Don’t be ashamed

I’ve had numerous people call me “brave” for keeping this blog and being so open about my illness. It struck me as odd at first, but then I realized that a lot of people are afraid of discussing their mental health with anyone (aside from doctors and such). When I was a child dealing with therapy and medication, I kept it a secret too, but as I grew older, I became more outspoken about it, and I obviously still am. This is part of who I am, and I want people to understand that. I’m not saying that I put my hand to shake upon first meeting someone and loudly state, “Hi, I have schizoaffective disorder!” but I don’t dance around the issue if it should come up in a conversation where it would be appropriate for me to talk about it.

I understand that not everybody wants to be so open about these issues, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but what I wish would stop is people feeling bad about themselves because of their disorders. If you are dealing with a mental illness, it is not your fault. You have nothing to be ashamed of! You didn’t choose to be put in this situation. Don’t blame yourself or put yourself down; you’re already going through enough, don’t torture yourself further.

This feels like some kind of public service announcement.

Just don’t be so hard on yourselves, okay?

xx