What Does it Mean to be a Part of the “Mental Health Community”?
What does it mean to be a part of the “mental health community”? My initial impetus for going public with my story was to help other women and men who are suffering in the same way I have, people searching for ways to help themselves, who, like I did, want to feel better. What I have found since tapping into the “mental health community” is something far graver than what I had anticipated.
Looking into some of the top influencers and voices on the forefront of mental health awareness, all I really find is women mainly, sharing their negative symptoms, talking about how they’re “coping,” saluting their medication regimen, preaching about destigmatization, looking to their followers to commiserate and their followers looking back to them for the same, as if this is the only answer to alleviate their pain- this cycle repeating itself indefinitely. Is this what we think about when we use the term “mental health”?
Are we okay endlessly cycling between misery and anxiety? Of course, we are all human and it should not be stigmatized to experience mental health ailments. Negative mental health states should absolutely be treated with the same respect and seriousness as any physical ailment. But why are we okay with just settling for an entire life like this? Why have we built entire personal brands on the hardships we endure because of unresolved mental health symptoms? This reality I have found is not only startling, it is damaging. It is damaging to young girls newly facing these issues and turning to “accessible” Instagram influencers for support.
It is damaging to individuals who do not strive to better themselves, and thus never find anything better. It is damaging to the collective for perpetuating a false, symptom-based health paradigm that never achieves true healing. The truth is, we can heal ourselves. That’s right, actually heal ourselves. I went from being morbidly depressed and anxious to absolutely thriving and on track to living my best life in about two years. I went from being on five different medications to zero, then using CBD three times a day to now only about twice a month at most, because I'm doing the work. This life isn’t easy. It is hard work. I had to upheave just about everything in my reality to get to this point.
But I will tell you, my issues today are bigger than my mental health, faulty programming, and unresolved trauma. They are about living my truth, my purpose- the real reason why we are all here. If you are suffering from negative mental health symptoms, no, you are not alone. You can also choose a better life for yourself, by never giving up the fight to feel better, by maintaining an open mind and doing whatever it takes to find the answer it takes to feel amazing, even if that means making big changes to your life like like your diet, living environment, or digging deeper into root causes of your symptoms which can be extremely emotionally painful.
There is a community of #selfmasters and #selfhealers that you can find comfort in, beyond just commiserating over negative symptoms.
Do the work. Heal yourself. It is the most important thing you will ever do.
This was originally featured in a March 27, 2019 post on Instagram.
