As I have mentioned before, I think mental health conditions are getting more awareness. However, in my opinion, on further reflection after my previous instalments, it is awareness that mental health conditions have official names now but not much of an understanding about what these new words really mean. This lack of understanding applies to both people who know someone with one of these conditions and those who are unsure what their difficulties are. I was curious to learn more about any misconceptions there are about mental health so I had a look at some of the questions that came up under Google searches for mental health, illnesses and disorders that stood out to me and have given my opinion on them.

What is the hardest mental illness to treat?

Some mental health conditions can have more severe symptoms that require more hard-going treatment. However, all mental health conditions with mild to serious symptoms in my opinion require a lot of effort to overcome. From my experience of counselling, it requires you to put the work in out with the sessions with a trained counseller to fully work through your issues that led you to that point and if necessary, learn to adopt new coping strategies. Back in You Don’t Have to Stick to the Status Quo, I talked about the struggle with getting comfortable with the coping strategies I used for a long time and struggling to get used to a new, but better way of thinking.

How can I tell if someone is mentally ill?

There can be subtle signs like how someone appears, behaves and interacts with you but I think a lot of the time, you can never really know what is going on in someone’s head. I would also say that even though there are similar feelings experienced by a group of people who have a particular condition, the way the condition is displayed is unique to each person. That’s why I think it is so important that we have more conversations about mental health to make it easier for people to be open about how they are really feeling so they can seek support.

How do I know if I’m crazy?

There is a belief implied from this question and others like it that there is something very unusual about people with mental health issues. Of course, we are all weird in our own special way but I hope that the video that I put up with my last post demonstrates that mental health affects almost anyone and behind the health conditions, there are real people just like you and I.

How can I fix my mental health?

I think it is important to note that everyone has struggles from time to time and feeling fearful and powerless for example can be natural reactions to everyday occasions. The reason I reached out to counselling almost a year and a half ago was because although I was just about managing my issues with my issues in the short term, I didn’t know about the long-term solutions for them. I am not aiming to reach a ‘recovery’ point where I don’t have any issues as that is not realistic but I have definitely learnt more in the last year about how to manage how I feel and respond to difficult days.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you find it helpful. As always, feel free to get in touch with any questions/feedback/comments, I always love to hear it. Stay tuned for the next instalment

Until next time

Kathryn