Time to Talk

It's Time to Talk day today.

Have you heard of it before?

Time to Talk day is a campaign lead by a group called Time to Change. The focus is on mental health stigma and discrimination.

We don't talk about this enough. It's time to talk, because it's time to change. We need to talk about mental health, for a million and one reasons. We need to talk about mental health because it affects each and every one of us- just as we all have a physical health, we all have a mental health, too. We need to talk about mental health because 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem in any given year. That's 25% of the UK population. That's far too many. We need to talk because our silence is killing people. The stigma and discrimination around mental health makes it impossible for people to reach out, to get support, to get better. To live.

It feels like I spend a lot of time telling people why it's important to talk about mental health. As a Mentality volunteer, as a peer mentor (of sorts), as me, it's something I tend to 'harp on about' a lot. I could, quite literally, spend hours listing the reasons it's crucial to have a more open climate about all of this. Because it helps people to seek help; because it validates experiences; because it lets others know that they're not alone. And so on. And so on. And so on. There is no end to this list.

Today, I am not going to list reasons.

I am done with listing reason after reason after reason, because, let's face it, if you're not convinced by the fact that talking about it actually saves lives, then I'm not sure what else I can say.

Today, I am not going to talk.

I talk a lot about my own mental health stuff. I am speaking at two mental health events in the next few weeks, about my own mental health stuff. I am planning on writing other mental health blogs this month, because February is 'a big one' for me. This isn't narcissism, this isn't saying I know best, it isn't that I want to force my own experiences down other people's throats. I just learnt the hard way what silence does to people, and, if talking helps, I will talk until my voice runs out- to let people to know that they're not alone, to encourage them to find their own voice. I talk because it helps, because I too easily slip into silence, and talking holds me accountable. But today, I am not talking, because, let's face it, I really do do that enough, and I'm concerned that these days become too much about anxiety/depression, and less about other equally important but lesser-mentioned things.

So.

Today, I want to listen.

How are you doing, today? How are you doing, lately? Tell me. Message me, text me, let's meet up- whatever. Let me know how you are. Let me know what's going on for you. Let me help you, if that's something I can do; but, more importantly, let me listen and be there and share this with you. Whether it's good, whether it's bad, whether it's directly related to mental health, whether it's about the universe in general, whether we're close, whether we're not: I want to know. Let's talk about the world and the universe and this life we live.

We don't talk about this enough. It's time to talk, because it's time to change.

So if you wanna burn yourself, remember that I LOVE YOU, and if you wanna cut yourself, remember that I LOVE YOU, and if you wanna kill yourself, remember that I LOVE YOU, call me up before you're dead, we can make some plans instead, send me an IM, I'll be your friend

-Kimya Dawson