277- WorldMentalHealthDay 2017

Today's #WorldMentalHealthDay and I thought to share with you some of my renewed wish to spread awareness about mental health, today, and beyond, the rest of the year.

Indeed, like any other cause that received a day, a week or a month, mental health must be talked and discussed openly all year around. We must continue to do so, to break stigmas and taboos ; to be vehicles of societal change. 


There are many charities which aim to do precisely that, but not present in equal measures in all countries. I think that some countries have none, and others have an abundance, which is good for the latter, but not the former. 

To create change, every single person who is able, physically, mentally, and legally, should participate if and when they can. Evidently, not every one can, or dares. 

From posts 51 & more so from 176, you'll learn that I'm now middle-aged, and that I used to suffer in complete silence. Sure, I had talked about my past, but not in terms of impact on my mental health. At first, I was merely telling my story, but hadn't explained how I was still suffering as a result. 

This silence further worsened my condition, as it fed my depression and overall feeling that I was misunderstood, and alone. 

So, what changed ? 

1. I got married, against all odds. I told this part of the story here as a happy memory. 
2. I told my wife quite a bit of my life, but also impacts. This was so she would understand how I function - as much as I understood it myself, and updated as I learned more. 
3. She encouraged me to have more friendships. To meet local people, and not limit to online, but when it came to mental health, she persuaded me to create this very blog and later, 
4. As I researched more about social anxiety, I found vlogs on youtube, exchanged with some of the vloggers, and eventually became active on twitter, where I discovered chats. Most of the MH community there are in the UK. 
5. Later on, I found out that the UK, and overall international anglophone world have specific awareness days, weeks and month dedicate to specific topics. I also found out that in France, it seems there is almost nothing, at least not published about online, with very rare exceptions, such as an event I'd read about... 2 weeks after it had taken place in Paris. That showed me how late France is tackling the topic.
6. I also know that our culture is one of "Life is suffering, suck it up" and "don't talk to us about your trouble, it makes us... feel uncomfortable". These aren't said in a clear way, but you are made to feel them creep into the overall mentality, even in medical practices, about physical ailments. 

I still suffer from my various mental illnesses, and I won't be quiet about it, not anymore.

I decided that I need to resume translating and sharing my French mental health blog entries whenever I can, because I want to be part of a movement to bring about societal change, even if it's a small one. We, as a society, need to take measures and bravely talk about our mental illnesses and our battles that affect our mental health.