I'll keep this post short and sweet, because if you're reading this, you've already read my story.
However, make sure that everyone you know, knows that you take mental health seriously - let them know that if anyone needs a person to confide in, you can be that person without judgement. They may not ever need it, but just knowing that not everyone will brush them off, might give them the push they need to get some more serious help; all it takes is for you to realize that what you're going through is serious.
You feel a little under the weather, your throat hurts, your nose is running, and you feel weak. You probably have a cold. You pick up some Vick's cough drops, and some Robitussin on your way home from work, eat some soup for dinner and lay in bed for a couple of days. You wake up sweating in the middle of the night, cough into a Kleenex and see blood. You show your partner, it just got serious - you go seek professional help.Now take the above scenario and think about why it's not the same for your mental health. There are no easy to see symptoms when things go from bad to worse, and often, things become harder to see as a person becomes more and more closed off.
In most cases, we treat mental illness like the first part of the story above - a common cold - take a day off and "get over it", but for the leading cause of workplace disability in Canada, and what accounts for 15% of all of Canada's burden of disease (Bell 2014), it can be more serious than most of us realize.
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| Some staggering stats about mental health in Canada |
So - while I'm not a doctor - I'm someone who knows that you might have to pry, you might have to pester, but even if they don't admit it - they'll appreciate that you care. You know your friends and family better than anyone, so if something doesn't quite look right, sit them down, look them in the eye, and say #LetsTalk
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