The toughest challenge I believe those battling mental health conditions have to deal with is the invisibility of it. The pure fact is that many people we all know will be suffering so terribly inside but no one else can see it. When it comes to mental health the only way to make others understand is by trying to explain how you feel, however when you don't even understand it yourself, it makes it impossible to try and put it into words to explain to someone else.
The reality of mental health is that because it's invisible, it isn't always believed or fully understood. The sad part is that if a person had broken a bone no one would ever dream of questioning whether or not it's really broken but yet people have no worry about questioning someone who has depression. Just because something cannot be seen doesn't mean it isn't there and it's never, ever okay to question a person about it. The upsetting truth is that so many people are afraid to talk due to the fact they don't think people will believe them, or they will just think their overreacting. It often takes a great deal of courage for a person to open up and express concern over their mental health, so to be told 'stop being dramatic' or 'oh just snap out of it would be enough to make a person never want to talk again.
This is genuinely the part I hate most about having a mental health condition because it really does make life challenging, trying to translate to the people in your life what it's like to live with a mental health condition is the most difficult thing I ever have to do. In the early days when I first become unwell, I couldn't even understand what was going on in my head, yet I was expected to explain that to doctors. For nearly 3 years I battled with not knowing what the hell was going on, after originally being diagnosed with depression but with the medication not helping, I knew there was something more happening. It felt like an eternity that it took to get the correct diagnosis and not being able to get just a simple blood test or x-ray to determine was unbearable. I know if it were possible to test for it would have saved me a great deal of heartache. I remember crying to my partner over and over and over because not even the doctors could understand what was wrong with me, when I was finally able to get a diagnosis it was the biggest relief as I finally had an answer.
Something I still struggle with is others not having the same level of understanding as you would do about your 'sensitivity' as they'd call it or as I would just call it, feelings. I can guarantee I am not the only person with a mental health condition that has been called numerous times 'sensitive'. In all honesty, it makes me so mad whenever people dismiss other people's feelings as if they aren't important. Just because something doesn't affect one person doesn't mean it can't affect another and just because someone has a mental health condition doesn't mean they're overly sensitive, nor does it mean they can't have 'normal' everyday feelings.
The problem we have is that so many people don’t believe mental health conditions can be as debilitating as they are. It’s as if people think it’s all just made up and exaggerated. Those with mental health conditions will have to battle daily with problems that can't be seen by anyone else. For those struggling just even getting out of bed can feel like climbing a mountain but yet because of the pain inside, an outsider wouldn't have any idea.
The only way mental health can be understood is through people's experiences but everyone experiences it differently, meaning that it's a challenge to build up an overall understanding and I believe this is what leads to the confusion. There's no one answer and mental health isn't black and white, people can all suffer from the same conditions but in completely opposing forms. This does not mean one person should be judged because what they go through is different to what another goes through and there will always be more severe cases than others, but they're still all valid.
In summary, the message I so desperately want to get across with this post is that we all need to learn to have a better understanding of mental health conditions and become more aware of how damaging they can be. This is something I'm so passionate about because I know how apparent it is to every single person suffering. So remember, never brush off a mental health condition as if it's not important, they are 100% just as important as any physical condition and although they cannot be seen, this does not mean they aren't there.
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