If you didn’t ask many folks out there, they wouldn’t even tell you what’s what and so on. Me inclusive then. Having lost my mum in 2020, I fell into a deep anxiety and depression but I didn’t know what I was going through. It was both a gift and a curse. I was self-reliant and realized later that I needed her as well. She was always there though I didn’t recognize it outright. Here I was struggling to sleep, couldn’t eat well, drinking a bit too hard and throwing tantrums. My whole persona got wrapped around the habits that I earlier mentioned and it only drove me deeper into darkness.
Being an ardent reader I tried to self-educate myself having come across that word “mental health”. I realized a few things that were always in front of me but which I kept pushing away. Family, friends, gratitude, self-love and care. And yet still this didn’t make any sense to me because mental health is usually attached to madness in the community where I come from.it was until one day that I attended a random session in our area where a person was talking to some youths about the importance of speaking about the issues that were going on in their lives.it was on that day that I began being selfish in a good way by speaking out about it, telling the truth basically and wanting everyone to hear me out. Trust me it helps. It amazed me how freeing it was.
I didn’t know I was fighting the stigma. In that session I found a confidant and a safe space to share my experience with grief. Who knows what I would have become. It’s important to continue to ask your confidants what’s next.it made me a better person and the best gift I have ever given myself. My inner me tells me I am a mental health champion and I don’t believe it totally because there are so many cases and people out there I would like to lend a hand and trust me I try. We are all going through something don’t hesitate to reach out for help.