Mental Health Story Mindset

Mental health is a topic that affects everyone. Everyone is at risk for mental health problems, INCLUDING YOU!

While our society has made great strides in recent years to destigmatize and normalize mental illness, there are still misconceptions about what it means to have a mental health issue. Many people believe that only people who are weak or broken have issues, which simply isn’t true—you can have a mental illness and not even know it.

We all live with stressors like work deadlines and family responsibilities; but some of us experience those stressors more acutely than others, leading them down the path toward developing an anxiety disorder or depression. If this sounds like you—don’t worry! We’re here to help guide you through your story by sharing your story with us so we can shine a light on this subject matter together! In turn, it helps you and helps anyone who reads it. Anyone that has a mental health issue knows that one of the biggest problems is that…well, we feel alone. That is what this blog is here to help alleviate and change. YOU’RE NOT ALONE.

This is about sending us a message or story…

We would love to hear your story! It can be as simple as saying “I had trouble concentrating in school” or as complex as telling us about your experience with anxiety attacks, depression, and suicidal thoughts. How did you overcome these struggles? What advice would you give someone who is struggling with mental health issues today? The rest, is yours to tell…

This is about sending us a message of your own mental health story. We want to create a safe place for people to share their own struggles with mental health issues. This not only helps the person sharing, but people reading as well. Send us a message and we can review it and you’ll have the opportunity to have it posted on our Mental Health blog on mentalhealthplug.com. The site you’re on now. Share your own personal struggles with mental health issues and we can post it so others can see it and not feel alone. It also helps to share your story so you can process it better and move on or feel better about the situation.

You don’t have to reveal every detail of your mental health experiences in order to be a compelling storyteller or to share…

When it comes to sharing your story, you don’t have to reveal everything. In fact, the details you choose to share can make all the difference in how compelling your story is and we’re not asking you to share everything. Just want you want to share to our readers.

You can choose not to tell your story at all, or only share details that you want. Simple as that. And if telling your story feels right for other people and situations, then go for it! But remember: Only share what feels comfortable for YOU!

Sharing is a brave act.

Sharing is a brave act. It takes courage to share your story, whether it’s with someone you trust or don’t trust. When you share with us, we want to make sure that we handle your information carefully and respectfully because our goal is to help people find comfort in knowing that they are not alone in their struggles.

We take steps to ensure the security of our users’ data through technical measures like website encryption, database backups, and logging access attempts from suspicious IP addresses. We do our part for security online, you so can share and feel secure.

It can be scary to share your story.

There are many reasons why it can be difficult to share your story. You might be afraid of how people will react to you, or what other people will think. You may feel ashamed that you have a mental health condition, or even of the way that it has affected your life. There’s no need to be worried about any of these things! Everyone has their own unique story to tell. Seriously, everyone. However, everyone deserves a chance to share their experiences—especially those who have experienced mental illness firsthand. Just remember: Your story matters to you and to others you choose to share it with.

It’s OK if you don’t know how you feel about your story yet. Only share if you want to. It may help you or someone else. However, never feel pressured to share what is yours.

This is a big deal and you don’t have to rush into it.

Taking the time to process your story can help you figure out what is most important for you. You might find that some parts of your story aren’t worth or safe to share with others and some are really important. Or maybe it’s all-important! Just know that whatever choice feels right for you at this moment, it’s OK.

You may also want to think about how much time in advance of the event (or even before) would be best for writing up a draft and getting feedback from friends/family first so they can help guide the direction of your story before going public with it here. It’s all up to you. No pressure. No one is forcing you to do anything. This is in your hands. Your mind. Your story.

Sharing is a decision that only you can make for yourself.

When it comes to sharing your story, only you can decide if you should or not.

The only person who can decide this for you is yourself. No one can make the decision for you. If at any time during the process of sharing your story with Mental Health Plug, this becomes too much for you and it feels like it’s no longer a healthy choice, that is OK! You have every right to change your mind about this and stop at any time. This doesn’t mean that all of the work that we have done together was in vain – all material that has been created will still be available through others’ stories. Really, if you choose to not share, it’s OK. Please know that. It’s OK.

There are many reasons people choose not to share.

You might wonder if you need to share your mental health story. You don’t. You are not obligated to share your story, or even tell anyone that you have a mental health condition if you do not want to. It’s very common for people with mental illnesses to keep their diagnoses private, but this doesn’t mean they’re being or going “backward.” On the contrary: some people think it’s better for society as a whole if more people talk about their experiences with mental illness and other types of disparities—but it’s important that those conversations happen on their own terms and in a way that feels most comfortable for those involved.

It’s also possible for someone without a diagnosed disorder (or any kind of recognized disability) to be an ally or advocate for others’ equality; doing so does not require jumping into conversations about one’s own personal struggles with certain things just because everyone else is doing it!

We hope these ideas helped clarify some things about how we approach sharing our stories here at Mental Health Plug!

It’s OK to change your mind about sharing or not sharing at any point!

You are the only one who can decide when and how you want to share your story. This is simply a platform to share if you wish That’s why you send us a ‘contact us’ form at the bottom of this page. We will not share your story until we receive communication from you saying it is ok to share. This is usually done through email. You send us the form at the bottom, then we confirm that it is ok to share. You write your story concerning your mental health and then say at the bottom of what you write, “This is ok to share on mentalhealthplug.com”. That’s how we do it. We want to give you time after contacting us to make sure you want to share your story. We’re not the type of website that just publishes to get views. We want and need for it to be ok with you first.

You may not feel ready, and that’s OK! The important thing is that you know you always have the option of sharing or not sharing at all. No matter how much time passes, it will always be up to you how much or how little information about yourself and your mental health journey is available online. That’s why after you submit a story, and then months later you want it removed? We will remove it from our blog posts. It’s all up to you. 

If a commenter asks why they don’t see any stories from other people on Mental Health Plug, we will usually just tell them that everyone has different experiences with mental illness and it’s not our place to say why or how someone chose not to share something with us. We give people time to be able to decide and do not pressure them into sharing anything. We just want to create a space where people can share, not force them to share. A lot of the time, we just don’t share because people are not ready which is completely fine. We just read it, send a message back and then delete the story or will publish it under a different name if the person is comfortable with that.  We also never assume one person’s experience is representative of everyone else’s because everyone’s journey is different! This goes for all kinds of things: race/ethnicity, religion/spirituality/lifestyle choices/sexual identity/identity as a whole (veganism vs vegetarianism), socioeconomic status…you name it! We’re simply here if you want to share and if you don’t we hope you look through some of the resources we have on this site. This could be the hotline page, statistics, books or stress relief items to help you calm down in instances of stress. These will help to enable you to find out more about your or your family members’ struggles, statistics on mental health, books or items for understanding and relieving stress, links to find counselors/therapists in your area, and finally, national hotlines to call if you’re in distress. (Please click on that sentence or here if you need assistance.)

If you would like to share your story after reading this page, please send us a message below telling us a little about yourself, what you’d like to share and why. This helps us gauge bots from real human beings. We have never been hacked or scammed and want to make sure our readers and followers feel safe here. We never take money on this site at all. If you click on a book or stress relieving item, you’ll be redirected to amazon for the best delivery options and prices. That’s all. We just wanted to make sure this was all in plain daylight so everyone knows what we’re doing and what we’re up to before sharing anything. Again, the choice is completely up to you. Feel free to send us a message below if you want to be featured on the site with your own mental health story. Who knows, you may just end up helping someone or yourself.

At Mental Health Plug, we respect people because we are people.