*hugs cho and Joan and Soren and kitten* y’all thankyou for sharing, I hope it gave you more confidence in yourself and acceptance for who you are. 

Mental illness or mental dissorders are the abnormality of the brain and certain functions is does that doesn’t have noticeable physical symptoms, although physical symptoms are common. It affects moods, thinking, processing, memories, and value of life in general. Some types of mental dissorders;

Depression- low mood, lack of emotions, often shrugged off as someone just being ‘lazy’ which is not true. Depression causes low self esteem and self hate, and although is this very serious it doesn’t last a lifetime and can be overcome with support and love and therapy or medication if desired or needed.

Anxiety- although everyone gets anxious, Anxiety in extreme amounts is a mental disorder, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Some people can’t get up during class for fear of people looking at them, some can’t even walk through hallways with fellow students. Anxiety affects everyday things and it’s no fun to be afraid of everything and jumpy all the time. People might pass it off as ‘shy’ or ‘rude’ but it is very important to support people with this illness, and respect their space and respect that they not be able to do certain things or go to certain places. Anxiety can be managed, but this disorder never really goes away. Support and building of self confidence will help them overcome symptoms and allow them to do things that they might not have been able to do before. There are many types of anxiety, such as Socail anxiety, PTSD, situational anxiety, and general anxiety disorder. 

ADD/ADHD- this mental disorder is often passed as someone not paying attention or wanting attention or not trying hard enough. People often don’t believe that this is actually a mental disorder, people claim it’s made up by corporations or something crazy like that. ADD and ADHD are very real, very reasurched dissorders, they are in the official index of mental dissorders and should not in any means be passed as a kid ‘wanting attention’. ADHD and ADD can be treated with medication or lots of physical activity, healthy diets, and regular sleep patterns. ADHD is more common in younger people, or rather more diagnosed in the younger generation, adults have it too but either don’t have jobs it messes with or they manage it very well. It’s not rare or taboo for adults to have ADHD. It lasts a life time.  

Schizophrenia is characterised by hallucinations, hearing voices and seeing things no one else does. People often define it as ‘crazy’, a rude term used when someone’s scared or doesn’t want to deal with this person. It lasts a lifetime and there’s no medication to cure it. But again, it can be managed. Did you know schizophrenics are usually very nice people, because they understand pain more then anyone else? Support is again needed for people with this disorder, it is important to understand them instead of assuming they’ll hurt you, cause guess what!! They won’t. Hallucinations can only form from things the brain has seen or heard before. Respect their boundaries and understand that they are not to be feared and you should love them no matter what’s inside their head. What they experience is real, if only to them, and that should be respected. 

~ if anyone wants more info on mental disorders, please don’t be afraid to ask. Have advice? Don’t hesitate to share. <3 

Toolbox!! I found this really helpful, and you guys might too! (It might come out too small or blurry and if that’s so I’ll try again) 

I'm sorry, Claaws, but we're not allowed to post illustrations, diagrams, or even text copied from another source. Maybe you can write a list of things to go in a toolbox based upon this, but in your own words.

Admin

~ y’all remember that May isn’t the only month in which we should acknowledge mental illness, it’s every month. Keep sharing your stories loves, keep posting poetry or art or anything you find helps you or might help others express their pain or trumphiets. You matter. Your feelings are valid. And even if you think the things you’re going through aren’t ‘as bad’ as some other’s, that doesn’t matter!! Your problems and feelings and your mental health matters even if you think it doesn’t, we think it does. Don’t be afraid to share or ask for help/advice. I love you all!! 

*gives everyone a big ol' hug*

Just a couple mental health tips/reminders for y'all to think about, if you so desire <3

~ Your feelings are valid and important to acknowledge! No matter how big or small your problem may seem, it's okay to talk or complain about it if you want to. Anyone who invalidates your feelings is wrong; you have a right to feel and recognize what you're feeling! ~

~ It's okay to take a break. Listen to your body and your mind. Take care of yourself. If you're not feeling great, try showering, getting a glass of water, or going outside. ~

~ It's not selfish to prioritize yourself. If you're not at your best, you should never feel obligated to do something you don't want to. Being happy should be your top priority. ~

~ Get enough sleep!! It's so, so good for you, and you'll be so much happier. ~

I may be back with more. But let's top this thread - mental health should be a conversation we have year round!

I think it's very smart that someone made this thread. I've never thought about mental illness like this. I may have never thought about it!! But I think opening up is one way to help solve mental illness. Sometimes keeping stuff like this to yourself can make your thoughts swirl and you just feel like poop. You need to say what's on your mind and you might just feel free. #BREAKTHESTIGMA

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in all seriousness, I can't believe I missed Mental Awareness month. I hope everyone's safe and doing well. To some it might be a mature topic, but everywhere, so many kids are dealing with this sort of stuff.

#breakthestigma 

Hey loves!! I found a few song artists I would like to share with everyone going through a hard time. 

1. Faith Marie, she’s an amazing singer and her lyrics help put feelings and raw emotions you might be feeling into words you can understand. Some of my favorite songs by her are NVM, Digging the crazy, Antidote, Little Girl, and Toxic Thoughts. Addict of the Gallery is also a really good song. Her lyrics indirectly explain depression, anxiety, ocd, oppression, and psychosis, and each song portrays the raw emotions of one or both. There are no bad words in any of these songs and the music is easy listen, some get more pop-y or hip hop-y. And the music video for Dig the Crazy is really great!

2. Icon for hire, these songs are a little less easy listen and more intense rock and roll, depends on the song of *how* intense it gets. I really like Iodine, and Sorry about your parents, and a few others that I’m spacing on the names right now. I’m not sure if some songs have bad words, look up ‘clean songs by Icon for Hire’ if that concerns you. Some songs I don’t like because they say depression is a ‘trend’ which it...it really isn’t...and I would stay clear of Under the knife, it makes a lot of assumptions about mental illness. A favorite quote I have from Iodine “depressions like a big fur coat-made of dead things but keeps me warm’ and ‘if we want to wake up, why we still singing these lullabies?” 

3.  Chloe Adams, her songs are soft and innocent even, I really like the raw but nice vibes they portray, and how they really put confusion and emotions you may think no one else has into words, clear words. Not at all hard listen and I really really love her singing. She only has a few songs but I suggest looking them up! 

4. Of monsters and men! They’re songs are creative and all up to interpretation, which I really love about them. There’s something just wild and free, you make the songs what you want them to be, the significance they have and emotions they portray are all up to you. Very calming music, like folk-y. And their music videos are very imaginative and fantasy-like, whatever the songs mean are all up to you.

If anyone has artists that they like to listen to when in a bad place or that just make you feel ok and wanted, feel free to post. But nobody is making you, only post if you’re comfortable. I’ll keep adding more things to this thread!!  

I think i may have the depression thing and the anxiety. We never took tests or anything, but i just found that i show most of the symptoms for them. I used to say that i was just supershy, but i was looking at the symptoms, and, wow. As for the depression, im pretty sure i have it. I struggle a lot with that kind of stuff, and i once spent three days just sitting on the couch, refusing to talk to anyone, and generally just feeling miserable. I still have a day here and there when i do that. The problem is, i can't talk to my parents about it. Its not thier fault, i'm not criticizing my parents or anything, i just can't make myself say it. Over and over, whenever i have a bad day, i ask my mom or dad to let me talk to them, i stutter for a fw minutes, and then i finish with "i'm sad i have a hard time making friends". Which isn't true. I have plenty of friends, and though i struggle with making new ones when we move or my friends move, that still isn't the reason. But if i try to talk about it, i freeze up. You can't tell on this, but it took me like three minutes to formulate each sentence, and i still can't dig up the real problem. If anyone else on here has the same difficulty expressing themselves, i'd be glad for some pointers....

Also, what's stigma?