It has been a year and 5 months since I was diagnosed with Major Depression and Severe Anxiety. However, I think I battled depression for at least 14 years. I was convinced I was the only person that had ever felt this way. I thought I was one of a kind, but not in a good way. NO ONE was talking about it! BUT I think that is changing and I could not be more excited. Glenn Close started Bring Change 2 Mind in honor of her sister. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence starred in Silver Linings Playbook. I know of 4 other state titleholders that have the importance of mental health has a platform. One of the lead characters of Homeland lives with bipolar disorder. A video of a young boy's motivational speech about living with depression goes viral and he ends up on national talk shows. This means people are talking about mental illness with the general public not just to others in the community.
I think it's time to take full advantage of this. We have to educate people by talking to them and exposing them to people living with mental illness. We need to let them know it's not just the violent man on the news, in fact that is the exception. 1 in 4 people at some time in their life live with a mental illness. This means it could be anyone. The neighbor you trust to watch your pets and get your mail while you are on vacation. The co-worker that helps you out when you are overloaded. The friend that always appears to be happy and have life mastered. There may be people very close to you that have never disclosed the turmoil they live with every day. This could be for many reasons, I can only tell you why I didn't seek help or tell anyone.....
which deserves it's own post on another day. For now, Goodnight friends!
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