Top Ten Reasons why being "mentally ill" CAN be fun and beneficial...

Hey Funseekers,

So it's Friday night and I'm feeling a little kooky, so I've decided to have a little fun. After my last post, I realized that I need to embrace my differences and remember that there are positives to living with clinical anxiety and depression.

Okay, I have devised a list of ten reasons why being mentally ill CAN be fun and beneficial. Note - Most of them simply center around being able to fly our freak flags high, without falling prey to social norms. Read and enjoy!

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10. It's considered normal to spend all my sleeping and waking hours with my pet (I have a pug, she is my life). Bonus points for pretending she's human and dressing her as such.

9. It's expected and accepted to have a random hobby. After all, no work! This is my time to explore the things I've always wanted to do, but haven't had time. Knitting, being the obvious. Also, perhaps building ships in bottles, learning to play the accordian, or perhaps growing and maintaining bonsai! Bonus points for taking up a hobby that is usually reserved for geriatrics.

8. Throw that workplace wardrobe away! I have semi-retired my skinny jeans, line-less panties and bras for a package of 4 boys' tank tops, a package of 4 boys' boxers, and a pair of overalls that I found at Value Village for $5. This way, I can save my work clothes for work, and walk around in glorified pyjamas every day. Bonus points for *actually* wearing pyjamas every day. I won't lie - I walk my dog in my jams. Does it have a waistband? Throw it away! (Note - this can also be handy because of the random weight gains and losses that occur as medication side effects).

7. Nervous twitches and/or socially inappropriate behaviour. This is less of a "why it is fun" explanation and more why we should just laugh at it and poke fun at ourselves. Hey, shit happens! Sometimes my hands shake, I yawn constantly as a random side effect of my medication, and I always pick at my fingers. Sometimes my eyes roll up and to the corner and it's hard to stop myself. Oh, not to mention my way-too-loud laughter (I can't help it, I just laugh that loudly!) When I'm with my people, no one questions this. In public - fuck anyone who does! Feel free to be you and me, people. This of course includes smoking. Smoking all the time. Touchy subject - Terrible for my health, and something I do want to quit, but outside any kind of mental health building is basically the one place where no one is judging you for puffing away. Let's just get past the suicide risk, THEN you can berate us for smoking. I'd like to say that number 7 is a big shout out to those strong men and women living with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia meds are notoriously brutal, particularly ones from the 60s and 70s. These meds, combined with the nature of the disorder can sometimes cause varying degrees of nervous behaviour or "inappropriate/strange" attire and personal hygiene. More power to you for living through that shit, people. Seriously. So it may be harder to take as lighly as I'm taking this post, but remember that there are some people, like myself, who understand that it's just a part of you, and we love you for it!!

6. Great alternatives to (public) social functions. Okay, I hate not being able to make it through social functions because of my anxiety. But you know what? Sometimes I DO actually want to sit at home, knit, and watch crap TV. And guess what - so does everyone else! I have understanding friends who love that this is all I do, because my home is now a getaway for the ones who want to relax after a hard work day. I keep a constant stock of drinks and snacks, I always have good movies downloaded, a Scrabble board, and I host a stitch and bitch night of a few friends right here in my oasis. I used to feel obligated to dress up and go to a bar every night off. Now I've found creative ways to relax and include my peeps.

5. Bit more of a serious one here - you find out who your true friends are. I'm at that pivotal age - 31, where I've gone from having hundreds of aquaintances, to a few good friends. A lot of this is because when I was particularly struggling with my mental health, I would disappear for months on end. Ignore people's calls... fall off the radar. Well, as long as I was honest with those few tried and true friends, they actually understood! And those who didn't - fuck them. Life is too short. Now I know that I can cancel on my besties if I'm having a bad anxiety day, and they know that I will always understand if they have to cancel because of life stuff that inevitably happens. It creates a more honest and nurturing environment of friendship. My best friend, sister and I all have an understanding: "do what you need to do, no judgement!!!" I need to tap out halfway through my sister's birthday party? She's not going to get all bitchy on me - she gets it, because I helped her get it!

4. We are living now, and not ten, twenty, thirty... eighty years ago. Get it? Got it. We're lucky.

3. A hyper-awareness of others "like us". How many of you living with panic or anxiety disorders have sat in a meeting, lecture, movie, and seen someone get up and walk out a particular way and you think to yourself, "yup. panic attack." Well, I was that girl in a work meeting once (surrounded in strangers) - I was speaking publically and I had up and go sit outside. Just - walked out. A wonderful woman came out, sat next to me quietly, and told me the only reason she noticed my exit was anything other than a "normal" excuse like a coughing fit or phone emergency was because she, too, has panic attacks. She let me know that I had exited gracefully, and that she would sit with me quietly and then walk back in with me in solidarity. How cool was that??

2. Amazing coping capabilities. If we're anything, we're resilient, creative, and capable! I can't tell you how many times I have come up with the best on-the-spot and graceful ways to remove myself from a panicking situation. It's like I could write a book on Discrete Panic Attack Exits.

1. We have gained a better acceptance and understanding of others and the world around us. Hey, I can be a big fat judgy pants. But in all seriousness, everywhere I see someone living on my streets, unsupported by our system, unmedicated (maybe self-medicating), people passing by presuming s/he is on drugs, looking down, and judging. Judging with all that terrible shit that's pushed into our brains from childhood. I look at that person and I feel more compelled to change our system, and really fucking privileged - because change my luck or circumstances slightly, and that would easily be me.

Thanks for reading. I hope I was able to give someone a chuckle or a smile.

xoxo
PS