Thoughts by Hannah Michelle

September Series: Mental Health Awareness - 01 I’ve decided to start a bit of a series on some mental health topics to raise awareness.  If you haven’t read my story, feel free to read it at: http://hanmichelleb.blogspot.com/2017/08/my-mental-health-story-so-far.html Introduction to my September Series: Hey everyone!  September is Suicide Prevention Month - National Suicide Prevention Week is the 10-16 this year, and World Suicide Prevention Day is on Sept. 10th. This month, instead of focusing on sadness, I’m going to do a series on different mental health topics for awareness and education.    I’m going to just write up a small piece (hopefully) each day - they will be simple to read.  I might add in some links for more readings if you are interested, but my posts each day will be a few paragraphs or smaller - maybe even just a list.  PLEASE, share these posts.  Talk about the points you found the most interesting.  Talk about yo...

It’s important to share your story. That sentence has kept popping up on my screens for the past few weeks.  Every time I’ve read it, I’ve felt a twinge of guilt.  As much as I preach against mental health stigmas, I still haven’t been completely open about my story.  I’m going to try to do so tonight. Backstory As many of you know, my father and aunt both died by suicide, about a decade apart.  After losing my dad in that way when I was 6, I started having problems.  These were problems I never really faced or dealt with.  I always pushed things aside and didn’t talk about them.  Of course, this was never a good plan.  Bottling up emotions only guarantees an eventual blow.  I never really knew about mental health or any actual diagnosable things until I was in high school. My freshman year of high school, I had my first panic attack.  I didn’t know what that was, and so I didn’t really do anything about it.  I starte...