This topic is very personal and important to me. I am very passionate about it because I think valuing it can play a huge role in everyone's quality of life. I think there’s a stigma behind talking about your mental health. Some assume that you only need to care about it if you’re diagnosed clinically with a disorder from the DSM-5. But mental health is simply how everyone is doing mentally, and there’s not a soul out there who isn’t affected by their mental health. It should be equal to how we should go to the doctor’s yearly to get a physical, but mental health is much less frequently checked up on even though it’s such a critical part of our life.
This is one of my magazine spreads I produced for class my senior fall semester. The article doesn't pertain to my blog today, but I think the external forces of life represented by pollution can easily translate to other stressors which impact how we are doing emotionally. I know that in my junior year of college I neglected caring for my mental health. I pushed myself to focus on my grades, internship preparation and all the steps that needed to be taken in between. And I stressed and worried endlessly. I personally struggle with differentiating my performance from my worth. And that’s a struggle that really drains me and puts me in a dark place at times. This is why grades weren’t simply numbers to me, but they represented my abilities and value. People’s view and remarks about me weren’t just compliments or complaints, but they molded how I saw myself. Caring about all the external voices around me didn’t leave room for me to stop and ask myself how I was doing. It didn’t leave room for me to ask what I enjoyed and what I wanted. I just knew that I was a junior and juniors are supposed to know their major and how it works to get good grades while also landing a great internship for the summer.
I remember my fall semester being the worst and darkest semester of college. I wasn’t taking the most amount of credit hours, but with the majority of my classes being my major classes I found myself drowned in design projects with not enough buffer classes to help ease the load. One recommendation I would say right off the bat is to schedule each semester to not have the majority of your classes be all your major’s core credits. Take some electives so that you don’t get overwhelmed with the shear load of work that you have to excel in because it’s your major.
I kind of wish that I would have went to a counselor my junior fall semester. I cried so often because that was the only way I knew how to relieve my stress. But it wasn’t healthy. Although I loved psychology and talking with others to encourage them during their struggles, I refused to seek help for myself. There’s some sort of pride that I had that kept me from seeking help. Maybe it was me trying to hold onto the last sense of control that I felt that I had or maybe it was my own prejudice that wouldn’t let me label myself needy or crazy even. But it’s easier to say we should all support each other and destroy the stigma behind mental health then to do something about it, because when my time came to seek help, I couldn’t. That’s precisely my recommendation to anyone in a similar place. Looking back I wish I had been strong enough to ask for help. You’re not weak if you need help. Staying trapped in your situation is the only thing that can make you truly weak.
With all the craziness that is happening in the world right now, I know that many are unsettled emotionally, financially, mentally and more. But I would encourage you, if any of you are feeling purposeless, lost, depressed, anxious, sad or just anything due to your current situation, please reach out to someone. Even if you don’t go to a professional (but don’t be like me; I think everyone could benefit from talking to a professional), reach out to family or friends to gain strength. You aren’t alone and you don’t have to go through anything alone. This is what I wish I knew junior year.
“If we start being honest about our pain, our anger, and our shortcomings instead of pretending they don’t exist, then maybe we’ll leave the world a better place than we found it.” – Russell Wilson