This is heartbreaking!
Liptember 2024 - Day 14
When you read that only half of the 54% of women with a mental health issue actually seek professional help, it breaks your heart. But I think I understand one reason why.
A couple of years ago, I made an appointment to see my GP (not my regular GP because I don't have one - that needs a blog post all of its own) because I felt I needed help. I had issues at work, I wasn't coping at home & I was miserable. I was in a funk, I wanted help.
My husband had previously sort help and he discovered he had PTSD. He got the counselling he needed, the coping strategies he needed. My GP gave me the mental health assessment test & I passed it. No need for counselling.
He told me I was stressed and I should get a new job. He told me to look at my diet & get more exercise. Now how I did leave that appointment. Disappointed, unheard, mis-understood, angry. I believe this is why women don't seek help.
They have tried and maybe had the same experience as me so have just gone on surviving one day at a time until we feel normal again. Our kind of normal. The normal that allows us to get up each day and do the things we need to do. But always in the back of our minds, the system let us down. I choose to go on knowing I am a survivor & I am strong but my heart cries for all the women that desperately need help but also are not receiving it. The system needs to change. We shouldn't have to change or deliberately fail the test to get the help we need & deserve. Our mental health matters.
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