Mental Health – Mental Illness
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I can remember back one night when I was 20, staring at a bottle of pills, my mind a blur of thoughts and feelings that no one should have to experience. My mental health and my mental illnesses were beating me into submission and I needed a reprieve.
I had to call a friend that night to come and pick me up.
I remember telling him “I’m scaring myself, I’m scared for myself.”
I’m lucky to have that friend.
Mental health and mental illnesses are not one and the same but do go hand in hand. Mental health is the state of your mind due to other factors, such as stress, sleep, environment, needs, etc… Mental illnesses are more often than not a chemical imbalance in your brain that affects your mood, thinking and behavior. The most common examples are anxiety and depression.
One in 10 adults reported having anxiety or a mood disorder.
I was diagnosed with social anxiety and depression when I was 20.
Actor Chris Evans talks quite often about his own anxiety and how it almost made him quit Marvel. If Captain America can survive and manage having a mental illness, I have every faith that you can too!
I have learned to manage mine by taking care of my mental health. My mental health and mental illnesses can work each other into a frenzy, and if I don’t keep one calm, there’s no getting the other under control.
Let’s Get Down To Business!
In other words, start taking care of yourself! Reduce your stress as much as you can.
Sleep in that extra 10 minutes, take a bath, clean your living space, treat yourself to a meal that you love to cook.
The little things like throwing out the garbage around your room, putting all your dirty clothes (that I know are on your floor) into a neat pile, can do wonders for your mental health.
It might take a kick in the ass to get you into gear to do those small things. Trust me, I get it, it might not seem so small when you are trying to convince yourself to do it. But once you do them, they can make you feel rejuvenated, and possibly lead to you having the motivation to tackle some of the bigger stuff.
Let’s do “Get Help”
Honestly, the best and most amazing thing that you can do for yourself when it gets to be too much IS TO GET HELP.
I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH!
Whether it’s calling a friend, talking to a counselor or a healthcare professional, anything can make a difference.
When getting out of bed is a chore every day, when you start to feel like you can’t leave the house, when you begin procrastinating just replying to a text, when life piles on you until you’re buried too deep to claw your way out. It’s not too late to reach out and get help.
I find there’s a stigma that you're only allowed/supposed to ask for help when you are suicidal or self-harming, or fully “crazy”. That is wrong.
You know your mind; the moment you start thinking that it’s getting to be a little too much, REACH OUT. You don’t need to wait until you have a monster in your head — you can ask for help when it’s only a bunch of dust bunnies that are starting to look like they have sharp teeth.
One of the most liberating days for me is when my two demons were named. Remember that there is no timeline for getting help.
Here are some resources for those residing in Canada:
Kids Help Phone
1-800-668-6868
Crisis Services Canada
1-833-456-4566 or text 45645
First Nations and Inuit Hope for Wellness Help Line
1‑855‑242-3310
Centre for Suicide Prevention
1-833-456-4566
Kurt Thuot
Kurt is a second-year student at Algonquin College. At 24, he aspires to be many things, but most notably, not broke. He likes long walks on the beach at sunset and pina-coladas in the rain. He also likes cliches, puns, and bad jokes. In reality, he hopes to be an editor, or do anything working with books.
