Mental Health Matters and it affects millions of lives. Understand your thoughts and emotions and find out what’s keeping you up at night.
In our fast-paced and challenging world, it is crucial to recognize the core of what mental health really is. Our mental health reflects our emotional, psychological, and social state of mind. This has a tremendous influence on how we go about our lives, with our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Neglecting your mental health can have debilitating consequences and affects in your everyday life. The purpose of this article is to shed some light on the importance of mental health, provide my experiences, and include professional services that are available to support you. Lets dig a little deeper.
Life Happens
Born and raised in Chicago in the 80’s, I had a fair share of traumatic events that shook my life. It starts with a very young mother and father. They were married young and had three wonderful children. Years passed and around the age of 5, they separated. My mother was single with three kids, (older brother and sister) raising her children in poverty stricken neighborhoods. The unforeseen circumstances and decisions that my mother would make, would turn our lives into a warzone. Things definitely took a turn for the worst.
From living on the streets to the shelters, to homes of people who I never knew. Complete strangers. Raised in abusive households, which included verbal and physical abuse, I was a child that always felt the need to survive. Having experienced such tragedies at a very young age, the life of poverty, homelessness, graphic violence, drug and sexual abuse, and a few others, shaped me into the person I am today.
Professional Help is Always Available. Don’t hesitate to make a change to live a normal life. You deserve it.
That being said, my childhood was definitely not the best as you can tell. Unfortunately, based off of my personal experiences meeting others in my life, I learned there is always worst. And there really is. There were many friends of mine throughout the years that I encountered, and they had similar backgrounds and found themselves under similar circumstances. Just to survive!
Most of my life I only always had a handful of friends. It was always very hard for me to trust people with the life I experienced. It was like that mindset was embedded in my soul and I could not escape it. As the time kept flying by and the years just passing me by, I got older. I started noticing some issues that were beginning to resurface. I mean, issues of all sorts that were buried deep. Trauma I thought I could put in a lock box in my brain and forget about it. I had no idea what my future had in store for me.
Structure and Foundation
I never understood the importance of a family and creating a strong foundation. Till the time came, where I found myself lost, with little to no guidance in my life. Going into my 20’s I started to really find out how out of balance my brain was with my emotions. In and out of relationships, heart break after heartbreak. Mistake after mistake. Living out of control! My relationships were emotionally unstable and caused havoc. There was no way out. I was creating my own reality with my own thoughts, feelings, and emotions. It was a journey of destruction. Turning to the wrong avenues of drug and alcohol abuse, I found myself going down a path that was leading me no where.
There was no personal growth, no structure, no plans, and no goals. It was as if I was living life just to live it. In the moment. Yes! Living in the moment is not a bad thing, just not how I did it. I never thought I would reach the age of 25, let alone 30 years of age. Now, I’m now almost 40 years of age and came to the realization, in my early 30’s that it was time to make a change and dig deep. Become better, do better, live better. That was my motivating factor. I was always too prideful to seek any assistance and I regret that I didn’t get the help sooner. It caused a major setback in my Life and I realized that God had a different path for me.
Creating a New Life Plan
Back track to the year 2017. 34 years old and things were beginning to get shakier. I always managed to keep myself busy and working as I always had. It was my solution for escaping the harsh realities that were lying dormant in my brain. At some point I knew I had to figure out what was wrong. Now, I’m in a situation where everything was starting to breakdown in my life. Relationships, finances, friendships, and many other things. It was as if the World was trying to tell me something.
Now this is where things get a little interesting. There were a series of events that took place, and changed my life. Back track again to 2016. I was ending a 3 year relationship, which was very toxic and it changed my whole perspective on living. One of my many bad decisions I made in my life, and it came with major consequences. I brought myself to what I felt would be the point of no return.
Professional Help is Always Available. Don’t hesitate to make a change to live a normal life. You deserve it.
It started on a Sunday morning, and all I remember was a heart full of pain and anguish. I was experiencing so much rage and uncontrollable emotions. While, literally losing my mind and reaching a boiling point. Reality was no longer an option for me! I had a mental break down that evoked me to end my life. Driving over 100 mph on the expressway with a pair of knives on the seat and my ex-girlfriend chasing me and nearly losing control and killing herself. I had to pull over to save her life. She shouldn’t have had to suffer for my short comings. I was at the end of my rope. I never felt so helpless in my entire life.
Long story short, I have a small mark on my neck to remind me for the rest of my life of how different things would’ve been. I don’t think I have to get into too much detail, the point is clear enough. Mental Health is real. You can google the facts and see everything for yourself. You are not alone and help is always available.
Always a Solution
Moral of the story is don’t delay in seeking professional help. I took the route of finding the problems within myself, through self-isolation and spiritual guidance. I was strong enough to overcome all the obstacles that I had to face alone. It was a long and hard journey, but I can say that I did it. Unfortunately, there are many who needed help and never found it and they are no longer here with us. Do not wait until it’s too late and your life is spiraling out of control. Resources are always available.
I’m a prime example of what you should not do. And I’m alive to share my story so that others can gain knowledge and understanding of how important Mental Health is. It really does Matter. Take some time to love and care for yourself. You might not think that you might be affecting your loved ones, but everyone suffers around someone who is not mentally stable.
Self-Care and Self-Love
Lets make a change for the better and allow yourself to grow and prosper. Be a better version of yourself and strive to be the BEST at everything you do in life. We only have one life to do it. There are no second chances! I’m rooting for you and so is everyone in your life! Lets make it happen. You can do it!
Response Magic