World Mental Health Day - Rambo

October is a month for many things, including Breast Cancer Awareness, Columbus Day/Indigenous People Day, Halloween, and many others. But something that is going to always be prominent is mental health and establishing open communication with those people in your life when you are struggling. 

Since 1992 when the day was first established by the World Federation for Mental Health and the first celebration by Deputy Secretary-General Richard Hunter; the world has worked to establish a general education/understanding of what it means to take care of your mental health. Some topics over the years have included mental health among women and children, human rights, aging, work, trauma, and so many others. 

Sometimes we forget just all that is wrapped up in mental health and how much it can impact our lives. Mental health for one person is never going to be the same for someone else. We use terminology to try and be able to define these things; words like trauma, anxiety, depression, hysteria, autism, abuse, compulsory. But words and definitions in themselves can cause problems and categorizations that are inaccurate. It allows us to self-diagnose. It allows us to stereotype. I know I have.

I sit here and I evaluate myself, I compare myself to those around me. And I become overwhelmed at just how troublesome I think I am. I have become overly familiar with the nuances in my life over the past few years. I have come to realize that a lot of what I perceived as normal, are actually signs of neglect and abuse. I have come to determine through my own ideas and the ideas of others that I have anxiety, I have some compulsory issues, I have some sensory stimulation responses, I have depression. None of these are officially diagnosed mind you, and maybe I have worsened them (especially recently) by trying to build and act on them but that doesn't make them any less real or pertinent in my life.

No matter what you are going through in life, there are always going to be things that cause you to seek an outlet, there are going to be people that disrupt your routine, there are going to be things that hold you back, there are going to be situations that cause you to be uncomfortable and have fear. We just need to continue to recognize these things and rather than only place ourselves into a box of isolation that can cause things to get worse.

Reach out.

Seek help.

Speak up.

I may not but we all should.

Y'know. Sometimes, if I sit here in the dark and I focus only on what I am physically doing. My literal actions. Sitting here typing away on a soft bed, wrapped in a warm blanket, and listening to some amazing soul-touching music; I can close my eyes for a second or two and be transported away to a time and space where I do not feel so uneasy in my life. A different timeline where I have come to a place where I am content with my life choices and am at ease with all future actions. A place where I can achieve a number of aspirations without hesitation or fear. 

Wouldn't it be grand if we could just all be in that happy place we envision for ourselves rather than have to transport ourselves there for a small duration?

Take the time to reach out to your loved ones always but especially on this October 10th for World Mental Health Day <3