The Semicolon

I still don’t understand why there is a #stigma attached to #mentalillness. Maybe people have seen too many movies and think, “Oh. That’s what it is.”

By that I mean a movie about a man in a straitjacket isolated in a padded room, talking to himself.

People joke about it. “Yeah, you’re gonna need therapy for that, aren’t you?”

But it’s no laughing matter.

#Anxiety. #Depression. #PTSD. #Bipolar. #Schizophrenia.

Statistically speaking, 1 in 5 adults battle some form of mental illness. Think of all the people in your life; it’s your friend. Your brother. Your mom. Your child. It’s your neighbor. Your coworker. Your teacher. Your boss.

1 in 5.

Some days are normal. Some days are okay. Some days are awful.

And getting out of bed is impossible.

1 in 5.

Mental illness steals joy. It keeps a mind racing like hamsters in their exercise wheels. It’s a cacophony of noise. It’s chaos. It’s messy. It’s frightening.

The #semicolon is becoming one of the most iconic symbols for the month of May and what it represents. A semicolon is used when an author could have ended their sentence, but chose not to.

My name is Ashley.

I am 1 in 5.

And my story isn’t over yet.