We matter too!

You know what really ticks me off? 

When society only bothers to talk about mental illness and how important it is to talk about is when someone famous is brought to the world's attention. What about the rest of us? Don't we matter? Well, I guess I will have to be our voice. 

Yes, you sitting at home because you have no where else to go,

Yes, you the tired mom at home trying to manage everything AND get outta bed.

Yes, you the one at your job with you smile on your face and no one knows how each day is a struggle to get up.

You all matter! 

I'm one of the ones that used to sit at home without anything to live for.

Lived a good part of my part living in and out of hospitals. Periods of me not taking my meds.

Yes, my name is Katie and I have Borderline Personality Disorder.

What it is: 

• Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
• A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation
• Identity disturbance, such as a significant and persistent unstable self-image or sense of self
• Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating)
• Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior
• Emotional instability due to significant reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days)
• Chronic feelings of emptiness
• Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights)
• Transient, stress-related paranoid thoughts or severe dissociative symptoms

What it is not:

• Katie. It is not me. It's a condition not an identity.
• An excuse to throw at people
• Forever. They may be no cure but there are ways to minimize the symptoms and go into remission, if you will.

People with mental illness feel very alone. Let them know that they are loved and cared about. It can be frustrating but sometimes we need the little extra kind words, love and attention. We don't mean to be this way. We just are.

Now who is this Katie person?

• An amazing friend.
• Talented
• Beautiful
• A klutz
• Full of love
• Joyful 
• Funny

And that's just the beginning. 

Let's end the stigma and talk about this thing called mental illness. I bet you know more people with it than you thought! It can be a well kept secret.

All my love. 

Katie