Nothing to be ashamed

HEALTH

You have nothing to be ashamed of

When I first began my recovery journey from Mental Illness, my partner told me: ‘I don’t care what illness you have; I will always stay by your side as long as you get some help’. When I went to the doctor, I thought that I would also address the breathing difficulty I’d been having. He told me it was anxiety, but I oh my god didn’t believe him. After all, I knew he is my body better than anyone else, right? He did some my tests and told me that I had depression, anxiety and stress. He prescribed me some medication and I went home. I threw myself on my bed and bawled. I didn’t want these labels or this illness. As time passed though, I realised I also didn’t want to have to hide something like this. It took me only a few weeks to begin telling people what was happening in my life. First, my family, and then my closest friends. Then, my roller derby team and my league. Finally, I wrote a blog post about it and told anyone who cared to read it. By then, I was already on my way to personally shedding the cloak of stigma surrounding my mental illness. So (believe it or not), the more people I told, the easier it got, and therein lays the biggest secret of all; the more at ease you are with your mental illness, the less you care what others think. When you no longer care at all that people know, you will feel that cloak slip off your shoulders and you’ll be all the more ready to step forward.

Writing | Laura Sánchez