Mental health is an essential part of our well-being. It’s easy to overlook it and hide behind a smile and the pretense to be happy. I have always struggled with the word ‘depression.’ I always felt like depression and mental health were labels. In this mental health week, I have decided to make it my mission to share my journey and just open up. – This is my story and I hope it may help others too.

My mum was schizophrenic. I didn’t find that out about her until I was much older. I had grown up believing for a long time that my mum had walked out on us. My sister and I were taken into care when we were five and three, respectively. We were never told the reason why we didn’t see our mum. Much later that I found out that she had mental health problems.

Using the word depression and talking about mental health was always a massive NO to me, and not that I saw anyone who’s who had mental health problems as being weak, but I did see my mum, my mum, as being weak.

In 2017, when I turned 44, I got a grip of everything that was happening. I got to the point of accepting that I suffered from depression, and I couldn’t keep running away from that fact. I LABELLED the depression as having a low mood which was and is wrong.

I have decided to go and find out more about it because I ran away from this for so many years because of the stigma. How I felt about my mum wasn’t her fault, it wasn’t my fault and wasn’t my sister’s fault. Nobody chose to sit down and tell us what the problem was. For years, I’ve just sort of run away from this subject that I want to talk about in this mental health awareness week.

Time has helped me find my purpose in supporting others in being able to speak up. I cannot keep sweeping things under the carpet. I have come to accept that depression is not a bad word.

To anyone going through similar stuff as I did. I know it’s hard because you feel like you’re on your own you’re never on your own. There’s always somebody out there who is ready to support and help you. You have to reach out to them. Talk to people. Reach out to people you need, and don’t hide behind that hide behind a smile.

Don’t always pretend you’re happy because it’s not good for you.

If you feel like you need to talk about mental health or depression and have no one to talk to, please reach out to me.

#mentalhealthawarenessweek #depression #stigma #labels #youmatter