Bitter Things You Need To Hear That Will Help You With Your Mental Illness

“Don’t worry if it feels all dark inside, most of the universe is dark too.”

Well, most of the universe is lifeless as well. Why can’t you try to be the sun instead, which brings life to the entire planet?

I must say sugary things that would make you feel good about your mental illness. (Eventually some of you might trace me down, and even ask me out.) But what I am really going to do might feel like I have punched you in the face. Because I am not going to tell you something you wish to hear, but something you need to hear.

1. Stop finding a romantic angle to it

Like the quote above, internet is filled with cute poetry for sad people. You know why? Because it is popular and it sells. But remember, the first step to divorce your abusive husband is to stop sleeping with him.

Imagine a big wound on your chest. It might make you look like Tony Stark in the mirror, but it is a wound. You need to get rid of it, or eventually it will kill you. So is the case with your mental illness. Thus, stop fantasizing it. Set your mind up that you don’t want to live with it for the rest of your life.

2. Take immediate action against it

Once you stop finding solace in it, solutions will follow. Tell a friend. See a doctor. Exercise. Meditate. Not everything will work in the first go. What worked for someone else, might not work for you. At times, things might seems stuck, but keep trying.

On the very onset of my depression, I talked to all my best friends about it, and they tried their best to help me out of it. But it just won’t work. I also tried meditating. But it would leave me even more frustrated. I learned that simply closing my eyes won’t help. I needed to learn it properly. I took the 7 Day course of Inner Engineering. It not only helped me out of depression, but changed pretty much everything about me.

All this happened, because on that particular gloomy evening, when I was completely unmotivated, I managed to pull myself out of the bed, sat on the park bench along with mosquitoes and closed my eyes.

3. ​Stop being so spiritual about it

When the hard time hits, even the most materialistic of us tend to become spiritual. Though difficult times present us with an amazing opportunity to become more introspective and adopt a healthier lifestyle, entangling ourselves with big words like ‘liberation’, ‘karma’, ‘universe’ etc certainly doesn’t help.

No. The Universe doesn’t want you to be this way. Many times, you don’t need more ‘acceptance’. You simply need to take action. For example, you don’t need to accept that poisonous relationship, or that frustrating workplace, you might just need to get out of it.

4. ​Take responsibility of your actions

Getting medically diagnosed with a mental illness shouldn’t become your passport to throwing tantrums. Just because you are feeling shitty inside, it doesn’t mean you will go on spreading shit everywhere.

This way, you are simply training your mind to be a victim. It is the same victim mentality that leads you into a number of addictions. ‘Oh, I won’t be smoking up if I didn’t have anxiety issues.’

Stop using it as an excuse. Use your low times as an opportunity to turn inward, and know the nature of your disease and yourself.

5. ​Force yourself to do what is to be done

No matter how you feel, dress up and show up. Lagging behind will only make things worse. A mental illness is basically your mind working against yourself. You got to train your mind to take instructions from you.

When your mind gets into a destructive auto-pilot mode, use all your might and take control of it — no matter how lethargic or unmotivated you are at that point. Make it clear to your mind that it can not get into the way of your work, or life.

Making a ‘to-do list’ is an efficient way of keeping track of your mind. My usual day list contains 3 to 4 things to be done. On the days when I am depressed, number of items on my list exceeds to 15 or 25. It is because I include even the smallest of the tasks (like taking a shower, having a healthy lunch) into it. Then every time I cross an item from the list, I feel more and more in control of my mind.

6. ​Find your magical defense against it

Every mind is different. The cure for your mental illness is within your mind itself. Experiment with it and find out. Enroll yourself into learning a new art. Start a new blog. Click pictures. Travel. Read. Instead of wasting all your time of social media and getting more depressed, make time for things that matter to you.

Slowly you will learn to enjoy your own company. This way, you would be fighting your depression not by running away from it, but by becoming more alive to the wonders of life. Example: I discovered, long rides work extremely well for me to snap out of my dark phase.

Procrastination is one of the major characteristics of an ill mind. Even after reading the best advice, most people will remain ill forever because they will never act upon it. I am hoping you are not going to be that person.

So throw away that blanket, quit scrolling, go out, and do something. I know your mind is asking you to do the otherwise. But I also know that you can overpower it, if you choose to!

Hit follow if you liked this article.