Breaking Past The Label Of 'Mental Illness' | The Odyssey Online
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Mental Health

When A Label Trumps Your Entire Being: Breaking Past Mental Illness

You are not your disorder, who you are is not what you have, you are not any less of a human being.

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mental illness labels

It's a bad day, not a bad life. Something new will happen every day of your life, and that is one of the greatest beauties of life itself. Life is especially unpredictable when you cannot control your brain chemistry, but you need to remind yourself that you can get through it. Some days are stressful, some days are easy-going, some days are never-ending, and some days are the best days of your life. Take every day one at a time, and remember a single day does not consume your entire life.

Your imaginary audience really is imaginary. There is a psychological phenomenon called your "imaginary audience." When we are hyper-focused on something about ourselves, we believe others are focusing right on that as well. We often fixate on physical imperfections, which can be even more severe when battling a mental illness. But here's the truth: no one cares about the zit on your face. No one cares about your messy hair. No one cares about the little pudge on your tummy. We're all human, we're not plastic, we don't look the same every day. Remind yourself of that. Here is another truth: People do care that you got yourself out of bed today. People do care about your presence. People do care about you.

Your health is by far the most important thing about you. Take care of yourself. Physical health, emotional health, and mental health are all equally important. Make sure you are fueling your body with the vitamins and nutrients it needs. If you need help with this, reach out to someone to help with meal prepping, effortless cooking, and more. Make sure you take time for yourself to unwind. Find something you love to do. Go to the gym, take a walk, color, paint, listen to music, bake. Do anything that lets your mind wander. Make sure you are listening to your body. If something does not seem right, do not ignore it. Take care of yourself, you are all you've truly got.

Realize where you are now and tell yourself where you want to be. Sometimes we get stuck in ruts, and it's rough. Set goals for yourself and track that progress. Any progress is progress, no matter how big or small. Do not compare where you are in life to where others are in life. Go at your own pace, but remember to keep moving forward. Get to where you want to be. You are more than capable than making strides towards where you wish to be.

Never ever apologize for who you are. You are a beautifully constructed human being who has incredible worth. You are a unique individual with your own strengths and weaknesses. Everything you are is everything you should be. If you are not happy with who you are, that is okay. You have the ability to improve yourself as an individual and work towards self-actualization. Express yourself in any way you want, you have every right, don't let anyone or anything tell you otherwise.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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