We’ve all been there. In fact, we might all be here right now to some degree or another. It may very possibly be that you’d say to yourself, “no, not me”. It may be something you just don’t believe you’d be susceptible to. It’s, also, easily plausible that you’ve never actually even considered it as something present in your experience.
Mental health; I say this unequivocally, we’ve all battled this.
Mental health and well-being is no longer a foreign concept to the general public. At the same time, it’s certainly not thrown into the conversation with regularity as many other of life’s challenges are. The idea of mental health is still largely perceived as an “I know someone that’s gone through some pretty tough issues but not me” type of thing.
That’s an expired paradigm that we need to shift.
Mental health is not anything that fits into a fixed parameter of definition. It’s a bunch of different things for a bunch of different people. It’s something that may affect one person that another shrugs off. It’s something that will elicit a certain response or emotion in one person whereby educe an entirely different reaction in another. It’s something that a person may be entirely cognizant to recognize within themselves or may go entirely neglected by another person. And, therein lies the immense challenge with mental health and well-being; it does not have one identity, it has seven billion.
We’ve all experienced mental challenge. I would vehemently argue that a person who struggles with confidence, who has a diminished sense of self worth, who feels unaccepted, who is challenged with receiving Love from others as well as Loving themselves, is not in a thriving place of mental health and well-being. Those who we typically deem to suffer from mental challenges are not reserved by the ability for clinical diagnosis. Just because there isn’t a fancy name from a text book to call what you’re battling, that doesn’t mean someone shouldn’t be caring about you; that doesn’t mean someone shouldn’t be helping you.
When we face the mental struggles that are a product of our perception of self, we usually just call this “life”. We’re having a few bad days or work is overly stressful or maybe we even feel a bit lost overall. And, we rely upon someone close to listen to us, to dry our tears or to hold us while we bide our time for it to pass, probably accompanied by a false “I’ll be fine” or a sweep under the proverbial rug.
Yes, there are individuals that suffer greatly from complex mental and emotional challenges that require psychological and medical attention and therapy by those that can provide it. But, for most of us, the mental and emotional challenges we face are just what’s happened to us in life; but, it doesn’t mean we don’t deserve the same.
Enough credibility toward how mentally and emotionally damaging “life” can be is not often given. But, it is very true and very real. An abusive relationship, a traumatic childhood experience, a continuing stressful environment, financial difficulties, social anxiety, occupational malcontent; the list could literally go on forever. These are all very common “life” experiences that impact our mental well-being immensely. Yet, because we don’t affix anything out of the ordinary toward these influences, we believe that we should navigate them as a part of our path through life. And, often, the pressures build, unaddressed, to a point where we find ourselves in a place that we have no solution to come back from.
Do not be lenient on the effect that “life” can have on your mental health. Do not push through with neglect toward your well-being. Listen to your Heart when you ask if you really are ok.
Rely upon other people. Reach out to family members, close friends, anyone you feel comfortable with. To speak, to listen, to know that you are not alone and that someone cares; because someone does care. And, if that distance of dependency and reliance is too close, there are individuals that devote their careers to helping others. There are numerous resources to turn to find the right kind of help for you.
Be accepting and forgiving of who you are. Allow yourself to know that mental and emotional challenges are not solved by pride or avoidance. Be compassionate toward yourself and others. There is nothing to judge other than how much Love you or someone else needs.
Mental health and well-being is something that no one is immune to. I know it’s not anything that a person should or could try to manage alone. I’ve relied upon special people in my life, counselling and online resources to help me understand what I could not on my own or pick me up when my own strength wasn’t enough. None of us are ever alone.
Be Love.
