This conversation that I want to have today is an important one that you do not hear about often enough, and it is about mental health. Mental health is something that used to be taboo, but now we acknowledge the existence of it. However, some still do not respect it. Mental health is a serious topic and a lot more people than you think are dealing with. I am dealing with mental health. I have anxiety, panic attacks and depression. I am on medication and I was going to a therapist until they told me that I did not get enough sunlight and that was why I was feeling depressed. That threw me off and I was shocked that someone could tell me that what I was dealing with was not really depression. That is why this conversation needs to happen. More people need to understand that mental health is a serious issue.

Mental health has too much of a stigma around it. No one wants to admit that they think they have a mental illness. If you feel like something is wrong, you need to talk to someone right away. One big thing that needs to be discussed is suicide. I know that it is a heavy topic. Suicide is almost like a myth— when it happens, no one wants to talk about it. What no one understands, is suicide can be a voice in the back of your head that nags at you day and night. There is also the gray area of suicide that I personally deal with. The gray area is when there is a little voice in the back of your head that reminds you how easy it would be to just end it all. I can be having an amazing day and that little voice pops up saying that maybe my friends would be having a better time if I was not here. Being in the gray area is not having suicidal thoughts, it's a feeling that is itching at you all day, and sometimes you can't seem to shake it.

There are multiple ways that you can deal with these mental illnesses. If you have friends you trust, tell them and talk to them. Tell your family and they will be there to talk to. In my circumstance, I posted my story on my blog and shared it on my Facebook. I got messages from my friends telling me how brave I was and I got messages from friends telling me that they have gone through a similar situation. Find an online community with people who are dealing with the same thing. You can even participate in the semi-colon project. Usually participants to this program get their semi-colon as a permanent tattoo but you can draw it on with a pen or marker if a tattoo seems too extreme right now. A semicolon is used when an author could have placed a period and ended the story. The semicolon represents a breath that you took instead of ending your story. It shows you that you survived, that you continued on. I have a semi-colon tattoo on my wrist and I smile every morning that I wake up and see my tattoo. It reminds me that I am a survivor.

If you or anyone you know is suffering from mental illness and are having suicidal thoughts, please call the Suicide Prevention Hotline to talk to someone 24/7. The phone number is 1(800) 273-8255 or you can visit their website: www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.