Understandably, some may get upset by this, but I'm only going to say the truth.
As someone with prevalent mental health issues that have become more visible in these past few months, I have learned that there will always be someone who will try to "one-up" you in regards to this topic. Maybe it's a friend or a family member who you have known for years. Now, I'm not trying to discredit anyone with mental illness, as it is a spectrum and quite unpredictable. However, it seems that personally, around certain people, I cannot be vocal about my struggles without them making my issues about them or trying to discredit me.
If you're reading this, and you're either denying or know that this is about you, congratulations.
You have made me feel like shit for months, even years. Every time I have the courage to come forward about my struggles, you will always change the conversation subject or turn it into a pity party for yourself. I'm sorry that you feel the need and see my bravery as a "woe is me" moment for yourself. I have dealt with my mental health for years, and to have you not even acknowledge it drives me up a wall.
It's sad how your presence actually triggers my anxiety and depression.
You being around me makes me anxious to even speak up, and that in turn makes me depressed thinking I'll probably never find a safe place to discuss my issues. You may say that you're an advocate for mental health, but how can you advocate for something that you think you're so special for having? I know mental health is not a competition in the slightest, but look at how my mental illness has affected my day-to-day life. Take a look at where my issues stemmed from. We most definitely have different upbringings, and you very well know that was and still is far harder than you could even imagine. Being someone who cannot afford to be clinically diagnosed so I can better myself pains me, so don't judge me for my issues that I, quite literally, cannot afford to take care of.
I wish I could afford to splurge on self-care.
My schedule at work makes it so I can distract myself, and the workload I have at home makes it so I can't sit down with my own thoughts. Having the time to really flesh out my thoughts and emotions would be a huge help, but my life is so hectic that I can't properly take care of myself. Meanwhile, I know you sit on your asses at home when you're not working, having everything served to you on a silver platter, taking all the self-care time that you need. You act like your lives are so busy, but you put that burden on yourself. I, unfortunately, pulled the short straw in life and now have to worry about others and not myself.
So, no longer will I be silenced by you.
No longer will you make me feel like my mental health means nothing. It's people like you that make it hard to talk about mental health in a safe environment. There are so many people who have probably been silenced or have been too scared to come forward because you take every possible opportunity to turn the conversation in your direction. There is absolutely no reason to discredit someone's mental health because it doesn't exactly replicate yours.
Millions of us struggle everyday, so please, stop trying to take like you're special. It's not cute, and it's definitely not helping me deal with my mental health.
