I haven't been shy about sharing my struggles with Depression with family and friends. Despite being thought of as the "common cold" of mental health issues, Depression can be a life-threatening illness.
Self-care is the mantra of the empowered. Place your air-mask on before attempting to assist others. Even if you're fully neurotypical, you're still living in a world that needs You to be fully present in the moment, with your own air-mask on and your hands ready to assist your fellow man.
The upshot of this is that I travel with activities to distract myself (knitting, reading material, a sketchbook), I participate in a support group for women dealing with similar illnesses, and I recognize when it's time to speak up and self-advocate for additional assistance. Today was one such day. I reached out to two excellent medical professionals who were able to help me combat the symptoms of acute Depression on very short notice.
We are an incredibly adaptive society, in an enlightened state of mind when it comes to recognition and treatment. It is time to destigmatize mental health issues. The brain, after all, is an organ in the body. It deserves equal rights to medical treatment, does it not?
Although I've stepped away from Facebook for a few days, I have an algorhythm in place that will pick this article up and post it for me after a little while. I have no doubt that some will question the professional wisdom of sharing this sort of struggle online. However, to those questioning I believe I can answer with complete sincerity--destigmatization begins with individuals standing up and owning their own struggle.
Sharing the struggle is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Be well, fellow Introverts.
No comments:
Post a Comment