Bell Lets Talk

There's a couple hours left of "Bell Let's Talk" Day 2014..

It's amazing to see how many people are starting to recognize how important your mental health is. There are so many people that battle with mental illness every day, and that have been battling with it every day for years. There are some that lose the battle, and are no longer with us other than the memories they leave us with... and then there are those that fight and over come their inner demons.

I spent so much time hating myself and trying to make myself perfect. I tried to make myself perfect due to not thinking that I was good enough... mean while I was and I am. All of the time that I spent hating myself and listening to the voices in my head, I look back at as the lost years. There are so many things that I could have done and so many things I could have accomplished if I wasn't so focused on the voices in my head telling me that I couldn't.

I didn't talk about it. I didn't tell people about it. The fear of being judged and looked down on was worse than the amount of pressure the voices in my put on me. You couldn't see the symptoms ... for all I knew people would say that it's for attention. (sure some still did) But that's why those people aren't here anymore. That's why those people aren't in my life.

To see how many people have come to realize that Mental Illness is in fact an Illness and needs to be recognized as such is amazing. To see that there are all of these people to support those that are going through what I went through, is an incredible feeling.

There are those that will always believe it's nothing ... that it's a choice you make rather than a chemical imbalance, but the amount of people that are supportive and willing to help break the stigma will out number them.

For those that are fighting with a mental illness or in recovery fighting for their lives back. You're not alone. There are people that have been there and made it through, and there are those that are willing to listen. There are good days and there are bad days, but you're never alone.
The proof of that... There have been over 100 million mentions of Bell Lets Talk ... meaning there has been over 5 million dollars raised for Mental Health Research.

Thank you to those that tweeted with #BellLetsTalk or donated any amount of money, or even turned off their imessage and decided to text instead. Thank you for showing those that are currently battling with Mental Illness and those that have, that they are not alone.