- I've been wanting to make this video for a while,
because I know that there are a lot of people out there
who may be struggling with their mental health.
And so this video is really talking directly to you,
if you are struggling with your mental health right now.
So, I know that when you are struggling,
you may be feeling things like hopelessness,
despair, feeling defeated, just mental anguish,
or you may be feeling like
you just can't trust your mind right now.
And I want you to know that that's okay.
It happens sometimes,
and I know that it feels like the most difficult thing
in the world, and it feels like it's never going to end,
but it can end, and it probably will end.
And, I want to communicate that I have been there.
I have felt those things,
and I have felt like there was no point in going on,
because it was always going to be this way.
So I understand how it feels to be stuck in that point.
But I also want to share
that I have moved through periods of happiness,
and lighter periods where I didn't feel this immense burden,
or load, mental load.
I have gotten out of these periods,
and felt the other extreme of happiness,
and lightness, and enjoying life,
and understanding that there is purpose to life and whatnot.
I'm not saying that once you get out of it,
it will always be that way.
I have still gone through ebbs and flows
in terms of my mental health.
But knowing that I can get out of those unbearable lows
has made the subsequent lows easier in a sense,
because I know that it is not permanent,
even if that's what my brain is trying to tell me.
I know that when I have been going through
really tough periods, I have felt incredibly alone.
And I think that that's something that mental illness
tries to do.
It tries to tell you that you are alone
in what you are experiencing, and in your struggle.
And that no one cares, no one understands,
but that's just not true.
There have been people in my life
who I have noticed have been struggling,
and I may not even be the closest to them,
but I have still cared immensely
about what they're going through,
and if they're okay and whatnot.
And so even if you maybe don't have
a lot of close people in your life,
there are people in your life who are concerned about you,
and want to know if you're doing okay,
and want you to be doing okay.
And not to put pressure on you to be okay for those people,
but just to let you know that you are not alone
in what you are going through,
and that there are people in your life
who care very deeply about how you're doing,
and want to be able to support you through it as well.
I think probably another really big reason
why this feeling of aloneness
comes about when we're struggling with our mental health
is that there is so much shame and stigma
wrapped up in what it is to deal with a mental illness,
or a mental health struggle.
And I just want you to know
that there is absolutely no reason
you should be feeling any sort of shame
for going through a more difficult time
with your mental health.
It's kind of just a part of being human.
Everyone has mental health,
and yes, there are very vast degrees of struggle
that someone may experience,
or that different people may experience,
but there should absolutely be no shame
in struggling with your mental health.
I think that if you are feeling like the people around you
are not doing the best job of supporting you or whatnot,
it may just be that they don't know how to talk about it.
Kind of stemming from this shame and stigma
that's wrapped up in mental illness,
a lot of people don't really know
how to navigate talking about it.
And so again, they may be noticing that you are struggling,
but just not really sure how to bridge that divide,
or bridge that gap between what you're experiencing,
and they're noticing
that you're experiencing something difficult.
And so, maybe it's important to lean into vulnerability
in terms of reaching out for support,
and forming those connections yourself.
I know that that can be extremely difficult
when you're going through a difficult period
with your mental health,
but hopefully this is a little bit of encouragement
to really try to reach out for that support
from people who love you.
Now this has been about when you're struggling
with really any type of mental health problem,
but if you are experiencing more psychosis,
and psychotic symptoms that come along with schizophrenia,
I just want you to know that you are not alone
in having this feeling of not really being able
to trust your own mind.
And again, it's not a permanent state that you are in.
Hopefully you will be able to come out of this state,
and have more clarity.
When I first started experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia,
I got very, very lost in my own mind.
And I did not know how to navigate it at all.
And it was scary, it was confusing.
It was disorienting.
And I understand that
if that's what you're going through right now,
but the more times I kind of went through this,
unfortunately, but the more times I went through this,
the better I have been able
to understand what is going on,
and to navigate it in a bit of a healthier way,
and to work my way out of it.
And so I just want to offer that bit of hope to you
that with time maybe,
and hopefully it will get easier to navigate.
Something that kind of helped me when I was feeling
really, really hopeless
was that I would think back to
a time where I wasn't experiencing this
immense mental burden, and I was feeling lighter,
and feeling more myself, whatever that means.
And I would try to imagine what that version of me
would say to me to help me through this difficult period,
and remembering that I did experience life
in a different way than the really depressed,
or heavy way that I'm currently experiencing it
was also helpful in terms of understanding
that this is not the only way
that I will ever experience life.
There is this possibility
that this lighter version of myself
can return in the future too.
And so this lighter version of myself
will hopefully be able to provide
the current struggling version of myself
with some words of inspiration, I suppose,
or at the very least, a glimmer of hope
that that lighter version of myself may return at one point.
Basically what I'm trying to convey in this
is that I understand what it means to struggle greatly
and deeply with your mental health.
And if you are struggling with your mental health right now,
you are not alone in that struggle.
There are other people who have gone through similar things,
not the exact same,
because everyone's experience is different,
but there are people who can really empathize
with what you are going through right now.
And because I have that ability to empathize with people
who are struggling with their mental health,
it kind of, I'm in this place where I care very deeply
if you are struggling with your mental health too.
I know that sounds a little bit cheesy,
because I probably don't actually know you in real life,
but I do care.
And so I can almost guarantee you
that there are other people in your life
who really do care about how you're doing as well.
I think it's important to also note
that if you are in just complete despair,
and are in a place where you are a danger to yourself,
you are feeling very, very unsafe,
please, please reach out for immediate support,
whether that is calling emergency services
to come and assist you,
whether that is taking yourself
to the nearest emergency room,
whether that is making a urgent appointment
with your doctor,
please take the actions to keep yourself safe.
So once more, you are not alone in your struggles.
There are people who understand,
and can empathize with what you're going through.
And I really, really hope that this video
helps you feel less alone in what you're going through,
and also it helps to communicate that there is hope.
I have been there.
I have felt like there is absolutely no hope,
and this horrid state will last forever,
but I can now tell you that it didn't last forever for me.
And I very, very deeply hope
that it won't last forever for you as well.