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This Candid Facebook Post Perfectly Explains Why We Need to Talk About Mental Health

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I have a friend who’s as wise as he is funny. Ely Henry recently introduced me to a stigma-fighting day called Bell Let’s Talk. On January 28th, each time people used the hashtag #BellLetsTalk to open up about mental health, Bell donated 5 cents toward mental health initiatives in Canada. This amounted to more than $6 million in one day. In the spirit of the day, Ely posted this candid message on Facebook that makes a brilliant point about how we view mental illness:

Alright, it’s #‎BellLetsTalk day. So let’s talk.

I have Dysthymia. It’s basically Diet Depression.

I’ve been treating it for the past year and a half with regular therapy and some medication.

These are steps I wouldn’t have taken if I hadn’t started talking to friends about how I was feeling.

The person I have to thank the most is Torre Catalano. I was complaining to him about… oh, f***, everything probably… and he told me I should consider seeing a therapist. 

When I said I didn’t have the money, he stopped me and asked, “If you had a tooth that was rotting out the side of your skull, would you pay $70 to get it fixed?” I said that, well, obviously I would. He stared at me for a beat and shrugged his shoulders “So…?”

I called a therapist a few days later.

If you are in pain. If you are scared. If you are anxious and you feel like there’s nowhere to go — please, please talk to someone. It’s a tough road to go down but I promise you it will be worth it.

I’m still struggling. I will always be struggling. But when I look at where I am now compared to a year and a half ago? I’m kicking ass. I can’t wait to see where I am in another year and a half.

Much love, everybody. 

Talk talk talk.

(In typical Ely fashion, he followed up his serious Facebook post with a funny compilation of cute dogs.) But the bulk of what Ely posted resonated with more than 100 of his Facebook friends. His message needs to get out even further — to our Mighty readers and beyond. Because a day like #BellLetsTalk day should be more than 24 hours long.

10943523_10152536190951493_399485144_n Ely Henry is an actor in Los Angeles. You can follow his witty tidbits @ElyHenry.

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Originally published: January 29, 2015
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