Time to talk about mental health day 2020 (February 6th)
Today is time to talk day an important day on the mental health calendar, a day funded by mental health charities mind and rethink to get people talking about mental health to change lives.
1 in 4 people suffer from mental health problems, from mild to moderate anxiety and depression to more severe and enduring illnesses, yet there is still a stigma that causes many of those people to become socially isolated, ashamed and worthless.
By talking openly about mental health problems we can help break that stigma and change and even save lives.
I have struggled with my mental health since I was about 12 when I first struggled with an eating disorder and some self harm which has followed me into my adult life and resulted in me making multiple suicide attempts and spending a year sectioned in hospital in 2015. With an eating disorder, the eating disorder thoughts take you over until you feel that you have become lost and you feel like you lose your own personality. It is like a voice that tells you how fat and worthless you are but it becomes that those thoughts aren't just about food but every part of your life. They tell you how your not good at anything and make you hate everything about yourself. As the years went on the voice became stronger to the point it was telling me I deserved to be dead and I acted on that thought many times. Luckily I survived and I want to make a difference to the way people view people with mental health problems and help end the stigma.
I also have a diagnosis of personality disorders, which are stigmatised diagnoses due to the name and media portrayal. If you mention personality disorders people think of criminals or don't know what they are. There are 15 different personality disorders and the 2 main ones I have are anxiety based ones, avoidant and dependant. Avoidant personality disorder is a severe form of social anxiety where you are hyper sensitive to criticism and rejection so you avoid work or social activities and friendships with others fearing that rejection but then become lonely and depressed because you don't want to be on your own. You also avoid new activities in case you embarrass yourself but I am getting better at challenging myself. People with dependant personality disorder feel needy and weak and feel unable to function without support, see other people as more capable than they are and have low self confidence. I also have borderline personality disorder which means you struggle with your emotions and have high and low moods similar to bipolar but bipolar moods are triggered by chemical imbalances in the brain and last a longer time but borderline moods are triggered by environmental and relational triggers such as being let down by someone can trigger a low mood so you can go from happy to suicidal in the same day. With borderline personality disorder you also are impulsive, self harm and can become suicidal and fear being abandoned. Personality disorders are triggered by negative childhood experiences. For me being adopted has affected me alot ( even though I have fantastic adoptive parents) and I got bullied alot at school so I always felt I didn't fit in.
I have mental health problems but I am not defined by my mental health. I love horses especially my own Warwick and am a qualified horse riding instructor. I love singing and am in a choir and enjoy swimming and have done a few sponsored swims for charity. I used to work as a support worker in mental health and learning disabilities for 10 years and was accepted to train as a mental health nurse but didn't do it as wasn't well enough myself. I love helping other people and want to get back to doing that again one day.
Talking about mental health will help break the stigma by helping people realise that people with mental health problems are just normal people who are just struggling with illnesses and the only way people learn about mental health problems is if they are openly talked about. By talking people will be less ashamed to ask for help so lives can be changed and saved
Today is time to talk time to change and end the stigma.
By talking openly about mental health problems we can help break that stigma and change and even save lives.
I have struggled with my mental health since I was about 12 when I first struggled with an eating disorder and some self harm which has followed me into my adult life and resulted in me making multiple suicide attempts and spending a year sectioned in hospital in 2015. With an eating disorder, the eating disorder thoughts take you over until you feel that you have become lost and you feel like you lose your own personality. It is like a voice that tells you how fat and worthless you are but it becomes that those thoughts aren't just about food but every part of your life. They tell you how your not good at anything and make you hate everything about yourself. As the years went on the voice became stronger to the point it was telling me I deserved to be dead and I acted on that thought many times. Luckily I survived and I want to make a difference to the way people view people with mental health problems and help end the stigma.
I also have a diagnosis of personality disorders, which are stigmatised diagnoses due to the name and media portrayal. If you mention personality disorders people think of criminals or don't know what they are. There are 15 different personality disorders and the 2 main ones I have are anxiety based ones, avoidant and dependant. Avoidant personality disorder is a severe form of social anxiety where you are hyper sensitive to criticism and rejection so you avoid work or social activities and friendships with others fearing that rejection but then become lonely and depressed because you don't want to be on your own. You also avoid new activities in case you embarrass yourself but I am getting better at challenging myself. People with dependant personality disorder feel needy and weak and feel unable to function without support, see other people as more capable than they are and have low self confidence. I also have borderline personality disorder which means you struggle with your emotions and have high and low moods similar to bipolar but bipolar moods are triggered by chemical imbalances in the brain and last a longer time but borderline moods are triggered by environmental and relational triggers such as being let down by someone can trigger a low mood so you can go from happy to suicidal in the same day. With borderline personality disorder you also are impulsive, self harm and can become suicidal and fear being abandoned. Personality disorders are triggered by negative childhood experiences. For me being adopted has affected me alot ( even though I have fantastic adoptive parents) and I got bullied alot at school so I always felt I didn't fit in.
I have mental health problems but I am not defined by my mental health. I love horses especially my own Warwick and am a qualified horse riding instructor. I love singing and am in a choir and enjoy swimming and have done a few sponsored swims for charity. I used to work as a support worker in mental health and learning disabilities for 10 years and was accepted to train as a mental health nurse but didn't do it as wasn't well enough myself. I love helping other people and want to get back to doing that again one day.
Talking about mental health will help break the stigma by helping people realise that people with mental health problems are just normal people who are just struggling with illnesses and the only way people learn about mental health problems is if they are openly talked about. By talking people will be less ashamed to ask for help so lives can be changed and saved
Today is time to talk time to change and end the stigma.
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