We have officially been given our second prompt for story camp (WOOP WOOP!!). This theme is “3 things… “. The aim of this theme is to provide information about mental health with brevity about it to ensure that people are not overloaded with information which may be overwhelming. There’s one problem- I am absolutely awful at keeping things short. I can waffle on and write for days. And trying to pick one small aspect about my mental illness to focus on has been pretty difficult as my story has been pretty complex to say the least. But I am always up for a challenge! So I hope you enjoy and can take something from this blog, as I explain in more detail some common misconceptions people have about mental illness and what the truth actually is!
CW: This blog explores suicidal thoughts and self-harm in brief detail.
1. All People With Depression are Suicidal
This is absolutely not true and the same goes for self-harm. Many people with depression do self-harm and do struggle with suicidal thoughts ;however , depression also manifests itself in a large range of symptoms. People with depression can experience effects such as lethargy, fatigue, lack of interest in activities, just to name a few. Everybody has a different experience with mental illness and that also means that everybody has different symptoms that they struggle with.
I think the easiest way to describe this is to think about when you have a cold. You have a cold and you feel pretty *insert rude word that I probably shouldn’t say*. That goes regardless of the cold. However, one cold you have you might have a nose that doesn’t stop running but then a different cold your nose is bone dry but you’re up half the night coughing. Depression varies from person to person and many people are suicidal due to their depression but many also don’t have any suicidal thoughts.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, there are many ways you can access help:
- Samaritans- a free crisis helpline, call 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org
- Shout- a free crisis message service, text Shout to 85258
- If you are in a crisis situation, you can also call 999 and ask for an ambulance
2. Mental Illness Isn’t Real- It’s Just Attention Seeking
Yeah, this one definitely makes me angry. Like, so angry. Like Gordon Ramsay when the food is raw angry.
Mental illnesses are real illnesses (just look-it’s in the name!). They have serious affects on day-to-day life and manifest in a wide range of physical symptoms. If you are in anyway doubting that problems with mental health are not real, you need to look at the statistics and how scary they are:
- Suicide is the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK
- 1 in 4 people will struggle with mental illness in their lifetime
- In 2013, there were 8.2 million cases of anxiety in the UK
In reality, a big issue for people with mental illness is not talking about it enough. People feel like they can’t talk about it for fear of what other people may think and bottle up their emotions, which can ultimately make things a lot worse (this is especially true in males, where they are still told to ‘man up’). If people knew how awful it can actually be to suffer mentally, they would probably know that the majority of people play it down instead of striving for attention.
I found a lot at school people thought my symptoms were attention seeking behavior. These rumors really made things a lot worse as instead of people talking to me to understand what was really happening, they would just make assumptions about me, not learning how they could help.
Anti-depressants Work Like Recreational Drugs
Yes anti-depressants are drugs. There, I said it. But so is paracetamol. So is ibuprofen. So are caffeine and alcohol. Yet we don’t judge people for taking a couple of paracetamol when they have a headache.
I have to admit, before starting anti-depressants, I was very wary of them. They can have a long list of side-effects and I was so adamant that therapy was the way forward for me. Turns out I was completely wrong.
The way that anti-depressants work for people like me, is that they take the edge off that day-to-day struggle. They help to make life more bearable which in turn makes it easier to carry out daily tasks, which in themselves can help with what you are feeling. They definitely do not cure mental illness and for sure aren’t ‘happy pills’. If you take anti-depressants and they give you a ‘high’, you need to talk to your doctor and think about switching medication or dosage- this ‘high’ isn’t necessarily any better for you than the low.
And yes anti-depressants do come with a range of side-effects. These should only last for a couple of weeks, although it can take longer than that to feel the effects of the medication.
There are also many anti-depressants that work in different ways and all interact with everyone differently. It can take some time to find the dose and medication that are right for you but it is well worth it in the end.
There is absolutely no shame in taking medication- I have been on Pregabalin (an anti-anxiety medication) and Escitalopram (an anti-depressant) for over a year. But there is also no shame if you think medication is not for you- it is your body and it is your choice!
These are just a few of the many misconceptions about mental illness. I think on the whole misconceptions are caused by a lack of understanding surrounding mental illness, a factor that will be improved the more that we talk about mental health!
Thank you so much for reading! What are some misconceptions about mental illness you have experienced? Please comment as I would love to read them and also comment if you have any questions or feedback at all 🙂
Stay strong, stay amazing, stay YOU!
Zoe x
my life with mental illness 
Leave a comment