Written by Tasha Malhotra– 21 year old living in Manchester, UK. Tasha also runs her own online blog. To see her blog click here.
Short Paragraph about me:
Over the last 3-4 years, I have been dealing with issues with my own mental health. To be more specific; Generalised Anxiety Disorder and Minor Social Anxiety (I haven’t been medically diagnosed but have been seeing a Counsellor for the past 2-3 years) and Low Self-Esteem & Self-Confidence Issues.
Feeling Like Things Won’t Get Better
When we first go through our journey with Mental Health, it really can feel like nothing is ever going to get better. It feels like our whole world is crashing down around us and there’s just no way out. We feel helpless. We feel drained. We almost start to feel like it would just be easier to give up because we’re just too tired of fighting everything that’s going on in our brains. I’m here to tell you that no matter what you’re going through, things are going to get better!
You’re probably thinking ‘Yeah right, everyone says that! I don’t want to hear it right now’ and that’s true. Everyone does say that, and I also really didn’t want to hear that at first either. How can things possibly get better when your everything seems to be falling apart?! But they are right! You are so strong. You’re SO much stronger than what your mental illness is telling you that you are, and you need to just believe it. Once you realise how strong you really are, you can get through anything! I mean anything.
Your Mental Illness Will Turn You Into A Better Human Being
I truly believe that whatever we have been through or are currently going through in our lives, it’s going to shape us into better people for our future. We have all been through a lot and I feel like we will be able to walk through the rest of our lives knowing that we’ve accomplished so much. Mental health is just as important as physical health and for everyone reading this who has been through something and has come out of the other end fighting; you’re amazing!
Here are just some things that I have learnt throughout my own journey that I know have made me a better person:
- My own mental health problems have given me the gift of understanding and acknowledgment.
- I’m extremely empathetic towards others even if I don’t personally know what they’re going through.
- How to be a better listener for other people. Sometimes all we need is another ear to listen to us or a shoulder for us to cry on. I don’t think people realise how helpful these simple things can really be for us!
- You just don’t have any idea what someone could be going through behind closed doors. Someone can hide the weight of the world behind a smile.
- To ALWAYS be kind to people.
Think About Your Future Self:
I want to ask you a few questions and I want you to genuinely just write a few things down for yourself. If you’re going through a hard time right now, set yourself some goals. Not some crazy and unrealistic ones, make sure they are realistic and really try and think about them. They could be career related, mental health related, to do with your personal life, etc.
- What kind of person do you want to be in 5 – 10 years’ time?
- Where do you see yourself?
- What do you want to accomplish by then?
I guess the point of this post was to just really get you to understand that whatever you’re going through now is just part of your journey in life. You might be really hurting right now, but things do and WILL get better! You will be able to look back on your life one day and realise how much of a better and wiser person that you have become because of this and you will appreciate everything so much more. We’re all in this together!
If you ever need someone to talk to just to get things off your chest, please check out my blog (link somewhere above) and send me an email on the ‘Contact’ page. Alternatively, my DM’s are always open on my Instagram page: @mentalhealthblogging.