You know that I am having a rough time if I’m this late in getting around to what I consider one of the most important posts of the year. That is to say, making my annual pledge to Blog for Mental Health in 2015.

“I pledge my commitment to the Blog for Mental Health 2015 Project. I will blog about mental health topics not only for myself, but for others. By displaying this badge, I show my pride, dedication, and acceptance for mental health. I use this to promote mental health education in the struggle to erase stigma.”

This is my third year participating, and I think the thing that says it best is — I’m still here, folks. Even if I’m not a particularly suicidal person, it’s still a worthwhile affirmation to make in the face of mental illnesses (and other invisible illnesses). If you’re new to my blog — howdy. This is mainly a personal account, though sometimes I do shove in opinions and thoughts on the news. I write because writing is therapeutic for me, and because I’m glad to share my stories if they help other people feel less alone and ‘weird’. I know talking to friends in similar straits has always gone a long way to help me feel better, so.

Anyways, a year is both a long and a short time in a life. Since my last affirmation post, I have cut ties with my parents (realised they were narcissists, no good), moved house, had my second and final child, and saw my big girl start big girl school. I got back on my meds as soon as #2 was born, so I managed to avoid the worst of postpartum. I did end up getting my antidepressant dose upped last week, which just about perfectly coincided with where after my first child was born I realised I desperately needed help, and finally sought a diagnosis. So things might be a touch bumpy right now, but it’s mainly okay mentally.

Physically is the bugger right now. While I’ve yet to be able to get a diagnosis, I’ve likely had endometriosis bothering me for something like 20 years now, and chronic fatigue through most of that. It’s been especially bad lately, limiting most of my functionality to what I can do from my chair. This is… well, this is probably making the depression and anxiety spikes worse because dude, I would love to get out and about more. I’m hoping getting a Mirena coil fit will help, but that’s been slow going for various reasons (tl;dr can’t get it done at my local doctor’s office now and only just tracked down where I can instead last week). I’m still thinking I might have to go full hysterectomy like my maternal grandmother and aunt had to, but we’ll see.

Anyways, welcome again if you’re new. And as always, I hope that everyone is doing alright out there.

<3