Tales from a Bruised Mind

You’re not alone

We hear this term thrown around a lot. But it couldn’t be more true.

Mental illness is an terrible internal struggle. It’s very much unlike a broken bone, or a concussion, or a physical accident at the work site.

That might seem obvious, but because things are internal and not necessarily physical in nature, it makes things tricky for the person experiencing it.

I am not a mental health professional. I do not have thousands of hours of training or an official document to say I am certified.

Your mood might look a lot like this storm cloud, but trust me when I say it won’t last forever

But I’ve been there. Oh yeah, I’ve been there.

The key point to this blog post is that of its title: you’re not alone. Mental illness can make us feel incredibly alone, even if we have clear support around us. It can be challenging, and scary, and just damn right awful.

But the worst thing you can do is stay silent, and hope it will go away. The truth is that it won’t go away, as hard as you might try. Your brain might just ruminate and make things worse, not better.

Here are some of the tips I have used in the past to get through a rough patch, or a severe level of depression:

  1. Be open to getting help and talking to love ones around you
  2. Be honest and truthful about how you feel
  3. Find professional support, and work with those people
  4. Don’t give up on what makes you happy
  5. Find what makes you happy and don’t ever give up
  6. If you feel awful, work step by step to get yourself into a better headspace
  7. You’re not alone. Lots of people are experiencing what you are experiencing. Every. single. day.
If you feel bad, look back at something that makes you happy. For me, it’s spending time with my amazing Mum!

If you’re struggling, please visit my page on how to get help, which you can find at the link here.

You are not going through this alone. Your family and friends are there for you and can look after you. Don’t sit in silence or let things boil over.

Remember that these awful feelings are temporary, you’re life won’t always be this way. It might seem that a huge dark cloud is hovering right above you and blocking out the sun, but the reality is that clouds move on and even disappear.

Remember, you’ve got this!

Much love,

Zak

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