3 Reasons Why I am Thankful for My Mental Illness

Since today is both Thanksgiving and Global Mental Health Day, I thought this seemed like a rather fitting piece to write. Although most people may not see their mental illness as something to be thankful for, I am learning to embrace every crevice of my being and have come up with a few reasons why I am thankful for my diagnosis.

1. I worry less and take pride in trying my best. Before my diagnosis, I exhausted myself with worries and self-destructive doubts. I often worried about not taking good enough care of myself which only fed into a downward spiral of struggling to do just that. This process is teaching me that I am a capable in my own way and that there is no right or wrong way. This process is teaching me that I am a priority; I know how I should be treated, both my own self and by others. This is all because (on most days) I worry less, close my eyes to comparison, and take pride in being me.
2. I appreciate my friends and family more than ever. My family has been the most important thing to me for as long as I can remember. But their constant support and encouragement through these highs and lows has made the world of a difference. I worried that my family would fall victim to stigmatic thought, but they heard out my needs over societies labels and I am eternally grateful. As for my friends, this journey has allowed me to figure out who is in my corner to stay. McMaster did not always feel like home and I am sure that not understanding myself made it whole lot more difficult to find my place. To the many beautiful humans who have supported me, taught me to be unapologetically me, and appreciate me for my perfect imperfections — a warm hug of fluttering thank you’s.
3. It has taught me to empathize, always. Often times, the kindness and goodness of others got me through my toughest days. I can only strive to pay that forward, to be cognizant that other’s may not be doing as good as they lead us to believe. To remember that despite society reminding us all to paint a picture saturated by perfection, their well-being is a priority. It has taught me to reach out and offer to take care (when I am capable), and to offer a smile (always).

For those who are in my life, thank you for all your love and care. 
To all those who read this little piece of unstructured rant, thank you.

*Because I mentioned that it was Global Mental Health Day and went on to talk about my mental illness, I wanted to make the distinction: We all have mental health — it’s simply a thing that everyone has, just like everyone has ‘regular’ health. Our mental health can fluctuate from time to time but that is not conclusive to a mental illness. A mental ‘illness’ allows the problems to be attributed to the illness, not the person. A mental ‘illness’ implies that there is a diagnosis which characterizes the issue as separable from the person.