.
If you feel angry.
If you feel bitter.
If you feel resentful.
If you feel guilty.
If you feel ashamed.
If you feel embarrassed.
If you feel regretful.
If you feel impatient.
If you feel restless.
If you feel distracted.
If you feel pressured.
If you feel trapped.
If you feel uncertain.
If you feel insecure.
If you feel unsupported.
If you feel peaceful.
If you feel grateful.
If you feel optimistic.
If you feel refreshed.
If you feel empowered.
Yep, you’ve guessed it… no matter which one of the above is you, we’re still spinning. Round and round we go, just like that teddy bear in the garden… gosh, I bet he feels sick by now after all those rotations!
The moral of the story is to realise that nothing and nobody is against you, but we are battling with something; our own minds.
With the right mindset, perseverance, tenacity, drive and determination… we can beat it!
