Mental health awareness

Mental+health+awareness+ribbon

Andrew Powaleny

Mental health awareness ribbon

Mental health, most commonly spoken about from time to time, isn’t given the attention it actually needs. Because of that, I want to speak out about mental health, I want to raise more awareness, I want it to be taken seriously, and most importantly I just hope my advice helps those who are suffering from their mental health status.

Therefore, I will take the chance of leaving my last message at Animo Jefferson to help out people the best I can, throughout this final message of advice for all those who read this. 

Within my final message, I will try to answer the questions people commonly think about when their mental health is suffering. We start off with how to take that next step in life, how do you take the next step in life?

Taking that next huge step can be scary sometimes or even frightening, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take it, you should work yourself up to make that next step possible. So in that case, I will make a promise to those who read this. 

Whatever you think of taking this next step within your life, I want you to know that there will always be the good and the bad or even both. But hey, don’t be afraid of that, just know things are always that way and will always remain that way. Things may get better and may even turn out the way you want, no matter how impossible it may seem. I can promise you that. 

Don’t bring yourself down by thinking about the negative thoughts of taking that next step, continue on. Put those negative thoughts aside, no matter what it takes or how long it takes. Slow and steady, perfect pace to take that next step, don’t let yourself down. 

If you don’t take that next step in your life, you won’t see any progress or change in life, will you now? 

Yep, exactly, you have to make progress within life, that is one of the very few important aspects of many people’s lives. Take any necessary steps needed to take that one big step in your life that may change everything. You may feel many emotions you can’t understand, or you may even feel confused on how to feel after you take that next big step in life, but don’t worry there is help.

Understanding the way you feel is the most difficult and important part in your life, but that does not mean there is no way to completely understand your own self. 

Work slowly to truly understand how you feel. Think of what is making you feel this way, try and see it through fully, understand why exactly this cause or causes is making you feel the way you feel. Try and set out some actions that can be done to understand how it truly makes you feel.

Set this as an example, perhaps it’s a friend or partner that is making you feel terrible about yourself, try talking to them about it, even if you feel afraid to let them know how you feel. 

Even if it does not go well, just understand that it is always necessary to let others know how you feel, do not keep them locked up. 

Most importantly, do not feel guilty about the way you feel, you are you, do not let others make you feel that you cannot feel certain ways and tell them about it. Or perhaps, it’s not always negative feelings that can cause problems but it’s also happiness or love. 

You may find it difficult as to why you truly feel a certain way you don’t understand, and may get sad, mad about it, or even feel both emotions at the same time. Just understand that even happy emotions cannot always stop you from feeling certain emotions that can make you feel horrible. 

For example, some people may feel happy about finally accomplishing something but may feel guilty after that rise of happiness or even during it. But that is perfectly fine and normal to feel, it’s just simply human nature. 

Don’t feel guilty about how you feel, don’t let how you feel bring you down, no matter how much it truly hurts. There will eventually be a point in your life where you may completely forget about what has made you feel harsh emotions.

 I promise you that even if it takes days, weeks, months, or even years to truly understand yourself, that there will come a time where you’ll be able to understand yourself, or even partially understand yourself better. Even if you don’t quite understand yourself by any point in your life, you’ll begin to learn that it will begin to bother you less and less over time. Who knows you may even forget and not even think about it much overtime. 

But then there comes hatred towards oneself, where things become unbearable. 

It truly does hurt to hate yourself, and you may want to get rid of everyone around you, even yourself, although normal to feel, there are actions that could be done to help yourself or someone who feels this. It may even want to get you to hurt yourself, but please do not, for your own sake, it will make you feel even worse after the action you take to harm yourself or anyone is done.

You may even feel the need to try and hurt others. In fact, you may feel like it’s the people around you who are at fault for the way you feel. It may even drive you crazy, but I am telling you this, no matter how much you want to hurt that one person, it will be far worse if you even try to hurt them. It will cause far much more damage to you and that person, it will become more unbearable to deal with.

However, if it is someone in your life that has made you hate yourself, such as that person causing you physical damage, mental, or even both by calling you miserable, useless, or simply anything that hurts you. Try and talk it out with them, it always helps to try and talk it out with that person or people, even if it hurts seeing them or talking to them.

However in some cases, that person or people may not want to talk to you or talk about it, although understandable, it isn’t quite the best behavior for you and that person to have. You may never sort out problems between yourself and the person or people, and it’ll continue making you both feel worse and even get angry at each other till the point you try to harm each other. 

This is completely understandable, but this isn’t the best choice to settle things, there are far much better choices to settle things once and for all between you two or others. 

Sometimes you may even have to distance yourself away from that person, or even let go of them, no matter how much it may hurt you both. 

Although doing this may cause a huge impact between you both such as feeling horrible or miserable, this is completely normal within the first few days or weeks as you slowly begin to distance yourself away from them, even if you’re removing that person out of your life. 

You may even still think about that person from time to time, but this is completely normal. After some time, you’ll soon begin to realize how much less you think of that person, it’ll begin to bother you less, and most of all, you may even feel less guilty or horrible about deciding to distance yourself from that person, or removing them out of your life. 

But hey, no need to feel guilt, and the reason you may ask? Well, the reason is you, you are responsible for your own life and any responsibilities you hold within your own personal life. No one and I say no one, should feel like they’re in control of you because the truth is, you’re in control of your own life. You are you, no matter how much that person means to you, you can’t and should never let them control you. 

 

(I am sincerely sorry if I couldn’t exactly answer what you were feeling but here is some hotlines I recommend that you can hit up so you can hopefully talk it out to someone, if you don’t have anyone to talk it out to: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800) 273-8255, National Domestic Violence Hotline (800) 799-7233, Nation Child Abuse Hotline Text or call 1-800-422-4453) 

 

(Remember, it’s not a bad thing to get some help and support. If you’re afraid to ever contact a hotline or just any service of mental support, there is always someone that will listen to you. Speak out to anyone you can, such as a trusted friend or family member, no matter how badly you don’t want to or how you’re scared to ask. There is help.)