Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Brave Bethan determined to let people know ‘it’s OK not to be OK’
Bethan Murie is only 20 and is currently receiving chemotherapy for colon cancer.
Diagnosed with the condition last August, she previously told of being spurred on to have vital surgery when a doctor said she may only have a few months to live.
Now Bethan has revealed that she also suffers from mental health issues and has spoken out in a bid to encourage other people to come forward.
Bethan, who said it was important people spoke out to try to end the stigma, has spoken ahead of national Mental Health Awareness week.
She told the Tele today: “I suffer from anxiety, depression and PTSD. I am not ashamed of it anymore — it’s not nice. People don’t believe me when I tell them because I am always happy and laughing around them but at times I do struggle.”
Bethan said she was first diagnosed with PTSD following an appendix operation when she was younger.
She said that her depression and anxiety had come on as a result of her cancer, adding: “I’m good at putting on a front so people think I’m OK but there are lots of days when I’m really not.
“I can be hard to live with, or to be around when I get this way, and I know it.
“I try my best to control it and most of the time I succeed. I manage to get on top of it and control things but at times I break.
“It’s OK to not be OK — tell someone you’re not OK. It’s OK.
“Everyone says ‘if you need anything, don’t hesitate. I’ll be there for you’ — but it’s hard and I ask my friends to bear with me.
“I hope by speaking out I can help others. I have my own coping mechanisms and other people need to find theirs.
“If I don’t feel like getting out of bed I make a huge effort, put on my makeup, do my hair and put on nice clothes.
“Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but I know I have to try.”
She said mental health meant that what might seem like little things to others, could become a big issue.
Bethan, of Perth, said that as well as dealing with her mental illness, she was still attending hospital for chemo.
She added: “I’m so grateful I had the surgery and I try so hard to remain positive.”
During the operation, Bethan’s colon, spleen, peritoneum and left side of her diaphragm were removed and she had a full hysterectomy.
She was also given an ileostomy, where the small bowel is diverted through an opening in the tummy.
Louise Christie, of Making Recovery Real in Dundee, said: “It is really important that people speak out but also that we listen to their experiences and what they feel helps them.
“Everyone’s recovery journey is their own but we all have a role to play in supporting people to have a good and fulfilling life of their choosing.”
Mental Health Week — run by the Mental Health Foundation — begins at the start of next month.
The foundation said: “Good mental health is more than the absence of a mental health problem.
“This year, rather than ask why so many people are living with mental health problems, we will seek to uncover why too few of us are thriving with good mental health.”
A TAYSIDE woman fighting cancer today said “it’s OK not to be OK” amid her ongoing battle with mental health.