Pot Kettle Black

 Just a few of the Tweets that fuelled this blog post.

This certainly isn't the post I had planned on doing this week, but current affairs pop up on my radar and I just can't keep quiet! It is quite obvious that I understand my illness, after years of being convinced that I deserved it and that it wasn't a 'real' illness, someone finally told me it was real. Just because you can't see the illness doesn't mean it isn't real. If someone scanned my brain they wouldn't find a big dark tumour-like monster sitting in there feasting upon my happy memories and convincing me that I'm an unlikeable person. I know its a real illness. If you see someone with a plaster cast on their leg you don't question whether their leg is truly broken and hurting, why would we? I really hope that if anyone saw me on my bad days that they'd worry and wonder what was wrong. I hope that they don't see my grey toned face, dark under eye circles, and extremely casual dressed in the dark type attire and think "she's a lazy bitch",  and "why isn't she at work somewhere?!".

Of course most people will have heard about the devastating German plane crash that occurred last week, and may have seen or heard coverage of the event since then. I can't stand that there are people in this world that judge that co-pilot so much. HE has a name, he had a family, he was important to someone. Most importantly and tragically, someone out there knowing he had a mental illness allowed him to continue working as a pilot. The airline should be getting slated for failing to protect an employee's welfare. And a great number of lives were lost because of that poor decision. Of course the families of the victims might struggle to feel sorry for the co-pilot, but I hope that some people out there believe that he was a vicitm too.

My blood is boiling right now because of a certain attention seeking woman whom refuses to be considerate of most of the human race. Katie Hopkins. Oh the things I could say about her, all of which will remain in my head as I do not wish to stoop to her knee scraping level. Some of you may remember the post linked here in which I thought that Katie Hopkins may have finally been able to empathise with some of the people she's insulted so much. After her dramatic weight gain project she broke down in a psychiatrist's office as she realised how hard it is to wake up every day to a body she wasn't happy with. In her documentary we also saw how self conscious she felt when she attempted to resume her exercise routine, she had anxiety over being seen and judged by others. Pot kettle black! Yes I understand that exercise and moving more is good for a great many things, even depression can be relieved (not cured!) by exercising due to the hormones it releases. In her words "people with depression do not need a doctor and a bottle of something that rattles. They need a pair of running shoes and fresh air", perhaps that works for some people, and of course some patients and doctors prefer not to use anti-depressants when possible. Accepting that you need to take anti-depressants isn't an easy way out, it isn't a sign of weakness or admitting defeat. However, sometimes its needed. I certainly wouldn't be in any position to lace up my trainers and go for a run without the assistance of medication. And even whist I have been on anti-depressants I struggle to consider doing this, sometimes I truly am housebound, paralised by anxiety and the phsyical symptoms that come with depression. The medication does more good than harm, yes there can be some nasty side effects, but I've weighed up the pros and cons, and after experiencing life without medication, having a breakdown and seriously considering whether I ought to be admitted into a psychiatric facility I'd say they help me!

 In her usual fashion Hopkins jumped in on the conversations sparked by the German plane crash, unfortunately the more outrageous things she says the more attention she gets and so her career has established on the back of her running her mouth. I understand that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but there ought to be room for a little sensitivity and restraint especially if those opening their mouths have never experienced what they are bashing. In Hopkins's words depression is a fashionable illness for lazy people and is used as a quick diagnosis to get rid of paranoid people in doctor's waiting rooms. Excuse my language but that is bulls**t. She also stated that stigma against mental illness does not exist, I wish that was true. However she managed to contradict her statement all over Twitter, so Katie...the stigma doesn't exist and yet there you are bashing a mental illness and cowardly attacking thousands of people with said illnesses. And the blood is boiling again, the ignorance and arrogance of this woman is unbelievable. I wish I could ignore her, acknowledging her only keeps her career alive, but I can't stand the idea of keeping quiet and allowing her to potentially convince others that her statements are facts.