I’ve posted over the last two days about new tools and new lessons. And new ways of managing mental illness is definitely important. Yet it is frustrating, because sometimes, many times, mental illness will still try to knock you down with the same old lies.
And these lies will be very familiar to those who battle mental illness. The lies that tell you that you are unlovable. The ones that say that everyone will leave. The ones that say that everything you’ve accomplished is a mistake. The ones that say that it would be easier if you just weren’t here, that no one would miss you if you were gone.
These lies are so incredibly convincing, even if you know that they are lies. They are dangerous, even if the people in your life who do love you tell you otherwise. That is one of the things that is so insidious about mental illness.
And sometimes the lies get the better of us. And those who are left behind are left not only with the grief of loss but the question of whether there was more that could be done, as the guest post I featured last week demonstrates.
For me, the new lessons and technologies I talked about help, but the tool I have for pushing back against the old lies is to know that they do not define me. I may hurt because of them, but I am not them. They may seem real now, but I’ve outlasted them before and I can do it again.
Because the lies of mental illness are strong. But together we are stronger. That is why I started this website. And I thank you so much for reading.
The Dark Tales Project 