WHAT’S UP WITCHES?!?!
Bright Blessing’s, and welcome to another episode of the Any Witches Way blog. Brought to you by the one and only, GreyFox Crawford. Tonight’s episode will be slightly different than what was originally intended. Because of this, I feel obligated to add a reader’s warning.
WARNING!! THIS POST IS INTENDED FOR AGES 16+. PARENTAL DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
This post may not be suitable for some readers. This post may also be triggering to some individuals.
This post contains personal experiences of living with MENTAL ILLNESS.
If you are struggling with life, and all that life throws at you, and it feels unbearable or too much to deal with, please reach out and talk to someone. If you have thoughts of hurting yourself, hurting others, or hurting animals or if you have already acted on those thoughts, PLEASE reach out and talk to someone. If you feel like you do not know, or feel comfortable with, anyone to talk to about this, you can Call or text 1-800-985-5990. This number is for the disaster distress helpline. Which provides immediate crisis counseling for people who are experiencing emotional distress related to any natural or human-caused disaster. The helpline is free, multilingual, confidential, and available 24/7. Another national resource you can call or text is the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which offers 24/7 support for anyone in emotional distress. The 988 Lifeline also offers an IM style crisis chat if you prefer to chat online or don’t have access to a phone.
I, personally, would like to also give you the option to email me. Keep in mind that I am NOT a counselor, therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, etc. I do NOT have any type of degree or expertise in ANY medical field, including mental health. Emailing me is for those of you who are not in a crisis situation and are in need of help that I cannot provide, rather my offer is for those of you who need to vent, or want an outsiders opinion, or maybe you find it easier to talk to someone when hiding behind the mask of the internet. Basically, I am offering a new friendship, or pen pal. Giving the option to connect with someone who may be going through something similar and who understands what it is like living with Mental Illness. You can email me 24/7 but do not expect fast response, it may take a week or longer for me to get to and respond to your email (I am a busy person, living my life, and dealing with my own hardships), so please be patient, I will respond as soon as I can. My email is greyfox@anywitchesway.com.
As I am sitting here typing away at this new post, sipping some tea, on a cool late spring evening/early morning, I am reminded that, sometimes, we, as individuals, are not “fine,” and that sometimes that is okay. If you have not assumed or guessed it, I am experiencing a depressive episode. Dealing with a myriad of different stresses, both good and bad, that have been piling up behind the sketchy looking flood gates that allow me to hold off, or procrastinate, dealing with those stresses. This is one of the worst coping mechanisms, in my personal opinion, that anyone can choose to utilize in an attempt to get in control of and/or deal with their emotions and life’s stresses, BUT, I also think that, bottling up, is one of the most commonly used coping mechanisms universally.
I have Major Depressive Disorder, also know as depression. MDD can show itself differently in every individual affected by it. For me, during a depressive episode, MDD might appear as a general sadness that hovers and clings to me even during times of happiness or activities of enjoyment. Other times however, my MDD will come at me head on at full speed making it seemingly impossible for my able body to get out of bed. Luckily I have not experienced the later in quite some time, mainly because I have learned that most of the things I do not want to do when these episodes occur are the things, or activities, that I actually need the most. For example, I love to write. You can almost always see me carrying a pen and paper with me, ready to jot down the next random idea that suddenly pops in my head. BUT when I am experiencing one of these funks, I just don’t want to write. Even if I have the most brilliant idea or topic for a post or story, I just can not seem to put forth the effort to put pen to paper. Because I know of this blockade that MDD places upon me, I have trained myself to push through and force myself to start writing. Even if I cant think of anything of substance to write about, I make myself to start writing. If I cant think of anything, I will begin writing down what I can see around me, which usually ends up being what my dogs are doing at that point in time. But the important part is that I write something down. And literally as soon as I get that first word written, guess what, I just successfully got over a barrier that MDD was using to keep me feeling trapped. That may seem like a simple task, writing a single word, but during these episodes you can often find me doing anything else besides the things that I enjoy and find pleasure in. It is important that we acknowledge and celebrate every victory, no matter how great or small it may appear. Bask in the glory of beating even the simplest of obstacles, by simply writing down a single word.