Dear Mental Illness

A letter to my mental illness....

Have I ever told you how much I hate you? Yet I love you for just as many reasons.

Reasons I hate you:

1) You've taken some of my family from me

2) You've helped me ruin relationships in more than one way.

3) you've helped ruin my life in many ways: example, self-harm, theft, jail, and even by messing up in school.

4) You've helped me ruin the lives of many.

5) You've even helped me hold on to relationships that I shouldn't

6) You've help me forget who I am.

The reasons I love you:

1) You've helped me bring back some of my family

2) You've helped me make over 2000 friends in the last 2 years

3) you've taken my life in a whole new direction (Thank You!)

4) You've helped me see that I am not Hopeless and that I am a good person.

5) Thanks to you I have made some great friends in life and experience some amazing relationships

6) You've helped me see where I belong

7) You've helped me see who I am and who I want to be.

8) Because of you I can make someone's life a better place, as well as mine

9) Because of you I can see clearly where I was and where I need to be.

Needless to say, I am doing great where I am now, even with all of your short comings. That being said, there are still 2 people who I want in my world but they aren't, my son and my father. I need their support, yet don't have it, yet I am grateful for this in my life who are my support systems. If your reading this, you know who you are.

To date, I have started school and am almost on to my Junior year while maintaining a 4.0 (who would have ever thought? LOL), I have certificates to teach 5 different classes, and am currently working on 4 more, and will reach my goal of starting a recovery college at the rate I am going and I owe most of it to you my mental illness. Thank you for helping to push me to accomplish these tasks.

Today I am grateful for:

1) My recovery

2) my friends and the many more I will make.

3) My new life.

4) The ability to overcome my fears.

5) My friends going through recovery and them making it...

Self Harm. Why we do it and ways to stop.

A lot of people with mental illnesses self harm. We do it to release the pain that is in our minds. As a self harmer I often wonder why it has all of a sudden become a national past time with the younger generation being as once you start, you have an even harder time stopping. Cutting has fallen into the hands of our teenagers and even younger generation. Many do it just because they saw someone else do it so they thought they would try it. Many do it because they are truly in pain and feel they need an outlet and cutting gives them that outlet.

But how do you tell who needs the help and who is just trying to fit in by acting like their friends?

A troubled cutter cuts uncontrollably and deep. Someone who is cutting because their friends do it will make scratches here and there.

Self mutilation has become a such a big new trend not just in America, but around the world. Because many people feel it is just a trend, no one knows how to help people who cut, burn, or harm themselves in other ways. Some families hide it, brush it under the rug. Some throw their kids to the therapist while still ignoring that their child has a problem. So what exactly is the right thing to do to get your loved one the help they need?

Self mutilation is no joke and should be taken very seriously. While we don't intend to kill ourselves, some accidently cut to deep and end up taking their own lives. Where do we draw the line at how to help one another? Do we shove people into therapy, forgetting about their aftercare? Do we walk on egg shells so not to make people harm themselves? Do we tell the person they are stupid for doing it and ignore them? Do we brush it a side and not take a second glance at it? No, we don't do any of these things. Instead we stand up for them and get them the help they need; being there with them every step of the way.