May is Mental Health Month. Yea!

I’m a big advocate for mental health, as I am a veritable Vegas buffet of mental illness (depression, anxiety, OCD, and BiPolar 2). For the longest time I kept it a secret. I was afraid of the stigma that comes with mental illness. I didn’t want people to shun me, or tell me to just be happy, or tell me it’s all in my mind. Telling someone who has mental illness to just cheer up is like telling someone with cancer to just get over it. Or telling Nicolas Cage to just act better. These are all things that are impossible to do.

But when Robin Williams took his own life I decided to speak up. Just a few years ago I tried to kill myself. For months that I was all I could think about. I wanted to escape from it all, escape from the voice in my head. It was a terrible terrible no good time. Obviously I was not successful in my attempt. Thank goodness.

Since then I have gone on medication for the BiPolar 2. That seemed to be the main culprit in my mental illness stew. Things are much better now. I’m not completely cured. No one ever is. There are some days that are worse than others. Some hours worse than others. And I’m also much better at recognizing when I’m getting an attack or things are out of whack. The OCD is still a major struggle but I’m working on it. Right after I wash my hands again.

But all in all I feel much better.

I wrote a post about my struggle with mental illness and I received more comments and private messages from people telling me either they also suffer from it or knew people who suffer from it. I got a message from a woman in Germany who told me she was thankful she wasn’t alone in her struggle.

1 in 5 adults in the United States experiences. So if you’re one of four people reading this you’re in the clear. I’m the one.

One of the biggest challenges with mental illness is the stigma surrounding it. Mental Health Month is a great time to take a moment and realize that people who suffer from mental illness haven’t made a choice to suffer from it. There’s nothing weird or “crazy” about anyone who suffers from it. It’s a disease. 6o million people in the U.S. suffer from mental illness and more than 350 people worldwide suffer from it.

So please take a moment this month to remind yourself to be stigma free about mental health. The National Alliance on  Mental Illness is a great place to learn about it all.

If you or anybody you know is struggling with depression to the point of wanting to end it all, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is open 24/7 on 1-800-273-8255.