All energy welcome

Let's get real about mental health this week.

I feel like the whole world is on this “positive vibes only” kick. I think positivity is great, I also think saying no negative vibes can be detrimental to people who could feel less than positive. When I am really in a rut and struggling with what life is throwing at me, I have NO positive vibes. The positive vibes only makes those that are struggling isolate themselves. In the year 2020, where we have so much knowledge on mental health, where is the compassion and understanding when someone has “negative vibes”?

My doctor compared postpartum depression to diabetes, so I am going to use that example to help shed light on what I mean. Would you ever tell a person with diabetes to suck it up and eat the sweet treat, because they are just being dramatic? Would you ever tell someone with diabetes that because they can’t eat their sweet treat they aren’t wanted around because that’s “negativity” you don’t need in your life? No. That would be absurd. Now, let’s get back to mental health. When someone is struggling to feel joy or to feel anything because of depression, telling them they are a Debby downer is really hurtful. NOBODY wants to feel down, or numb. Generally speaking everyone WANTS to feel happy, wanted, and included. This positive vibes only movement is great, but how many people are suffering due to the fear of bringing negativity into someone else’s life and being rejected?

This is something I really struggle with, having mental illnesses. I did not choose to have anxiety. I did not choose to have depression. I was given this hard disease after having a baby. I was forced to have to change a lot of things in my life to do more than survive life, just like a physical illness. Mental illness is not something that should be taken lightly. Mental illness plagues the person that has it and it can become crippling. Mental illness also will cause you to push everyone away. In today’s society everyone is trying to “protect”their energy, but when you are struggling mentally it isolates you more because they quit including you because of your negative energy. When I personally am struggling, it takes me what feels like forever to get back to my “normal”. It takes forever because my support system is so small. I don’t have too many friends to lean on. I also don’t trust a lot of people with anything in my life so I keep a lot to my self. This positive vibes only movement is very hard to want to open up to anyone. I fear I will be rejected and left to suffer even more alone.

Instead of everyone having a lowered tolerance of other people and what they bring to the table, can we learn to rejoice that the table is full. I am not saying let people who are truly toxic to you in your life. What I am saying is there are people actively trying to get better mentally, whether they are taking medication or going to therapy. These are people you should not isolate. These are people you should rejoice they are sitting at your table because it probably took everything it had in them to show up. They probably talked themself out of going 100 times and still showed up. This positive vibes only crap is toxic and awful to those with mental illnesses. It is isolating and it feeds the depression monster that consumes the individual. Let's stop waiting until it is too late to be there for someone and start showing up and shedding light on people now.

I truly believe when Jesus told us to "love thy neighbor" he didn't mean when you want to. I don't believe he meant when they are in good spirits. He did not mean when they think just like you. Jesus wanted the Light of Christ to shine on all of us. It is what the world needs in such uncertain times. The world is getting darker, and less are willing to share the light of Christ on those that are different than them. Mental illness is a dark scary place and in the world today you don't get a break from the dark and scary. Let us all be the light the world needs. Let's give somewhere other than a dark scary place they live inside their head. In the world today with all the uncertainty and fear, let us bring hope and light. All vibes are welcome here.