"You're talking about your mental health problems? Are you crazy?"
Some people might use that word, I would prefer to say that I am honest.
I’d been having a particularly bad day mental health wise. Sometimes I really don’t have any control over what I’m thinking and I really have to fight to take a hold of it. It’s an exhausting and frightening process as I’m sure many of you will know. Ordinarily, this post brain-zombie-apocalypse would result in exhausted tears of frustration and embarrassment. But this particular day, after I’d wrestled with the brain zombies and regained control of my thoughts, I decided to create a positive out of a negative.
I would dry my eyes and polish my zombies for everyone to see. I would record a message promoting openness and acceptance in my own way and maybe it would help somebody else feel less embarrassed about their own brain-army-of-the-undead. Because the human brain is a marvellous thing and yours, even if it works differently to the person standing next to you, is blooming brilliant.
So I posted this vlog on facebook via Time to Change with a little nervousness running through my veins. Do you know what? I’m so glad I did!
So many of my friends and facebook followers have told me how great it was to hear and have passed it on through their other friends. One lovely lady said that it was so refreshing because she’d been through the same thing and it felt great to think she wasn't alone. Others said they knew somebody who was suffering and could relate to it. So many people passed it on! I had the first conversation about my mental health that I’d ever had with my Father, because he'd seen this video online and a weight was lifted from me because of it. Now you may think "What difference will me blabbering on about my problems on a video make? No one will care."
Oh, they will care. They will listen. They will pass it on. It will help someone just like you that you may have never met before. But best of all, on your dark days you will know in your heart that you did one thing that turned your situation in to something positive for somebody else. And if you can hold on to that thought, that one thing may be enough to haul yourself free. It’s time to get talking about who we really are, it's Time to Change.
