So last night a friend and I were having a deep discussion about this word. Their view was to be enslaved by something good (I.E. in the spiritual context) was a good thing because that good thing will help you to be disciplined and, eventually, a good person overall. My view was that being enslaved is just terrible and that no good thing will enslave you. Their assessment of my perspective led them to believe I was looking at the connotation of the word (or what people perceive a word to mean in addition to or because of its definition) and I believed for myself that I was looking at the actual definition of slave or enslavement.

An oversimplification of our conversation for sure since it went on for quite a while, but that lead me to think about this in the context of mental health. I can’t believe how long it took me to realize that there are people, myself included because of my history with mental illness, that feel like they are slaves to their emotions/disorders/illnesses… like there is a slim chance of freedom, if any.

It sounds dramatic, especially since we tend to think of slavery in its worst form, but this is the truth of how people feel. It leads me to believe that this is why suicide is an option for people. This was the case for me on multiple occasions; I believed that all I ever was going to be was depressed, anxious, and unstable in every single aspect of my life. It leads me to believe that this is why people think that suicide is freedom, and it leads me to believe that all of this is why people consider suicidal individuals to be selfish and cowardly, which is never the case… for the record.

Based on the conclusions I have reached I feel like one can infer that enslavement in the context of mental health (since we’re staying on subject) leads to all kinds of assumptions, lies, deception, and even death. The truth of the matter is not only can we be free from our illnesses, emotions, and disorders by living life to the fullest in spite of these things, but we can also aid in setting others free. It’s amazing how people live unaware of the power they have inside of them to help others. All I want to do is help other see the power they have inside of them… excuse me… the power you have inside of you to reach out for help and to lead others to do the same as survivors.

As an example, Demi Lovato created an amazing scholarship for addition recovery, so if this is something you need start here: http://t.co/H5YDBmbMmd

There is also so much more help, support, and other survivor stories here:

http://yourenotfinished.com/get-help/

http://yourenotfinished.com/other-mental-health-blogsinfo/

http://yourenotfinished.com/survivor-of-the-month/

Peace and blessings to you all, and have a safe 4th 🙂