04:19am. I woke up angry and can’t go back to sleep. I don’t get angry. It’s an emotion, like sadness, that I avoid. But I’m angry now.
One of the things I’m angry about is this: why don’t we share more of our struggles on here? Why are the only people I know who consistently share their struggles people who have mental health issues? Why do I sometimes see them, including myself, as oversharing? Where does this internalised stigma and message come from that sharing is oversharing? That it’s weak? That “what will people think” message. If all of us struggle, why are we not speaking out about it more and normalising that struggle? Why is there so much fucking shame?
I’m not saying that we need to share a blow-by-blow account of all of our struggles, but what about normalising struggling so that people with mental health issues don’t become the people bearing the burden of our collective struggles; the scapegoat with all the villagers’ problems tied to its back and herded over a cliff.
Struggling in silence is struggling alone. Sharing our struggles with a partner/close friend/therapist still normalises the idea that our struggles are somehow a dirty secret to be kept close to our hearts. “Airing our dirty laundry” – a phrase that’s so contradictory; it’s meant to shame us into keeping out hearts close to our chests instead of on our sleeves. But some things cannot be washed and need to be aired.
Living is struggling. Struggling is such a huge part of being human. It’s not a disease. End the stigma.
life writ large 