Living with Mental Illness: You Are Not Alone – Anitra Lahiri

by Anitra Lahiri, RYT-500

Shed the shame. Drop the embarrassment. And stop judging yourself.

Embrace the whole of you — your diagnosis, disorder, illness, label …
and your originality, creativity, sensitivity, and unconventionality.

You are neither all dark nor all light. You, yes you, are a hyper-unique
cacophonous cocktail of brilliance and complexity.

ADD, BPD, HPD, APD, PTSD, depression, anxiety, addiction …
Whatever your acronyms or afflictions, embrace them, bask in their light, and relish the strength you mustered to get here despite all the noise in your head, the web in your mind, that tangled cavernoma that caused problems at work, at home, at school, with the law, with yourself.

Over the years, I have been diagnosed with CPTSD and bipolar. So what. I have no shame in this. My acronyms and diagnoses do not define all of me, but they contribute to the whole of me, making me unequivocally, wholly, beautifully me. I have been in treatment, seen psychiatrists, talked to therapists, attended recovery meetings, led recovery meetings, and been prescribed half a dozen pharmaceuticals and nootropics, till I landed on the combination of actions that helped unweave some of the chaos, but just enough. There is no shame in this.

The world can judge you and castigate you. Let them. Only you can let their damnation seep in. Rather than believe their lies (that mental illness is a self-created darkness we somehow cast upon ourselves), remember this instead:

You are a survivor. You have endured more than most, I assure you. And you are victorious because you, dear one, are still here despite it all. In spite of the noise, the obstacles, the pain, the turbulence (much of which no one in the world knows you have lived through), you have made it this far.

So, use your mind as a canvas on which to create the life you choose —
one of blame, shame, and withdrawal,
or one of courage, endurance, ingenuity, and success.

Anitra Lahiri is a dedicated yoga studio owner and self-love advocate, guiding individuals on their journey to healing and recovery.