Vivienne, Why Is This Important?

 


Alrighty, first things first, yesterday I talked about some of the stats around depression and anxiety. There are a lot of other stats out there, but that's what I was focusing on specifically because those are the mental illnesses that I suffer from. Depression, if left unchecked, gets worse and worse more often than not, and can lead to suicidal ideation (or giving serious thought to suicide), and from there, it can lead to suicide. I know people who have died by suicide because of this. I know people who have seriously considered it, but didn't because they got help. 

Personally, I am getting professional help, but not everyone does, or can. Why? Because of many reasons. Some people don't have access to help, but a lot of it can stem from the stigma surrounding these two major issues. What's stigma, you might ask (I did)? Stigma is the idea that something is "bad" and therefore that person is a lesser being. Some examples include racism, and how a lot of people still think black people are somehow less-than. (Spoiler, they are Not. They're worthy of all the love and respect.)

I bring this up because the stigma around depression and anxiety causes this issue to not be talked about. But we need to. There are too many people who are suffering in silence, and we suffer a lot more when people try to "fix us" because they straight up don't understand what depression and anxiety are. So, I'm going to talk a bit about what it is like versus what people think it is.

Depression and anxiety can be sleeping too much or not enough, eating too little, having a crappy memory (not kidding, I've forgotten a lot that my sister remembers just in the last ten years), having trouble getting chores or tasks done, trouble thinking or focusing, procrastinating, and crying when stressed. Just to name a few. Often people categorize this as being lazy, overly dramatic or "it's all in your head." There are people who don't think it's real, much less a debilitating mental condition. 

Depression is not just being sad, and anxiety isn't just being overly worried. Why, then, are people so sympathetic when you break a leg or twist your ankle, but scoff when you shy away from things that cause you anxiety or your brain tells you are impossible to do? You can't "think positive" about a broken limb to make it better.

I've heard people tell me to my face that I'm lazy, dramatic, or just don't care enough to just get the task done. These are really hurtful comments because it seems like the person just doesn't care enough to believe me. Too often, people don't take us seriously, believe us, or even gaslight us and make it seem that everything that's harmful to us is our own fault. It took me a really long time to realize that I wasn't ok, and I wasn't going to just magically start being ok by pretending, and telling people "I'm fine." It also took a lot of courage to actually tell someone and ask for help. But I did. I'm still here and even though life is hard and it sucks sometimes, you don't have to let people's hurtful comments keep you from taking care of yourself. 

It's ok to not be ok. You don't have to put on a brave face and just power through. Please, take some time to actually evaluate yourself and make sure that you're actually ok. If you're not, that's alright. You're not alone. There are millions of people who struggle with similar issues, and it's ok to reach out and be honest. It might save your life if you act now rather than later.

Now, I keep teasing details about this giveaway, so let me give you more information. I'm partnering with Joanna from Lilla Rose (link at the bottom) to give away a Mental Health Awareness flexi (really cute hairclip that you can add a charm to) and 17 Lilla Bucks ($17) to get another flexi of your choice! 

Giveaway ends May 29th at midnight. Winner will be chosen May 30th, and there are three ways to enter. 
First, you'll get 1 entry if you Like Joanna's Facebook page, and 1 if you like my Facebook page. Also, 1 entry for each Share and Comment on social media posts about the giveaway.
Second, you can get 5 entries if you buy a mental health Flexi from her website.
Third, you can get 10 entries if you donate any dollar amount to one of these charities: Mental Health America (MHA) or National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

Do any of these and let us know by commenting either here on this blog or our social media posts. ^_^ (Just a heads-up, any and all donations to NAMI will be matched thru May 31st, up to $75k) 

Additionally, I'm going to challenge you lovely readers. For each purchase of a mental health flexi, I will donate $5 to my favorite charity, so let's see how much you can make me spend. :D


Joanna, Lilla Rose:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/UpInHair

Contact Her Directly: https://shop.ami.co/upinhair/contact?ref=share


Vivienne's Facebook:

Vivienne Aulaire, Writer | Facebook


Charities: 

Mental Health America https://mhanational.org/

National Alliance on Mental Illness https://www.nami.org/home

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