When people talked about mental illness in days gone by, it was done so in whispers, simply by making a mockery of those with conditions people can’t be bothered to try and understand. Nothing much has changed, but our generation is much more open to a deeper understanding of what goes on behind the disguise and how much suffering and pain mental illness causes. A lot like xenophobia, homophobia or any type of hate based epoch, if you have the misfortune of being born with a mental illness, then sadly sometimes it’s something you have to expect; right now all you can really do is expect that people out there are going to hate you, judge you, and deny you.One thing that definitely doesn’t help the situation is the general prejudice against the mentally ill. The use of mentally ill characters in films or soaps to make “good entertainment” (even if it’s actually awful) generally focuses on negative representations of people with these problems for comical effect or for hate crime, leading people growing up with this kind of trash whore are naturally going to think it as truth.Whilst ignorance is often just an excuse, people arguably are not informed enough these days. So if you grow up not knowing any better, who are you to blame?

 

 

Whilst it’s not fair, can I really blame someone for feeling this way about something that they perhaps will never directly experience or understand?People still think that self-harmers do so because we want attention (seeking attention being something I was told I was when I was made to see a GP about my problems), whereas the scientific explanation is that “cutting” releases endorphins that we don’t have. Just because my brain is different, it doesn’t make me a freak: it makes me different. And the sadistic Internet abuse of encouraging mental illness or anorexia is NOT going to help those in need and should be dealt with.The mentally ill are usually more of a threat to themselves than they are to anyone else, and it is only the criminally insane who are the rabble rousers. Good or evil is a moral choice and whilst there are good reasons for people getting pissed off enough to do something stupid, there are still excuses for killing people because you want to, not just because you have mental health problems.If 1 in 4 of us will experience problems with our mental wellbeing in our lives, it’s not exactly rare. And I’m one of them, so I can tell you first hand that:It’s horrible. Those who are supposed to help tend to make it worse, and there’s not enough support for victims of mental illness, especially for the young who are suffering from such issues. People will hate you and make you feel shit just because they can.Instead of actively working to help people relieve their symptoms or work towards living with them, the NHS pretty much do nothing at all until somebody is on the edge and about to give up totally on life. That is NO WAY to help people. There is no cure. There is no miracle, so what people need to learn are techniques to cope, and live with their condition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They need a network, which I thankfully have, of close friends that are actually there when you need them, that will support you through your hours of need. I never showed anyone this side of me: I hid it, covered all of the rest of my problems up with lies so that no-one could ever find out. And by behaving in this way, it came crashing down all around me in one cruel, swift blow. I was backed into a corner: I could either admit how ill I am, or stay in this spiral of emotional self-destruction. Thus it just goes to show that people should not be forced to feel so crap about ourselves because we hide it. We have to hide it. Apparently the world isn’t yet ready to accept “freaks” like me and society makes us shut up about it because it would rather brush mental health problems “under the carpet” instead of accepting responsibility. But living in silence doesn’t make any difference, doesn’t change things; in fact it makes problems so much worse. The number of people who die in England yearly is more so caused by suicide than anything else. That’s fact. There were six “one unders” in a month when I was using the train to commute to uni, and we as a society MUST NOT accept this anymore. The whole world is hurting from those who know, and those who truly know what mental illness feels like. Sometimes you just can’t get out of that black hole and it envelops you.Enough’s enough. I have outlived someone I knew who was dear to me, who died when I was going through a breakdown. To not have been able to do anything is crushing. And yet what else can I do to process that? What useful help is actually out there for young people who are struggling?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I honestly cannot cope with the guilt of still being here when I know full well it could have been me.My gran had manic depression and other stuff like myself, and my mum carried with her a sense of shame, guilt and self-hate. No-one knew and nobody could know; if they did, those around her would have hated her. Why people feel the necessity to judge so severely is beyond me, so we as a society have to act to silence the idiots and force change.Some of the greatest artists were “mental” too. To jump out of space in order to freefall like Felix Baumgartner, you’ve got to have screws loose. So who gives a shit? Michelangelo had well-known mental health problems, but was a great artist and a Christian (even if the church wouldn’t have said so) too. Da Vinci. and Marilyn Monroe too. It is the different mode of thinking that allows creativity, but for some reason it is seen by society as “freakish” or “bad”. Why?Those who suffer from such problems know more about the value of life from such extensive internal reflection, and tend to be the ones in society that feel more open to helping others as they truly understand the meaning of compassion and empathy. If we lose those who care about others, have learned this skill so well because of their experiences through mental illness because of a world of selfish pricks and spineless good-for-nothings who are the ones who cause the real trouble, then our society really is completely fucked.