How has mental illness impacted your life?

I have struggled with PTSD, major depression, OCD, and a fear of crowds. All of these stemmed from my time serving in Iraq. My mental illness caused me to shut people out of my life and close off my emotions. For many years I didn’t realize how much these things were impacting my life. Now looking back I can see that I was looking for ways to numb the pain, wasn’t sleeping at night, and was over working to distract my mind. I would often be angry at little things causing me to withdraw from people even more. Living in survival mode every day was painful for me and everyone around me.

What does it look like for you to be mentally healthy?

Communication is a big part of staying mentally healthy. Talking things through has helped me so much. I continue to go to talk therapy. I also talk through problems, concerns, and symptoms with my wife and family which is something I never did before. Accepting that symptoms of mental illness may never be completely gone, but knowing that I can manage my symptoms has given me hope. Now days, I still struggle with sleeping problems (not being able to fall asleep and having nightmares). There has been progress toward managing sleep, but it is still a work in progress. Compared to where I was before, I can say that the trial and error of finding the right treatment is worth it. Even with some aspects unresolved, my life has joy again.