I was chatting with someone earlier today and we were talking about mental health in general. He then began to tell me his own experiences with depression and how he overcame it. He said one very interesting thing to me: he said “how come when Someone survives cancer, people enjoy hearing their success stories and Congratulate them and it is seen as a very brave and honorable thing. But how About those that have overcome mental health problems? And those that have attempted suicide?” This idea struck me and I began thinking, as much surviving cancer should be celebrated, surviving depression should be celebrated as well. The little steps that we take to overcome our challenges are worth celebrating. Personally, if I reflect on the path I have taken to develop myself into the person I am, I’m very proud. And every step was a little victory. Celebrate every little step you take to make yourself better. If you’re going through a tough time and you decided to get up in the morning, congrats! If you have an eating disorder and ate one full meal, congrats! If you decided to Not go to that party and just take time to yourself, congrats! If you cleared things up with someone after arguing, congrats! Congratulations. You’re making yourself a better person each and every day. Your mental health deserves to be celebrated. And yes, sometimes it’s not something you want to gloat or brag about and say “I conquered depression!” Although it should be normal to say that you were going through something, and you improved your mental health. Even if its Not to share with everyone, brag About yourself, to YOURSELF. I encourage you all as you’re reading this, to think about one thing your proud of yourself for. Anything. Big or small. Just name one thing about yourself that youre proud of. The simple of congratulating yourself on how far you have come, can only take your further. So...congratulations, your mental health is succeeding! :)
-Astha Soni
May 4th, 2019
