#torethink

I don’t know where I’d be without my writing. With autism, I’m coping better, because I talk about how I feel. Mental health is a more prevalent problem in society, particularly in the wake of the pandemic and in the UK, in the wake of Brexit.

How many of us think about Mental Health?

I’m not sure how many of us take the time to think about mental health in those terms, or will think about mental health. I think if more of us did, we would choose to be proactive. Mental health is lagging in popularity. It’s the last thing to think about, but the first thing to go.

It is important to be open and honest with yourselves

I have never made any excuses around my own mental health struggles. Through my writing, I am open and honest about what I deal with. It makes me feel mentally stronger to know others understand. Watching someone close to you struggle with their mental health reaffirms your own struggles, your own mortality, and highlights your own mental struggles.

My mental struggles are why I started writing, I needed to deal with my own ***t, but each of must be happy to pick up the gauntlet for ourselves and be proactive on mental health. I am sure about that.

We think we have time

We think we have time. No one has time, no one knows what’s around the corner. No one knows what will happen, or when ill-health will strike. But mental health is the catalyst to either good or ill-health. Covid-19 has changed the world, it has changed attitudes, it has changed us. Three years in and nothing is normal and mental health has taken a nose-dive.

Failing to connect with ourselves

My twin has said she failed to check in with herself, she took her eyes off herself, she took her eyes off the ball, she took her eyes off her mental health. She was looking out for her physical health.

Connect with your 'Mental Health'

But how many of actually think about mental health? In a world that is changed through the Coronavirus, the high risk and vulnerable are still home and the world is still living with a virus it doesn't know where it is, or even when it may strike and mental health is still taking its toll on us.