Writing about something close to one's heart usually yields the best results, from what I have seen. One is more passionate about the topic, can share personal anecdotes, and just generally strives for that particular piece of literature to be something they would be proud of sharing with others.

Mental health and the stigma surrounding it is something that I have been really zealous about for some time now. Using my own experiences as a reference point, I can see how people can tend to perceive the sphere of mental health and how they can just dismiss it so easily as something that "is just inside your head."

But it is so much more than that.

As someone who has been severely depressed before, I can personally vouch for the fact that thinking "happy thoughts" is not the cure for it. But one thing I can say for sure will go a long way in helping is talking about it. Not to anyone in specific (we'll get to that in a bit), but speaking about it in general.

The more we talk about mental health in public, the closer we will get to de-stigmatizing it. Who knows how many people are out there, just being torn apart in silence, just because they are too afraid to stand up and address the issue at hand.

We as a community need to step up and address this massive elephant in the room that is society, and we need to make sure that no one feeling similar things feels that they are alone in this. We need to be the voices of the people in the back who are so caught up in thinking what the public might say that they forego everything that they are feeling.

We need to ensure that people feel comfortable in talking about mental health and that no one holds anything back because of what OTHERS might think.

The more we talk about it, the closer we get to dismissing the sense of "taboo" that comes along with it. You will come across a lot of people in life who will dismiss mental health issues by saying things like "it's all in your head," or "just stop thinking sad thoughts and you will be fine." These are the kind of things that people should be getting more careful about, and this is why it is so important to educate the public about such prevailing issues.

People need to start thinking about mental health in the same vein as physical health.

You have a problem, you get treatment for it, then you get better. You cannot separate the two and treat them differently.

You wouldn't go up to someone in severe physical pain and just ask them to stop feeling the pain for it to go away, would you?

No, you empathize with them and ask them to go see a doctor. Not so hard, is it? That is all you've got to do, just empathize with people suffering from mental health issues and make them feel like they're not alone. Trust me; that goes a long way.

You see, when people are depressed or they have severe anxiety or have suicidal tendencies brought on by particular incidents, they tend to pull away from everyone. Just talking to them, making them feel like they're not alone and just simple acts of kindness will go a long way with them.

I can tell you from personal experience that talking to people helps a lot. Not even about anything specific; just talking about how your day was, or about random things, or absolutely anything can help. You just need to realize that there are people out there who care for you, who are affected by your state of mind, and that they will be with you through everything.

Seeking out help is not wrong. Going to a therapist does not make you any less of a person.

If you are someone who is going through anything similar, just know that things take time. You will not start feeling better all of sudden. You cannot take one giant step and expect everything to be all right.

Start small, and build up to it. Learn to accept help, and learn to help yourself. Notice the little things in life that give you joy, and focus on them. Start writing down things that make you happy; refer back to them whenever you're feeling down. Talk to people; let them into your world.
Do anything you can. Do everything you can.

It is a long journey, but you just need to focus on putting one foot in front of the other and continue walking.