...let's talk about mental health.

Ok, so I know I've posted about some heady stuff lately, and here's another one; I promise we'll get back to the pretties soon! I just felt the need to address mental health here on the blog because it plays a big role in my life, therefore impacting much of what I do in my home, and I figured maybe it impacts you too.

First of all let me say that mental illness is never the fault of the person who deals with it. It's simply your brain's chemical makeup. Since a lot of mental illness has a genetic component, there is nothing you can do to prevent your propensity for mental illness.

That being said, there are things you can do to help you (and those around you) deal with it. 

Personally, mental illness runs in my family, likely on both sides. The main problem I struggle with is OCD. Thankfully mine is not bad at all; under normal circumstances I deal with it by trying to keep my stress level down and participating healthily in life - taking care of myself, spending time with ones I love, etc.

But as I mentioned a couple of posts back, this year I've dealt with more health problems than I have in a long time. That's incredibly stressful. Especially since I have OCD. The stereotype is of course that people with OCD are organized to a fault. Although that stereotype is frustrating for me - since living with OCD is much more difficult than needing to have my books in alphabetical order - in my case it is true. I tend to be a perfectionist. Being the primary homemaker plus being sick all the time do not make for a perfectly run anything. Which stresses me out. Which makes my OCD (an anxiety disorder) come more to the surface.

I won't go into details on the internet about specifically what I deal with. I will say that I have a family member who is virtually a non-functioning member of society due to OCD. I am far from that, mercifully. But since stress also adds to physical ailments, when my stress levels are high, it's time to get help.

I see a psychiatrist roughly every three months, depending on how I'm doing on my medications. And I go to therapy once a month. This is nothing to be ashamed of. So why do I feel so vulnerable typing that out?

I want to live in a world where I'm not embarrassed to tell people that I'm going to a psychiatric clinic, instead of my currently vague description of "I have a doctor's appointment". So I thought this blog was as good a platform as any to begin the discussion.

Go ahead and ask any questions you want, make any comments you want (as long as they are respectful!), and let's get to talking about this.