Oh My Passions!

Bonjour mes amis

From the title, I think you know what I'll be talking about today. If you guessed "passions", you're right. That is exactly what I want to share with you all.

When you have a mental illness, all you really want is to be back in control. I know I did, because losing that control drove me crazy. I wanted to stop my brain from going haywire, tell it to get back in line and stop messing around. But I couldn't because, sadly, life doesn't work that way. So I distracted myself with things that I loved. They calmed me down, and most importantly, stopped me from panicking.

My advice to you is to find something that makes you tick. Everybody has something. Mine is writing, more than anything else. A friend of mine who suffers from ADD loves drawing. And another friend of mine writes poems and draws pictures to go with them, when she's feeling depressed or lonely. Getting your feelings down on paper, through drawings, speaking, ranting, dancing, singing, whatever it is you love is the key to killing mental illness. Or, at the very least, trying to get the steering wheel back.

The next time mental illness sneaks up on you, find your thing. Grab your notebook, your sketchpad, your music, whatever. And just do. Focus all your energy on that one thing. Put your heart and soul and feelings into it. Another thing I love about getting this all down on paper is that when I decide to look back on it, I can be so proud of what I accomplished and overcame. It might also help you to realize, if you haven't already, that you need help to get through your mental illness, and you can do it. You just need to release your feelings.

Well, friends, stay strong. Keep on keeping on and do what's best. Always.

Yours in Kicking Mental Disorder's Out the Door,
Elizabeth