What I learnt from being put into a psychiatric unit...

The decision to post this article has not been easy, in fact writing this article has been a lulling thought in my mind for a while. 'But the thing is…you have to decide whether you want to write the story, and sometimes that can be very difficult'

One of my aspiring values it to live a little more riskily, because I know that If I don't publish this article then I might regret my decision and that is not how I want to live life.

3 years ago I was at wits end, I had succumbed to the darkness inside my mind, and was writhing.

The sea of which was my mental illness was drowning me and I couldn't get out without a boat. I ended up inpatient, I was kept under the watchful eyes of mental health nurses and therapists.

Although at the time I despised the experience, hated it with all my might, I now see that there was growth in my turmoil.

Perhaps not in the moment, but afterwards…the experience shaped me into being stronger.

It shaped me into being the person I am today.

As humans we are constantly growing, learning through experience. This growth begins when we are infants: we learn to speak, move, walk. And as we walk through life, we undergo masses of experiences, both negative and positive.

We learn from all kinds of experience, we fall on the playground at school and learn about pain, how to help ourselves and strength. We also learn through positive experiences, through receiving awards, spending time with our loved ones and doing things for others.

In other words, all while my experience as an inpatient was difficult, it is a key aspect in my overall growth, and without it I might not be where I am now.

What I learnt from being put inpatient:

'Difficult roads lead to good destinations' The truth is in this quote.

Before I went inpatient, I remember blue tacking the quote 'Difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations' onto the kitchen wall, years later and that same poster is hanging on the wall.

There is truth in this quote, though my situation now is not necessarily 'beautiful' it is in fact good.

And so through experiencing being inpatient, I learnt that bad places often lead to better ones, nothing ever lasts.

My issues were valid and your's are too

I'm sure most of us have heard 'It's OK to not be OK' or 'It's OK to feel blue'When I was put inpatient, I was told that my issues were valid.

I think most times we are so caught up in fixing something that we don't consider accepting it. It's important to first accept your problems, that you have them and then learn to fix them in a slow but steady way.

I learnt that people do care

It's strange how the human mind can interpret certain situations as linked to specific emotions.

During my time as an inpatient I thought that no one cared, but I've grown to learn that people do care.

Otherwise I wouldn't have been put inpatient In the first place, In fact it was an act of love, an act of kindness.

Sometimes when we are surrounded by deep waters, we forget that people love us. Fortunately humans don't work that way, if people close to you seem to not care, someone out there does…even I do.

Overall I learnt a lot when I was put inpatient, I met people that I will always remember and spent time learning to become better.

Because we learn things through difficult times.

-Jessica M