The importance of opening up
When I started university, I struggled to get used to the amount of work and to find a schedule that worked for me. I constantly felt like I wasn’t good enough, that there were so many expectations of me and I was falling short in all of them. I started to feel anxiety, I was nauseous, my palms were sweaty and I felt like there was a pain in my chest, there were also times when I would suddenly feel sad and lonely for no apparent reason.
Initially I was afraid of what I was feeling. It wasn’t until a little later that I had conversations with others about the state of my mental health.
“I was at first surprised and then comforted by the amount of people I met that were open to have conversations and who were going through very similar things as I were.”
Although it’s tough at times, I don’t regret any of my experiences. I feel like it has made me more empathetic and understanding of those who are going through similar things as I am. I think with mental health issues, it’s so important to be open to conversations about it and to build support systems for each other.