Mental Health

Late in the 2010s, mental health has become more and more open to the media; more people were getting help for what they are dealing with. More doctors, support workers, and psychiatrists have more experience with how to deal with the most common mental health issues to date.

There are many different mental health issues that people can experience over their lives, but the most common mental health issues that most people are diagnosed with are depression, anxiety/panic disorders, bipolar disorders, eating disorders, schizophrenia, and substance abuse/ addiction.

Mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and eating disorders are usually diagnosed in individuals 12 years and up. This is usually because of the stress of schooling, exams, choosing their own career. There is also social media that can affect the mind of young teenagers. The pictures of the model being “skinny” being a size “6” or being the “perfect” model. The young teenagers will want to look like the girls in the magazines to prove themselves to other teenagers.

Many people experience mental health issues but what’s better than having a story written by someone who has experienced depression, anxiety, and OCD for the past 5 years?

Therefore, here it goes.

I was bullied at school from the age of around 6 or 7, continuously getting bullied by people who weren’t my friends and people who I thought were my friends. I was bullied all the way up to the age of 18 studying in a sixth form in my local town. Having been bullied for so many years around the age of 14 or 15 I was suffering very bad low moods, self-doubt, and self-harming experiences. It wasn’t until a teacher of mine decided to tell me about her experience with depression, when I wasn’t able to talk to anyone, I never had the support that other kids had. When she spoke about her experience I felt a weight lift off my shoulders as if I had someone to talk to. But by this time, I was 15, and had a year left of secondary school. So, I decided to stay at the school's sixth form so I was able to still have the support from the teacher, but this wasn’t going to turn out true. We had different schedules, my free time she was busy, her free time I was busy, so I was finding it harder and harder to deal with my “demons.” After spending a year and a half at the sixth form I decided to leave after still being bullied by people who were 17/18/19 years old. I couldn’t take it any more… especially having lost my uncle a month before I left.

So, I decided I’d hide myself away from the world, wouldn’t go out, wouldn’t speak to anyone and wouldn’t see anyone. Many people would try and get hold of me to try and see me but I would always come up with some excuse where I wouldn’t be able to meet them or see them just because I couldn’t get the guts to take myself outside back into the world. A couple of months after having left sixth form, I had the opportunity of my dreams, a job as a care assistant in a care home for elderly people. I don’t know how, but I managed to pull out all the stops, get myself to the interview, and get myself the job. However, being so happy at the job of my dreams, the depression and anxiety never went away; I was always trying to please my colleagues, my team leader and my managers, trying to be the better than best to keep myself from being bullied again. But after a few months I ended up experiencing Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I didn’t notice it at first, but some of my colleagues did, I had to have everything straight, in the kitchen area, the dining area, the living rooms. I kept working and working and working thinking I in the end would be happy and would get rid of depression.

However, that didn’t happen. I ended up being bullied by the people that were closest to me and knew everything about me. But then again, they probably knew my weaknesses so they used them to their advantage.

My depression and anxiety ended up getting to the point where I was worried more about what I would do to myself and whether I would leave the job “alive” or “dead.” But I managed to get out and find another job with nicer people and more supportive management. However, depression doesn’t just go away with a click of a finger, it does take time but… my mental health issues are getting better, with the support from my new team and people around me.