World Mental Health Day 2017

One of the major goals of World Mental Health day is to encourage people that struggle with mental health issues, such as depression, to seek and get help.

The thing about depression is that there isn’t just one specific group of people that it affects. Anyone can suffer from depression, no matter their age, race, or gender. I feel like everyone experiences some sort of depression at some point in their life because the triggers are so common. Anything from financial situations, to relationships, to health problems. A change in any of these can put someone in a state of depression.

I’ll admit that I’ve even had my bouts with depression at times. For me it’s never been an extremely severe case that would require medication or anything of that nature. But I’ve definitely experienced some events in life that would put me in such a funk, that I wouldn’t have an appetite for a couple of days. Or, it would be extremely hard for me to focus and get things done because this thing that happened was just weighing so heavy on my mind that it would affect my everyday life. But I would eventually snap out of it.

But we all handle things differently. So for some people, it’s not that easy. They can’t just snap out of it, or get over it. This is when things become really dangerous I think. Untreated depression can have such a tremendous effect on a person’s life. Sometimes to the point where it can lead to suicide. Unfortunately, due to social media and cyber bullying, we are seeing a lot of this amongst  young children. This is why it’s so  important for people to get the help that they need before they feel like they have no way out.

If you’re dealing with depression and you need help handling it, talk to someone. It can be a counselor, or just someone that you know and trust. Talking alone can be therapeutic, and it is often the first step to recovery. This post was actually sponsored by BetterHelp, which is an online counseling website where affordable counseling is available. You can get paired up with a licensed therapist within 24 hours of creating an account, and you don’t even have to leave your home.

When creating an account, you’ll go through a questionnaire and the algorithm will match you with a therapist based on your   answers. If you don’t like the therapist you’re matched with, no problem. You can simply change to a different one. You can also   set specifications for your therapist. So if you want them to be female, LGBTQ friendly, religious, etc., you can set those requirements.

You can schedule as many counseling sessions as your therapist’s schedule allows, and in-between sessions you can text or email with them as often as you’d like. Plans start for as low as $35/week.

If you or someone you know is struggling, I encourage you to check out BetterHelp by clicking on their logo below to visit their website.