Who's we ( If you have to ask who ChickenMan is, clearly you didnt listen to the radio as a kid... )? We is us, the mentally ill. The one's who have depression, anxiety disorder, PND, schizophrenia, multiple personalities. We're everywhere and everyone, and i wanted to take this chance during National Mental Health Week to let the rest of you in on a secret - we're not crazy. Or dangerous. As Matchbox Twenty once put it " I'm not crazy, i'm just a little unwell ". Kudos to you Rob Thomas and band - that sums it up pretty damn well.
I've posted about it on here before a bazillion times but i'm not ashamed to say it again - i have previously suffered from clincial depression and social anxiety disorder. I say previously because i'm not in that dark place anymore, but i know and appreciate that there is always a chance i could succumb again at some stage. If i do it will be okay, because i know i'll have the strength to come through it again. I suffered for a long time, but with a lot of hardwork, great support, and an eventual break in those pyschological barriers, i've gotten better. I've achieved a few personal milestones that in my darkest times i though could only be found under a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Or, in other words, in a fantasy land that i just wasnt every going to get to. But here i am, living the dream, or at least parts of it.
So i'm living proof that mentally ill people are:
a) everyday people. The people you know, the people you meet on the street, the people who work at the mall.
b) not always going to be mentally ill. Just because they're living in the darkness or in a muddled foggy cloud, doesnt mean they wont ever find the sunshine again. Be patient. Be supportive. Be there.
c) not a scourge on society. I couldnt be a scourge if i tried!
I know some of you out there have current mental health issues that your fighting and to you i say - be strong. You CAN do it. In the spirit of Mental Health Week i'm sending you positive vibes and all my cyber love. To those of you are mentally fit and competent i say - congratulations! Oh, and could you please spare some good vibes and cyber love and send it out to everyone under a black cloud this week?
