If you don’t like long posts about personal issues and think that they are all begging for attention when it happens, then turn away now.
This is about struggle, education and people needing support and love not hate, bullying and being ignored - something that everyone needs to be aware of. I am not proud or attention seeking. I’m the kind of person that admired Robin Williams for his suicide, and seeing it from the same side he saw his life, I understand it - and am proud of him for fighting as long as he did, and making the decision that enough was enough. A life fighting for the tiniest molecule of happiness is not a life. And if you don’t like this fact, then stop reading.
I have been diagnosed a severe sufferer of Chronic Depression, Chronic Anxiety and Myalgic Enchepalomyelitis (ME/CFS - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). None of these are fun conditions, and the combination of all three makes things very difficult. If I was to boil this down to the complete bare basics, it basically means that I am too sad, too scared and too tired to do pretty much anything. And anything that I do do, takes a lot of energy, effort and discomfort.
I am a long term sufferer. I had my first full blown panic attack (hyperventilating, tears etc.) when I was 5 years old. 5 years, 2 months and 14 days to be precise. I am currently 25 years, 2 months and 19 days old. I have suffered from bad anxiety and depression for at least 20 years. And I am very, very good at hiding it. Told a friend of mine that I’ve known for at least 8 years this and he was gobsmacked. I can hide it. I can put on a face, and be inwardly screaming and dying.
I am a self harmer. I don’t do it for attention. I do it because sometimes that’s all there is left that doesn’t involve a death certificate. I don’t want to die. I’m just not keen on living either. It lowers my pain, my anxiety and my stress. I am not proud that I do it.
But it’s a part of who I am, and it’s not something that I should have to hide [from].
Do I wish I don’t do it? Yes.
Do I like the fact that it quietens the deafening constant turmoil? Yes.
Do I wish that I could live a different life? Yes.
Is there anything I can really do about it that won’t take most of the rest of my life to climb up the first couple of steps to stairway of full recovery? No.
There are many people like me. Many people that get teased, bullied, left out, ignored, forgotten about, made to feel like shit about anything at all. If you’re friends with us, then you probably know how we are. And those are the worst possible things you can do. We need love, friendship, and most importantly support. We need help to get to where you are. We need help to be able to smile a non forced smile. We need help to not fake that we’re happy, and actually genuinely feel it. We need for people to not make us feel shit about something that we already do and hate that we do - we’re not in control. And it won’t be easy for you, but it’ll be so much harder on us. It can be hard for many people to understand, but some days just dropping a cup of water will bring us to tears. You may think “Oh this is just one little thing” but we see it as “Oh my God I can’t even get water without fucking up and now I’ve made a huge mess - I shouldn’t even try.”
Next time you see someone struggling, don’t tell them to man up, don’t ignore them, don’t make them feel worse. Ask if they’re okay, ask if there’s anything you can do to help, ask them if they need a hug. See if they maybe want to go and do something as simple as going for a walk/drink/food/10 minutes in the company of someone who cares, as simple and feeble as it may sound to you, stepping out of the front door can feel like climbing Mount Everest.
I am fully aware that this is a depressing, emotional, unusual first blog post, but it has to be said, especially if you're gonna carry on reading my posts, poems and desperately sad rants.
