If You’re Functioning In Society With A Mental Illness, You Must Be Faking It.

No exceptions.

One of the shitty things about having a mental illness cocktail is people often think you’re faking it.

When I say cocktail, I mean more than one mental illness. God forbid you’re able to be useful and function in society while balancing OCD, severe depression, trichotillomania, body dysmorphia, and an anxiety disorder.

You must be looking for attention. You must be faking it.

There’s no way someone could deal with all that, and come to work, acting as if nothing is wrong.

No I’m not trying to romanticize the fact that I have all of these things because these mental illnesses I wouldn’t wish upon my enemy. No. I’m not trying to bring to light that ‘I’m fucked up, feel sorry for me,’ either.

All I want is for it to be known that it is possible to function in society when you have an extreme mental battle everyday.

While it may not always be extreme, it’s always there. Some days are worse than others. Anyone reading this will have had some sort of mental battle in their lives I’m sure. Let it be known that I am not looking for attention. We are not looking for attention.

“What are your thoughts like?” someone asked me when I revealed that I had all of these things.

There are no words that could explain my thoughts. One day I’m on top of the world, another I’m double-checking the door and my reflection in the mirror while contemplating smashing them all so my reflection is unavailable. Sometimes I have anxiety attacks, and I spend hours on end ripping out my hair while feeling suicidal.

That’s a normal Monday to Sunday for me. A big fucking mixture of a big fucked up mental cocktail. And it’s probably a normal day for many other people out there as well.

Why would anyone fake something like this? What do you gain from faking a bunch of horrid mental illnesses?

You don’t. You don’t gain anything. You get judgement and criticism because there’s no way someone could have all of that and function in society (note my sarcasm). Also, you don’t need to have more than ONE mental illness to have validation. Even if you have mild anxiety and that’s all — your feelings are still valid.

But how about you judgemental people step back for a second.

Maybe this person isn’t faking it? Perhaps it takes enormous strength for them to head out of the house to work each day and keep going in the community. Maybe that’s what keeps them sane enough to deal with the cocktail inside their head. Because sometimes that glass can tip over. That glass could even be water instead of a cocktail, but even water can overflow and spill.

Keeping busy and not hiding away is how some of us cope with multiple mental issues… and some of us deal with it by distancing ourselves. My point is, don’t judge us for getting out and participating in the community when we say we have mental illness issues.

We are functioning just fine, in fact, it makes us STRONGER.