#BellLetsTalk

We are all connected to someone who has suffered from mental illness. One way or another. Either we know someone who has suffered or we know someone who knows someone that has suffered. It is almost inevitable, but that doesn’t mean that there is nothing that we can do to stop it. Mental Illness is a complicated thing. We don’t know why it happens, or how it happens, but it does. It’s an issue that ends people’s lives, and the message of letting people know that there is always someone there to talk to is extremely important. I know this because I have been through it.

            Most people know me as the fun-loving girl who always has a smile on her face, but what some of you may not know is that for a period of my lifetime I was depressed. It was the hardest thing for me to overcome. I felt alone. I felt that I had no one to talk to. I felt that no one loved me. I was always exhausted.

But I put a smile on my face and told myself, and the rest of the world for that matter that I was ok. In reality I was not. The thing was that; I thought that no one wanted to hear about my stupid little teenage problems. What I didn’t realize was that it was much more than your typical ‘little teenage problems’. Finally one day I felt within myself that I needed to talk to someone about what I was feeling inside. I started off by writing down what I was feeling, and for a little while it helped, but soon after I knew it was time to tell my family and closet friends that I was not ok.

I know that if I didn’t have my family and my closest friends around me that I may have not been here today. Having them around was so crucial because it gave me the slightest bit of hope. It gave me the strength to wake up in the morning because I knew someone did in fact love me.  If I never let go of all of the demons I had inside of me, then life would be a whole lot different right now.

            This story is not for you to feel bad for me, but to put awareness out there.  I want my story to inspire people. To go out and release whatever they have inside of them. It is so vital that people know that there is always someone out there who will be willing to talk. People need to understand that they are not alone. Someone has felt the same way that you have, but there is no way things are going to get better until you let it all out. You will feel stronger. I assure you.

            #BellLetsTalk is one of the most inspiring campaigns that I have ever heard of. It puts awareness out into the world. It’s changing peoples lives little by little, and that is enough to make my whole world go round. Support #BellLetsTalk and remember that the happiest person you know may be suffering the most.

            We are all in this together. You are never alone #BellLetsTalk.