As someone living with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, there are a lot of people I’m thankful to have in my life who I don’t thank enough.
I’m extremely thankful for my therapist who always goes above and beyond to help me. He’s been incredible while I’ve been struggling for the past six months — his support has helped me survive, especially when it feels like all hope is gone. And although I thank him often, how do you properly thank someone who has saved your life repeatedly?
I’m thankful for my friends and family who are there for me day in and day out. I’m especially thankful to the people who take the time to check in on me from time to time and who listen to me without judgment. Again, I’ve thanked them repeatedly, but it never seems like it’s enough.
But there’s one person who I definitely never thank enough: myself. It may seem selfish to some, but I think it’s important to thank myself.
So to myself I say:
Thank you for being you, the person who isn’t always depressed. A person who can find the fun in life, even in the darkest of times.
Thank you for having the strength to make it through just one more day.
Thank you for learning to take care of yourself and starting to put yourself first.
Thank you for beginning to believe you are important and you do matter.
Thank you for having the courage to face mental illness on a daily basis, especially the symptoms of PTSD.
Thank you for using your voice to share what it’s like living with mental illness.
Thank you for reaching out when you need help. It’s really hard at times but you’re able to do it.
Thank you for not letting mental illness limit your life — for continuing to work, going to graduate school and continuing with your art despite not feeling your best.
Thank you holding on to the tiniest thread of hope until more hope could be found.
I’ve found self-compassion is hard to find sometimes when you live with a mental illness — that’s why it’s so important we don’t forget to thank ourselves.
The Mighty is for the following: Write a thank you note to someone who helped you through your mental illness. What about that person makes him or her a good ally? What do you want them to know? If you’d like to participate, please send a blog post to mentalhealth@themighty.com. Please include a photo for the piece, a photo of yourself and 1-2 sentence bio. Check out our Share Your Story page for more about our submission guidelines.
Marlena Davis is a single mother, mental health advocate, volunteer, left-hander, vegetarian, photographer, animal-lover, artist, daughter, sister, aunt, friend and clinician who lives with depression and anxiety and PTSD. Marlena graduated from Toll Gate High School, received a B.A. in psychology from the University of Rhode Island, attained a Masters of Arts in counseling from Rhode Island College, has a CAGS in Mental Health Counseling from RIC, and has attained her LMHC. Marlena has worked with children, adolescents and young adults with autism and other developmental disabilities for over 19 years and now works with adults with differing abilities, and she is passionate about the use of expressive arts with this population. She is an artist who creates mostly in the mediums of drawing, painting, mixed media, ceramics, and photography. She operates a small photography business, Pix By Marlena, where she sells prints and a yearly calendar. She also has participated in a photo-a-day project for the past 11 years, which sometimes focuses on certain themes including living with mental illness. Marlena has been a volunteer at PeaceLove since November 2013 and a CREATOR from PeaceLove since April 2016.
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