It’s Okay To Not Be Okay

Written by Abby Rivera

Mental health can affect anyone and everyone of all ages and gender identities alike, and those effects can be positive, but sometimes they can also be negative.

Some struggle with their mental health, some are able to push past it, some don’t have any kind of fight with it whatsoever.

According to Mental Health America’s 2022 study, about “19.86% of adults are a mental illness” (MHA).

I have been battling with mental health since I was 7 years old, and have been dismissed from hospitals, with my diagnosis being “my anxiety”.

It bothered me how as soon as I mentioned the terms “escitalopram” or “duloxetine”, it always seemed to sum up my symptoms.

Nobody asks to be born with mental illness, nobody wants depression or anxiety, but unfortunately, life doesn’t care what we want sometimes.

What’s important is to know that you are not alone.

You are not the first person to be fighting this internal battle, and most certainly will not be the last.

10.7% of the global population live with a mental illness. That sounds like a miniscule percentage, but according to Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 40 million Americans suffer from a form of anxiety.

It may seem like we’re the only ones going through something like this, because it may seem that others are super happy or content with their lives, but nobody but them knows for sure.

I am going to leave you with this idea.

Imagine this: you’re in prison. There’s an open window, but you can’t get to it due to the cold metal chaining you to the ground. 

That’s what it can feel like to have a mental illness. Like you’re stuck.

But the important part is that you’re not, because there is someone sitting right outside your cell with the key, all you have to do is talk to them.

Tell them how you are doing. Let them help you.

Getting help is truly beneficial, and really helps.