Only that moment.

 


No two people experience mental health problems in the same way. We have different causes and different solutions. Sometimes we need to talk but other times we just want to be left alone. We may be able to pick ourselves off the floor time and time again but a helping hand can make all the difference. We have to be brave to do those ordinary things that others take for granted. I don’t know whether other people with mental health feel as I do but there are two aspects of my illness that seem consistent.

Firstly, hearing an alternative voice offering me hope is like being held by a loved one. It eases the pain and allows me to shift my thinking. I feel I am not alone.

Secondly, when my anxiety is at its worst I am living in that instant. There is no past or future just the pain there and then. I expect many people with my condition feel the same and, like me, just want it to end instantly. There is no negotiation with myself or rationality, just the moment.

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