Mental Health Matters
Hey! It's been a while. There's a good reason I swear!
Recently I've been experiencing burnout. I've talked about it briefly before so I won't go into it too deeply but going through therapy recently has taught me that there's a lot more going on. What I'm here to talk about is breaking the stigma that surrounds people who experience mental health issues and in particular, those who seek help from psychiatric facilities/mental health hospitals.
Personally, I've had 3 admissions in my life so far. Two of them great, one of them not so great but for the most part very very worth it for me.
At least to me, it feels as though the stigma surrounding mental health hospitals is that you have to be a) "crazy", b) severely unstable/ potentially dangerous or c) unfixable. The only crucial factor I believe you need .. is that you feel you need the support. I love labels, every time I have gotten a diagnosis it has only ever helped me to understand myself better and learn new skills to help cope. But I find that a lot of people like to label those who seek psychiatric help as one thing rather than looking at the individuals. As if by simply going to a facility, you have to be one thing (crazy, potentially dangerous or unfixable). In every single one of my admissions (keep in mind 2/3 of them were voluntary), I have only ever met people who were really trying their best in the big wide world and found themselves struggling to keep their head above societies waters.
Almost every single person I have met throughout my admissions, were simply people trying to better themselves and seeking the support they needed. In fact, in all of my admissions I have never met someone "crazy" or "unfixable". I've even attended 2 birthday parties during my stay full of people who have known each other for a week and still tried their very best despite their own obstacles, to make sure the birthday person was having a good day. People who only just met who were going out of their way to go to the nearest mall and buy a small present to show their appreciation and pride for the birthday person taking their next step in their recovery, no matter the circumstance.
I actually had a conversation with a friend recently who is also in the hospital at the moment and we were discussing the fact that although the people inside are considered the "crazy" and unpredictable ones, we find that the ones outside are more unpredictable and dangerous. We reflected on how almost perfect strangers were buying birthday presents for someone they barely know but when you walk down the street there are some people who won't even apologise for bumping into you. It was definitely an eye opening conversation.
The moral of the story is .. let people live. Let them live in peace and don't assume the worst about people who are trying to find their way and taking the initiative to do so. I'm sure theres plenty of people in the outside world who could do the same.
Goodbye for now ♡︎