Each persons’ experience of mental ill health will be different. Throughout our lives we learn different coping strategies for dealing with life and our experiences not only shape who we are but how we cope with life and how we deal with any mental health issues or illness.
Mind has a large range of detailed information on specific mental health problems - Click here to view
Some people find it really easy to share how they are feeling and will readily seek advice from friends or family on how to deal with specific problems. On the other hand, people may well tend to try to bottle things up or just don’t know how to express how they are feeling or what is happening.
If you felt that you were coming down with the Flu virus that's going round the office, you might ask your partner or a friend what their symptoms are? Whether they think that you look unwell or have dark circles under your eyes? If they had taken anything for it recently and if so, had it helped them? Or you might pop into the pharmacy for some over the counter remedy, such as a cold or flu medication to relive the cough and runny nose. If it’s feeling particularly bad you know that you should go to see a doctor and get it checked out.
Things aren’t as straight forward when you are experiencing mental distress. It isn’t something as easy to see as the Flu or even a broken leg but can be just as pervasive and debilitating. Yet we wouldn’t try to walk around knowingly with a broken leg, hoping that it would just go away if we were just to get on with things and ignore it.
We worry that we might be seen as weak or less worthwhile if we admit to experiencing a mental health issue, either to ourselves or to others. Yet, we have no shame if we have a broken bone and then openly seek treatment and recovery for it.
Just as anyone can break a leg, anyone can experience mental ill health. As with most people, many of us have sprained muscles or hurt our backs lifting something the wrong way or doing too much. Expressions like, ‘we got out of bed the wrong way’, or that we are having an ‘off day’ are often used when we experience one off or situational feelings, such as the sadness that comes from a friend passing, or the stress of moving house or losing a job.
Unlike these situational or environmental feelings, Mental illness and more long term experiences of mental distress do not simply go away after a few days or once the stressful situation has passed and they may become more pervasive and longer term. It is then that we need to seek even more help.
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