Mental health illness used to have control of me, and now I have control of it

As a junior at Wethersfield High School, I keep myself busy. Not only am I trying to keep up with school, but I’m also trying to work on myself. I’ve struggled with mental health illness my whole life, and am still struggling. I feel like I’m on a treadmill, while I keep running and pushing myself to do better, I get nowhere.

When I was a little kid, I was struggling with mental health, going to therapy, and I didn’t understand anything but that I was hurting. I felt as if I was stuck, drowning in my feelings, and I didn’t know why. It’s hard to get through the day when I have no motivation, or am filled up with emotions that I don’t know how to handle. I didn’t know any of my diagnosis, and I felt as if I was being labeled as something I didn’t want to be.

Before I was able to get help for my illnesses, my parents didn’t really understand what I was going through. It was such a struggle trying to get myself help, because I didn’t know what I needed, and my parents weren’t accepting the fact I was struggling. They thought I would be fine, thinking this is only a phase I was going through. There was such a stigma, and that stigma is apparent today where people are afraid to get help for themselves or others. They think with time it will go away, but that isn’t the case.

I have been trying to get help my whole life. I was going to therapy since a young age, but it wasn’t until a year ago where I really understood what I needed, and what I was going through.

We are all unique in our own way, and we all have struggles and barriers. When we are ready, we will get past them. The things I know now, I wish I knew when I was younger. Mental health illness used to have control of me, and now I have control of it. I’m managing it, but life would be so much simpler if I had known how to handle my illness when I was younger.

Growing up, life would have been so much easier if I had known how to use my coping skills or if I was diagnosed earlier.

It should be a priority from elementary school to high school to help kids with mental health illness. I do not think that kids in elementary school get enough help. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, kids have been struggling with mental health issues without getting help. Kids should not have to go through what I went through. They are young, so they should be able to enjoy school. This is an issue that needs to be solved because if you aren’t getting treated, then issues that you already have could get worse.

While many have been struggling like me with mental health illness, you always are able to get help. Whether it is structured therapy, such as meeting with a therapist or someone who specializes in the area of mental health, or if it’s just meeting up with friends and family just to talk about how life’s going, you can always get help.

Never be afraid, because mental health illness can be taken care of.

Andrew Strong, 16, is a junior at Wethersfield High School.