What My Partner Said When I Thanked Him for Coping With My Mental Health
My name is Jade. I have generalized anxiety disorder and depression. Right now I am going through a tough time and hearing voices. This is new for me and everyone around me, and it is scary.
I have a partner. He has good days and bad days but mostly “normal” days all the same. Every day he helps me plan my day and makes sure I have all the tools I need to get through the day. He is my hero.
Today I explained to him how grateful I am to have him and how amazing he is doing with coping with everything that is going on with me. Usually he says, “I love you,” but today he said this: “If I had a broken leg you would be there to help me. You just have a broken mind so I am here to help you.”
You may be thinking, well maybe she isn’t broken and he’s being rude, but I don’t think of it like that. When you have a broken leg you are sometimes given pills to ease the pain in order for you to mend. It may never be the same again, but it becomes manageable with care from yourself and others around you. Right now my mind is broken. This is not to say that is a bad thing. It is just to say I need to learn how to care for it and how to mend it. I say “mend” rather than “fix” because to fix it would be to change who I am. I will always have anxiety, and I am OK with that. It makes me look after my friends better. It makes me plan and be organized. I like me (some days – I am still working on it).
My partner compared caring for me in the only way he knew how, and this made me feel “normal.” To have a mental health problem shouldn’t be something you can’t talk about. It should be treated and cared for in the same way a partner may care for their other half’s “broken leg.”
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