Mental Health – Part II – Are You Depressed

Last week I finished off by saying that it is possible to feel good about yourself again and live a happy and healthy life again, although when you are going through the dark lonely patch it is difficult to believe that. I promise you this is possible despite the years of medication you have been on, or the years of going through the mental health system, which may or may not have helped you. There is no doubt about it, medication can save your life at that desperate time of need, however it is not the long-term answer, it will never get to the root of the problem to make you feel better so you can start living life again. Life is for living, we need to be able to live every moment and believe it is a wonderful life.

Some days and sometimes life can be incredibly hard and difficult when we feel we have absolutely no idea how we will get through the day. Thankfully slowly but surely society is waking up and accepting us mad people of society. The difference between us who are labelled ‘mad/weird/ different/problematic/’ etc and those who are labelled normal is that for us mad people we do not feel understood. We can find it difficult to express or voice or say what is going on because everything in our head and on our mind is like mumbo jumbo, it’s all mixed up, we feel it doesn’t make any sense to us so how would it make sense to someone else? It is natural to feel like this because when you get so frustrated on the inside it can almost feel like it is going to suffocate you and it can make you feel trapped on the inside. You see you are not alone if you feel like this.

The good news is though you can be helped. There are so many little things you can do for you, again I always go back to basics because they are the essence of life itself. However when we are stressed, the simple things are what we forget to do.

Everyday, aim to get a little fresh air, take in a few deep breaths, stand up as you read this and feel your lungs expand as you inhale a deep breath. Focus on your breathing for the week and I look forward to delving deeper next week, oh give it your best effort to smile too.