Never the Twain Shall Meet...Uh...Not!

I think some people would think that I should leave my mental illnesses out of the blogosphere, and my Facebook because it could hurt my credibility as an author. To those people, I say, nope. I am who I am, I've struggled with these challenges all of my life, they have, for better or worse, shaped me as an individual, so I will freely talk about them. Like it or lump it.

I am a firm believer that for those of us with mental illness, if we don't talk about it, we are helping to keep the stigma alive. Yes, I have profound depression, OCD, anxiety, social phobia, agoraphobia, and I suffer from horrible panic attacks. I am seeing a therapist, and am on medications. These illnesses were something I have suffered with since childhood, so it will take a long time to take care of these issues. It may take years.

I also believe that Heavenly Father gives those of us with these types of challenges creative outlets. I love to write, it is a way to be creative and it's loads of fun for me. Others sculpt, paint, dance, draw, sing, play an instrument, cook, bake, are crafters, and the list goes on and on. Every single person in this world is endowed with talents and gifts, but I think Father knew that we needed to be able to get out of our own heads for a while, and gave us personal ways to do just that. For this I will be forever grateful.