The 7 Toughest Parts of Living With Mental Illness
You get used to letting people down.
I was lying on the sofa in the middle of a 15-hour, drug-induced slumber. My victory for the day was rolling out of bed and making it to the next room. When I tried to speak, I slurred and felt like I was sinking into my fat, having gained 90 lbs in a year.
The alternative was worse — terrifying hallucinations, phantom voices, and paranoia. My medication was even dulling my intrusive thoughts and flashbacks. If I had to live at all — and I was taking it day by day — this was the best way.
This is the reality of mental illness. It isn’t pretty, quirky, or beneficial in any way. There are many horrible things about living with these conditions. My example above isn’t even the worst of them.
These are the toughest parts of living with mental illness.
1. Letting people down.
Mental illness is self-centered. When you’re in so much pain, you don’t have much time to think about others.
I ruined my dad’s final holiday to his beloved Scotland. My intrusive thoughts were so constant, and my depression was so great that we cut the holiday short. Despite the remote location, I was psychotic. I believed every dog walker I saw was a government…
