Mental Health Awareness 🤗

As last week was mental health awareness week (or the week before…all my weeks roll into one at the minute 🤷🏼), I thought it would be appropriate for this week’s blog post. Mental Health is a very complex & often misunderstood subject. I don’t claim to be an expert; I can only speak of my own experience & my personal view on Mental Health. I’m not one for discussing my mental health; that doesn’t mean I’m ashamed of it; I just find it a very personal subject & I don’t want it to define me. Only those who are closest to me know how I am affected…and that is ok! It is also ok for those who do choose to openly discuss it, for those who post on social media about their struggles or those who wear it like a badge of honour. Everyone is different & everyone deals with it in different ways. Nobody has the right to tell another person how to deal with their own battles. It is a very personal journey & how we express our mental health issues is very much individual preference & should be respected; whether or not we agree. 

I believe everyone has had to deal with mental health issues in one form or another; either personally or someone close. It is no surprise with the world that we currently live in & the pressures we all face. There are so many forms & so many reasons why. Neither can be compared with another & will all present themselves in different ways. We will also have different coping mechanisms. What works for one, won’t necessarily work for another. Some hide it well & some don’t (or can’t). For some it is a permanent fixture in their lives & for some it is only temporary. 

Controversial as it may be, I strongly believe that the mental health system is broken & lets thousands of people down on a daily basis. I think most (not all) points of care have more of a negative impact on those with mental health issues than it does a positive impact & this is a very scary concept. Qualifications but a lack of experience creates a false sense of security & the inability to fully understand the suffering people endure. We also appear to live in a society that loves a ‘label’. This is not only incredibly sad, but is also very scary & has put a massive strain on the mental health system. The fact is that any label is useless without the adequate care & support.

I am currently reading a book called ‘What Mental Health Really Is…(and what it isn’t)’. “In this urgently needed book, psychologist Lucy Foulkes investigates what we know about mental illness-and shines a light on what we don’t. It offers a profound new approach to how we think, talk & help when it comes to mental health.” I highly recommend. I have definitely seen a different perspective. 

I could go on forever about this subject but I will leave it there for now. I do believe the power of self care, Nature & Shadow work is highly underrated & I will cover this in more depth in the near future. If you struggle to understand, please just be kind 🖤