Sooooo…I didn’t think writing about mental illness would be my jam, but I keep coming back to it, so here goes.

Let me say this: A DIAGNOSIS DOES NOT DEFINE YOU.

I know that, in my head. But believing it is a whole ‘nother thing.

When a medical professional gives you a label from their big book of labels (DSM-5 Manual), it’s hard not to fall into that trap of thinking: oh my gosh, I’m not normal. I’m crazy. I’m weak.

Don’t do that! My own psych, who, after telling me that my symptoms point to seasonal depression and even another scary diagnosis that I will not name but I bet you can guess if you know my personality (ha!), I FREAKED OUT.

She was like: Amanda, you have to understand that a diagnosis is less for you and more for us, the medical professionals. We need to categorize in order to understand and treat. Remember, we work by a process of elimination. That big book is a list of things that you might have and by a process of elimination, we can hone down on what it might be. And then, we can have some idea of how to treat it.

And then she said something really helpful: a diagnosis is not a fixed label, it’s more like a spectrum. EVERYONE is on the spectrum for something. ha! But I bet my diagnosis sounds worse than yours. 😊

I say this to tell you: if you’ve had a diagnosis or know someone who does, please don’t let it define you or them. Think of it like this: when things feel off, it’s something to be aware of. I know when I start sleeping a lot and everything feels hard and I am super noise sensitive, that it’s probably my depression flaring up. That’s when I have to go to my toolbox and get to work. Some of my tools include: cutting back on the wine, making sure I’m getting plenty of exercise, eating healthy, getting outside in nature and writing. All of those are tank-fillers, things that give me an extra boost when I feel low.

That’s my two cents for today. I hope this helps someone. Remember that you are not alone. But that’s really hard to believe when it comes to mental illness. Most people don’t go around sharing that kind of thing (ha!!! I am going against the grain!). But we all have something, right? And we’re all trying to cope with that something as best we can. And perhaps, rather than fighting and hiding and living in shame, we let God use it in our lives so that we can help someone else.