Guest Blog: “Just Get Over It”

(This Blog Post discusses issues relating to mental heath)

That old chestnut is thrown around rather a lot and for lots of different reasons, however the one I have had the most issues with personally is when referring to someone with a mental health issue.

To those who don’t have or never have had a mental health issue, the whole spectrum of poor mental health can be mind boggling, confusing and even a tad, dare I say it, offensive. To those without the experience or knowledge of what poor mental health actually is, it can seem unfathomable that people are simply not happy or unable to function like others in society.

For someone with mental health issues (no matter how severe or minor) to be told to “get over it” is a slap in the face. Having issues with mental health is not a choice and not one that anyone would want to choose. Telling someone to get over it is implying they have some choice, that they can simply choose to stop suffering from depression or bipolar, or schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder or any number of mental health disorders.

Poor mental health can exacerbate symptoms such as loss of appetite/increase in appetite, change in sleep patterns, loss of energy, loss of motivation/interests, feeling hopeless, feeling persistently low, self harm and suicide.

So next time you want to tell someone to “get over it” think about it. Do you think that if it were that easy, that wouldn’t they have done it by now?

Guest Blogger Karl

Guest Blogger: Karl

So I am the most recent addition of this fabulous blogging team and will start off with an introduction of who I am and what makes me tick.

I am Karl, I am 21 and I live in the town of Northampton which currently offers no LGBT support, youth or adult. So I attend the group HQMK and meet with the lovely people there every week and would strongly recommend the group to any young person looking for support and friendship.

Now onto my identity, I identify as both bisexual and transgender. I would hope that everyone would understand what bisexual is (even with the negative connotations) so I will write a little bit about my trans identity and how I see myself. In clinical and medical terms I am a female to male transsexual, born with a female body but identify as male. Despite what I was born as and how I developed I see myself entirely as male, so I would consider any relationship I have with a guy as a gay relationship and any relationship I have with a girl as a straight relationship.

I have been involved with online LGBT communities for almost four years now, since I first came out. In that time I have learnt a lot and grown as a person, I have also become very passionate about LGBT issues and the rights of my community. I will be very vocal about an injustice and will fight strongly for my community and will get involved with what I can to be part of the movement.

Having said that, my blogs will likely have a political slant to them when discussing LGBT rights, where I challenge views held by others and have people consider the use of certain language. But I will also use this as a space to talk about my experiences, who I am as a person and sometimes the unfortunate incidences that occur when being me!

Keep watching, excitement and hilarity is coming up!

Guest Blogger Karl