Mental Health Awareness Day

October 10th is my birthday. It's also Mental Health Awareness day. 

Pertinent really. Given I've spent much of the past few years pretending that everything was fine, when really I was falling apart. Smiling in public, crying myself to sleep. 

 Too many times when I summonsed up the courage to talk to people, I got brushed off.

"We've all been through it. You'll get used to it... I need to talk to X."

"It's normal. We all get it from time to time." 

"Why don't you just take a day off for yourself?"

 I cried. I cried in people's kitchens. I cried on my own sofa. I cried in the shower. I cried in my office. 

 And once I did finally break. The most common thing I heard...
"Why didn't you just say something?"

 Because I'd tried. I really had. But, the harsh reality is, no one listened. Or if they listened, they didn't hear.   Because when we ask people how they are, what we expect to hear, what we want to hear, is "Good, thanks."  

 We aren't prepared to respond to anything outside of that standard social nicety. But we really need to be. Because until we are, while everything is kept bottled up, we're never going to crack the (perceived?) stigma that is still associated with Mental Health issues in our society. 

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