You matter. You are enough.

You matter. Your mental health matters. About 33 years ago, on Rakhi, I lost my brother to mental health. I was 8/9. He was about 15ish. Back then, there was very little awareness of mental health in general and any mental health associated issues were a big stigma to acknowledge, leave alone address. Despite this, everyone is our family did their best, with the professional help available back then, to make things better for him and us. From his perspective, he wanted the help. He took the help. He tried his hardest. But one single moment of vulnerability won on that fateful day and our lives changed forever.

From my perspective: Overnight, I became strong. Overnight, I took on the responsibility of taking care of those around me. Overnight, my parents were left with a gaping hole that they didn't know how to fill. That "overnight" turned into 2 years of blurred childhood, lost innocence and a pretense of being strong my entire life, resulting in never being able to express or process grief.

It took me 30+ years to finally seek help to process that trauma. It took 1.5 years of consistent, disciplined therapy to process this incident, amongst other curve balls life threw our way. It took me this long to truly realize and internalize my brother's life was defined by more than that one moment. He was characterized by his pursuit of excellence. His desire to be his best self. His extreme nurturing behavior to me. His protective nature towards my parents. His joyful self that genuinely cared for those around him.

Today, I am sharing this with a few specific objectives in mind. Firstly, to share my own journey of mental health to give you one extra story as you navigate your own. Secondly, to point out some specific learnings I've had around this topic.

1. You matter. You are enough. You are not alone.

2. It's ok to be not ok. It's perfectly normal to have a mental health issue... as normal as a physical ailment.

3. There is help available - professional help. Start with your primary care physician and discuss it if you're not ok. Sometimes (many times) you have to be persistent as doctors are trying to glean through multiple patients in a short time and you have to advocate for yourself (took me a few years to finally have my doctor really listen to my situational anxiety that started after covid).

4. Movement is medicine. It's the most underused tool available at our disposal always. I can't recall the last time (since my childhood) that I didn't move - be it with playing outside, sports, gym, yoga, outdoors. including until right before the day I delivered both kids and subsequently 6 weeks postpartum. Women, especially, fall into this trap of 'I don't have time for self-care because I'm a care giver and I prioritize others'. But you have to make your own time for yourself. No one else will. Surround yourself with people that do, and you'll start to see self-care as a necessity, not an "extra".

5. Check in with those around you. A genuine, heartfelt conversation - even if it's only a minute. Make a genuine connection.

6. Be nice and encourage others. Every single person... yes, EVERY SINGLE PERSON has baggage. Some are cabin size, some are oversized. Despite what you see on social media every single person is working through something. So just be nice. Encourage someone. Be nice to someone. Be kind. Smile. Laugh.

#mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #youareenough