World Mental Health Day

Today is World Mental Health Day. Mental health has began to shed some light into society as people are aware of it more and making the topic less taboo. 

Everyone experiences mental health issues at some point in his or her life. Mental health ranges from a huge spectrum including but not limited to the following: anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, drug addiction, and personality disorders. Each person faces a different inner battle everyday. This inner battle can span from mild to extreme. It can last a few minutes to a lifetime. It is a constant uphill battle for many on the extreme side. Even for those on the mild side, the mental health issue may come in waves. One minute a person is fine. The next minute may be a completely different story. As mental health becomes less of a taboo subject, people are able to open up their mental health problems and share their stories and situations with others. Mental health conditions are not experienced by only a handful but many. We are all in the same boat. You are not going through this alone. 

I had my first major anxiety attack in my senior year of high school. At the time, I had no idea what it was until my freshman year in college after talking about what I went through in high school to a friend. As a current senior in college right now, I can definitely say, I have had my fair share of anxiety attacks, from mild too extreme. I am no expert, but one of my triggers of anxiety attacks is closely academic related. Not always we know how and why our mental health issue appears. But once we know where it stems from, we learn more about ourselves and learn how to adapt and see the triggers that associate to it. For me, it took me about four years to realize I cannot control and plan out my ideal schedule as events, assignments, and situations, among others show up without warning. I felt there isn't enough time to do all the stuff I need to get done as I know my limits as a student when it comes to learning, understanding, and studying. However, everything works out in your favor whether you realize it then or not. It will be okay. Take one day, one step, one thing at a time. This has helped me and hopefully it may help you as well. 

Know you are not alone on this. Mental health is a sensitive and important topic that we all need to learn to discuss with others more. It is something we should be talking about and not avoiding. Speak how you feel. Share your uphill battle stories. Check in with people who may seem everything is fine. Life gets hard as each day goes by. Just know it is and will be okay.