Here are the facts:
Worldwide, 1 in 4 people will be affected by a mental illness or a neurological disorder at some point in their lives. The most common? Depression, affecting 300 million people across the globe. Anxiety comes in at a close second with 260 million.
In America alone, 1 in 5 adults experience mental illness in a given year, 18.1% (or 42 million) live with anxiety disorder and 6.9% (or 16 million) suffer from severe depression.
That means that if you’ve gone out with a group of friends, sat through a meeting with more than 5 people, or even just acknowledge the existence of human beings, chances are there’s someone you’ve come across who has dealt with this shit.
And when we say shit, we mean shit, because regardless of your degree of anxiety or depression or mental disorder, we’ve all had moments where we just hated ourselves, felt guilty for existing, were paranoid for no reason, or felt anxious to the point where we thought we were going to explode. We know that you know that feeling sucks.
It sucks, it suuuuuuuuuuucks so bad.
The worst part is, although statistics show how common it is, we feel totally alone in those moments. Either the environment and people around us don't understand how to respond or we don't reach out for fear of sharing something so painfully personal and being judged.
Maybe that’s why only 41% of adults with mental health conditions receive help, and only 36.9% of those suffering from anxiety receive treatment.
Depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses stop us from seeing the good in life, situations, experiences and ourselves. Which, again, sucks, because in many cases, it’ll stop us from pursing the things we want, make us feel like a big fuck-ups when we make mistakes along the way, make us feel like big fuck-ups for just being human beings, or worse, make us believe that we can’t get or don’t deserve the things that will make us feel personally fulfilled.
And while many of us can help ourselves through an adjustment of perspective, a lot of us can’t.
It is not enough to quickly say “I have anxiety”, or wear a shirt that says “Depressed, but well dressed” or post a meme, regardless of how relatable it is – we need to open up the conversation.
We need to show the struggle behind the success story, we need to show others that they are not alone and support them in getting the help they need.
We need people to feel good about themselves so they can go out into the world and make others feel good about themselves. We need people to feel comfortable in their own skin and their own definition of success so that they can confidentially pursue their passions and bring a greater good into the world.
This is why we donate. This is why we promote authenticity, acceptance and self-love. This is how we support.
If you would like to support as well, shop, leave a donation or submit your story at: https://www.333nyc.com/join
Let’s start the conversation.
Mad love always,
333
