Today I was feeling nostalgic! I went somewhere that I hadn’t been for a good many years and when my life was completely different. This made me feel so many different emotions. Firstly I thought of how far I had come, how lucky I am and that the friends I have now are true friends who support me 100% and I certainly don’t need to worry about any stigma when I am with them. This has come about because of many factors including increased awareness of mental health in the UK as a whole, people often knowing more people who experience mental health problems because of increased disclosure and probably in my own friendship groups people have realised that sticking by me isn’t all bad news!
Today also made me think of the ‘friends’ I lost, the friends that visited me once in hospital and then run away, the friends that didn’t believe I had anything wrong with me and the friends who even said I had lied about my childhood experiences. I am sad as I would of liked to have longer friendships with more of my friends from school, I am sad as I am sure some may have experienced mental health problems themselves or within their families and I would liked to have supported them and I am sad because I can now for the first time in years say I am a good friend to people and I really value my friendships and my friends.
So yes I would love to meet some of my friends from school, not to give anyone a hard time but to continue to make people aware of mental health illnesses and keep the conversation going.