hey shaelin, you don't have to answer this ask but how do you deal with daily tasks like school, friends, and your interests when your mental illness is at an all-time low? i want to get my grades up, talk to my friends, and do what i used to love, but i always feel too tired to accomplish anything. i also wanted to say that i love your writing and you inspire me!

Sorry it took so long for me to answer this, I really struggle to answer anything mental illness or mental health related because I worry that I’ll be spreading misinformation, or advice that’s not helpful at all. These are not easy situations to deal with, when I think back to my unhealthy teen years, I didn’t handle it well at all, I had terrible coping strategies, so I kind of struggle to help in these scenarios. Sorry this is a really weak answer, I’ve noticed how much I struggle to answer these kinds of questions and how stressed I feel answering them because when someone’s actual mental health is concerned, I just don’t feel qualified to answer and end up stressing. I’ve considered making it a policy on this blog that I might not answer mental health related questions because I feel unqualified and stressed about giving advice I have no basis in and because I get a lot of questions of that nature. I don’t know, I’m rambling now. 

That said, here’s the one thing I can draw from. It’s probably not as helpful as it could be for reasons mentioned above, and I’m sorry for that. When I think back to when I was a lethargic, sad teenage disaster, my biggest regret was that I didn’t do anything about it. I didn’t talk to my parents. I didn’t talk to my teachers. I spent five years wallowing and being unhappy and dreading each day and I didn’t do a thing about it because I thought this was just who I was, this was my personality, and my life would always be like this. I didn’t register how unhealthy I was. So I guess the thing I would advise, based on my own regret, would be to seek help from others in whatever way benefits you. I didn’t do that and I think I could have made my life a lot happier and easier if I had. I didn’t have good strategies for dealing with the problem, but it’s because I just internally wallowed in the problem. Not doing anything was probably the worst decision of my life because my lack of action brought me so much unhappiness. I don’t know if you’re repressing your issues as hard I was, but if I learned anything from my in-action, it was that waiting for my problems to solve themselves did nothing, and seeking help from others would have been the most helpful thing I could have done