Mental Health: It’s Ok to Not Be Ok

The crazy thing about mental health is that it does not discriminate. It does not matter how much money you have, where you live, whether you travel full time or if you work three jobs to make a living. Mental health issues can affect anyone and everyone. Some people can live most of their life quite happy and without any anxiety, depression or other mental health issues. On the other hand, there are some people who spend each and every day fighting to stay alive. Using all of their energy to stay happy and positive, and spending each moment trying to find the desire to experience life.

I have had my fair share of issues with mental health as many of my close friends and family know. Whether it be with myself or with my loved ones, mental health issues are something I am well acquainted to. It can be a very daunting subject to talk about. And even more daunting to experience. It can be terrifying to let people in and truly let them know your demons and your struggles.

Talking about mental health has been something taboo in the past. It’s also a topic that people without any experience with often don’t understand. This often leads to further isolation of the person suffering. Despite these things, mental health issues are something that a lot of people deal with daily and learn to live with. It is important for people to know, or at least try to understand that even in the best moments of our lives, people still might not be ok.

There are some days, months and even years in my life when I felt like I had a handle on my mental health problems. There were periods that I felt and thought I was getting better at staying happy and being positive. I felt that it may be possible to live life without those days, weeks and months where it just feels like everything is coming crashing down. Then out of nowhere it hits me like a freight train and I am all the way back where I started.

I’ve realised that you can’t ever completely escape mental health issues if you have them. It does not matter how many changes you make in your life. It does not matter if you are doing the most exciting thing in the world, including quitting your job and travelling. Sometimes you just do not have a say in the matter. Sometimes it is hard to stay focused on the good things that are right in front of you, no matter how amazing they are.

I always seem to be trying to change or fix my life to escape these moments of despair, emptiness and utter disappointment in myself. There are days when I wake up and I feel this all encompassing emptiness and dissatisfaction and it seems so impossible to escape from it. Sometimes I can escape it and only have to endure it for a brief moment. Sometimes what I’m doing, the people I’m with or the exciting things on the horizon are enough. Then there are other times when it seems like there is absolutely nothing humanly possible that could save me.

For a lot of people they manage to make it through these moments with the techniques they have learnt over time, with the help of friends and family, or with the pure tenacity to push on. There are other times though, when people are just truly and completely exhausted by it all. I am not saying that’s where I am right now or that I need someone to reach out to save me. It is just worthwhile considering this and being aware of the people around us. I think it is also good for people to be honest about this topic and share their own struggles and experiences. That way, more of us do not feel so alone or alienated by it all. It is important for people to know that they are not alone, that it is ok to not be ok and to ask for help when they need it.

With the way social media allows us to put on a mask and advertise our lives as constant success stories it is hard to know when someone is in a dark place or really struggling. It also makes us feel like we are the only ones incapable of being happy all of the time. Like we are doing life wrong somehow and that we must have to work harder to obtain the complete happiness that everyone else seems to have. If more of us were honest about how we were really feeling then we could all support each other a lot easier. We would be able to get more people through the hard times.

We should work towards finding happiness, purpose and fulfilment in life. But we also need to know that it’s ok to not be ok sometimes. That it’s ok to have mental health issues. It’s ok to be depressed, sad and lost even when we are doing something that most people would consider the best experience in their whole life. When you are already feeling depressed you shouldn’t have to also feel guilty about feeling that way no matter how good your life seems to others.

It’s ok to not be ok. And it’s ok to ask for help.

-- Girl Seeking Purpose