Are you flooded with feelings of anger, sadness, confusion, and fear and does your heart feel like it's breaking every second of the day?

Do you feel like you're living a constant nightmare that you just can't seem to wake up from? Are your days filled with worry and do you find yourself awake most nights? Do you go to bed every night praying tomorrow will be a better day and do you get up every morning hoping today is the day your life returns to normal?

Well, my friend, you're not alone and you never will be.

Every story of mental illness is different and each one is unique. For me, my story isn't my own. It's my sweet, sassy, sarcastic, and strong little sister's.

Being 4 years apart, we grew up at each other's throats, as most siblings do, but behind that is one of the greatest bonds I will ever be a part of: the one that is shared between two sisters.

So when I got the call that she was being admitted to the psychiatric hospital, my world just about shattered around me. In what seemed like one moment, everything I once knew was completely turned upside down at the hands of mental illness.

Nothing in the world prepares you to watch one of the people you love most in the world struggle as mental illness takes over, so if you know what that is like, I am truly sorry. I have been there and I know what it does to a person. I know what it's like to force yourself to be strong because you feel like there is no other option, but I also know what it's like to break down in tears wishing this would magically go away... and both are okay.

There isn't a handbook with step by step directions that tell you how to handle something like this so be patient with yourself.

It's okay to be upset. It's okay to cry. It's okay to be angry.. at the illness, at the world, at yourself, and even at the person struggling. It's normal. It's normal to feel ashamed and it's normal to feel hurt. It's normal to feel guilty and it's even normal to feel a sense of grief.

After all, you are grieving. You're grieving the life you once imagined for your loved one and you're grieving any "normalcy" you once had yourself. But when you find yourself filled with these feelings and you find yourself consumed by the pain, I want you to ask yourself this. "Could I have prevented this person from getting the flu or could I have stopped them from breaking their arm?"

You couldn't have. They couldn't have. No one could have. This is the same.

Nothing you did and anything you think you didn't do could not have stopped this and you are not to blame. No one is. So be gentle with yourself. You're doing the best you can and that is more than enough. But you should also know that it's okay to take a break to take care of yourself every now and then because your mental health matters too.

Ironic, right? Worrying about your own mental health when mental illness is the exact reason you're in the situation you're in?

I know that feeling all too well, but I promise you it is easier to be there for your loved one if you're there for yourself first and you will be thankful in the long run. That isn't to say it's easy because it's far from it and I know that. I know what it's like to be in the midst of complete devastation and I know what it's like to be completely heartbroken.

Mental illness has taken me to a place that is impossible to understand until you've been there yourself and those of you that can relate to this know what I mean because it's an emotional one. It's one that tugs at your heart until it's in pieces and it's one that hits the internal most depths of your soul.

It's dark and it's scary and it truly pushes a person and an entire family to limits you never thought you could reach. But it's when you reach that place of anguish and heartbreak that you will need those close to you to lean on. You're going through this together and you need each other, even when you might think you don't.

My family is my own everyday example of compassion, resilience, sacrifice, strength, and unconditional love.

We are bruised, but we are not broken.

Sure, my family and I are living through hell right now, but I choose to believe the days to come will be better because my sweet, sassy, sarcastic, and strong little sister deserves better. We all do. So if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, I encourage you to hold onto whatever hope you have left and fight like hell until your battle is won because I promise it is worth it.

Your life is worth it.

I am thankful for the life I have been given and I am thankful for the struggles I have faced. I have eyes that see the good, a heart that forgives the worst, and a soul that never loses faith. The understanding, acceptance, and love I am capable of go far beyond what I ever imagined to be possible, and that is why, in a world that doesn't understand the mentally ill, I choose to use my voice.

My sister deserves acknowledgment.

My family deserves acknowledgment.

Those of you facing similar struggles deserve acknowledgment.

So for whoever needs to hear it, your pain is valid. You are valid. You are brave. You are beautiful. You are strong. But above all else, you are LOVED.

And you are never alone.

So I'll leave you with this. "You can't break the broken, for they are stronger than the strongest, even when they are frail. Mock them no more, for you shall see, a glimpse of insight is all they need, and your day and night will reverse before you realize that frailty was strength in disguise."

To those who have lost their battle with mental illness, those still fighting, and whoever has been affected along the way, I stand with you.