Mental health awareness week

Written by Muddy Participant Keira

May is the month of mental health awareness week, falling on the 18th-24th May and is also borderline personality awareness month. Mental health conditions are extremely varied. They include some of the more common conditions like depression, anxiety and OCD to some of the lesser well-known ones like schizoaffective disorder, trichotillomania and complex PTSD. Borderline personality disorder is a mental health condition where people have difficulty regulating their emotions, they may engage in self-destructive behaviours and can form intense relationships with people.

The theme for this year’s mental health awareness week is kindness and as it falls during a time when many people are struggling, I think the theme of kindness couldn’t be more apt. The pandemic and lockdown has caused a raise in anxiety and depression, even in people who have no history of mental illness and has resulted in people with mental health conditions experiencing more intense symptoms, so it is now more important then ever to be kind to one another.

Kindness can be applied to one another but it can also be applied to yourself. I am part of a community group for people with chronic conditions called Muddy Care and one of the tools that Claire, the leader of Muddy Care, has taught us, is that we need to be kind to ourselves and to listen to our body’s. Being kind to yourself when you have a mental illness is very important, as it can help you to deal with how you are feeling. I have suffered with mental health conditions for 11 years, since I was 17 and I am still learning how to be kind to myself, but when I am having a bad day and feeling very depressed or upset, I am now learning to try to not judge myself for how I’m feeling. It’s OK if I don’t get anything done, it’s OK to cry and it’s OK to have a day to myself and just stay on the sofa all day.

When you suffer from a mental health condition it’s easy to blame yourself for how you’re feeling and to compare yourself to others and judge yourself, but by being kind to yourself you can help to stop these negative thoughts. Allowing yourself a time to cry can help to let those emotions out. Letting yourself eat something comforting can help soothe you or running a warm bath with candles and your favourite songs can help to relax you. Everyone who suffers with a mental health condition is different and is affected differently, but by acknowledging that you are doing your best and realising that even if your path in life is different to others, it doesn’t mean it is any less valid. Through this acknowledgment it can help you to accept your condition and to allow you to show some kindness to yourself.

Being kind to others is just as important as being kind to yourself. Performing an act of kindness helps to cause a ripple effect, where the person who receives the act will feel better and is more likely to carry out an act of kindness themselves and it also causes the person who performed the act to feel better in themselves too.

Acts of kindness are easy to do. It can be something as simple as ringing a friend or family member to see how they are doing. It may not seem much, but it may be the first time that person has spoken to someone in weeks and could be exactly what they need. Sending someone a gift or an item of their wish list can really help to give them a boost, especially if they weren’t expecting it. Telling someone how much they mean to you, can help to bring someone out of their dark thoughts and to realise that they are important to others.

Sometimes it may be hard for people suffering with mental health conditions to reply to your message or to accept your phone call, but don’t stop trying. There will be a time where they are able to respond and your act of kindness of checking in on them or just phoning for a catch-up and a laugh will be greatly appreciated.

So during mental health awareness week and during this pandemic, if you can only do one thing, Be Kind.