I need - and at this moment I really do mean need - to address the "you are not alone aspect" of mental illness, because it can be one vicious double-edged sword. #MentalHealthMatters

Of course it's helpful to know that mental illness is real & other people also experience it. But it can also be a cue to guilt when you see people who are supposedly going through the same thing as you doing so much more with their lives than you are. #MentalHealthMatters

Then it switches over from "you're not alone" to "you're not as good as your peers." It makes your - screw it, let's talking about what we're talking about - it makes MY failures feel like the result of weakness on my part. #MentalHealthMatters

Instead of denying my mental illness, now I'm just judging myself for not handling it better. For not pushing myself harder. For not getting any closer to being someone with a full-time job, and for accepting that instead of fighting to change it. #MentalHealthMatters

This is what has a hold of me today. I'm mostly sharing it because I need to for my own sake, but if anyone out there is feeling worse about their mental illness BECAUSE they're not alone then, well, you're not alone in that, either. #MentalHealthMatters