1. Finding out who your true friends are. Nothing makes people run away faster then the mention of a mental illness. At the beginning everyone sticks around but as time progresses the number gets smaller and smaller until your real friends are left.
2. Finding out what your truly capable of. I never knew how much inner strength or will power I truly had until I became sick. After going to your absolute bottom and some how finding the strength to still fight you find out who you truly are at the core level.
3. Finding out what is important. At one point I had the middle class dream of a nice paycheck and a house with a white picket fence. After the depression tornado took everything away I learned the only thing that really matters are the people in your life for they can never be replaced.
4. The ability to start over. After the mental illness beast has finally left your world you are awarded a second chance of choosing on what kind of life you want to live a luxury the "normal" people can not pull off very easily.
5. The power of knowing. For a very long time I seem to be wandering around in the dark with no visible purpose in my life and I could never figure out why. When the day came and the realization that I was mentally ill a boulder was lifted off of my shoulder for now I had an answer and knew exactly what I had to do to fix it. The purpose of my life is simple and that is to enjoy life as we only get one crack at it.
Bonus - There is nothing like telling someone that you have been diagnosed with
Severe Major Depressive Disorder with Psychotic features,
Borderline Personality Disorder, Chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder along with a self harm history that can be measured by decades and then watching fight the urge to run for the hills and trying to somehow answer this statement in an intelligent manner. Best reaction from a mental health professionals was she mumbled "F*ck Me". Some days you just need to look for humor in everything and I found this situation amusing whether anyone else does I have no idea and probably best if I do not think about it.
1. Finding out who your true friends are. Nothing makes people run away faster then the mention of a mental illness. At the beginning everyone sticks around but as time progresses the number gets smaller and smaller until your real friends are left.2. Finding out what your truly capable of. I never knew how much inner strength or will power I truly had until I became sick. After going to your absolute bottom and some how finding the strength to still fight you find out who you truly are at the core level.
3. Finding out what is important. At one point I had the middle class dream of a nice paycheck and a house with a white picket fence. After the depression tornado took everything away I learned the only thing that really matters are the people in your life for they can never be replaced.
4. The ability to start over. After the mental illness beast has finally left your world you are awarded a second chance of choosing on what kind of life you want to live a luxury the "normal" people can not pull off very easily.
5. The power of knowing. For a very long time I seem to be wandering around in the dark with no visible purpose in my life and I could never figure out why. When the day came and the realization that I was mentally ill a boulder was lifted off of my shoulder for now I had an answer and knew exactly what I had to do to fix it. The purpose of my life is simple and that is to enjoy life as we only get one crack at it.
Bonus - There is nothing like telling someone that you have been diagnosed with Severe Major Depressive Disorder with Psychotic features, Borderline Personality Disorder, Chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder along with a self harm history that can be measured by decades and then watching fight the urge to run for the hills and trying to somehow answer this statement in an intelligent manner. Best reaction from a mental health professionals was she mumbled "F*ck Me". Some days you just need to look for humor in everything and I found this situation amusing whether anyone else does I have no idea and probably best if I do not think about it.