How About a “Me Too” Movement for Mental Health?
Plus 9 free mental health apps to support you.
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Raise your hand if you’ve never had a mental health problem!
My guess is that everyone has raised their hand.
If you didn’t, can you honestly say that you have never been anxious, stressed, fearful, angry, or depressed to an extent where it has affected your life?
Have you never had an addiction to sugar, food, shopping, social media, drugs, or alcohol?
Have you never done anything to “numb” the pain or bad feelings you were experiencing?
I’m a life coach, a hypnotherapist, and a counselor, so that should mean that I’ve always got my mental act together, right?
WRONG!
Where do I start?
I once got so anxious about being made redundant that I developed insomnia and never slept more than 3 or 4 hours per night for about 3 months.
At another point in my life, I suddenly developed claustrophobia and could no longer sit in the middle or window seat on a plane or anywhere where I wasn’t at the end of a row (i.e., in a cinema).
I was addicted to cigarettes for 20 years and unsuccessfully tried to quit many times before I succeeded 21 years ago.
I could go on and on and fill this article with examples of my own mental health issues, but I won’t.
The purpose of telling you that is for me to be the first to admit, “Me too.” I’ve had my share of mental health issues.
My mission is to convince the world that mental health issues come in all shapes and sizes and that they’re nothing to be ashamed of. We’ve all had them or have them now.
Unless you live in a bubble, you will get colds or other physical ailments. You will also encounter mental health problems. It’s not a sign that you’re weak or crazy or abnormal in any way. It’s part of being human.
As you go through life, mental health ebbs and flows just like physical health ebbs and flows. That’s just the way it is. There will be good times and bad times. The key is to find a way to deal with the bad times so that they don’t take over your life.
