Are you unhappy?
Do you know how scary it is to know that you are unhappy, (suffering mental health problems or mental illness) but you have no idea what you can do to make it stop?
I do. Throughout my college days, I had been sad about almost every aspect of my life.
The Situation With My Parents
For one, my parents decided to split. As it turned out, they had been sleeping in different beds ever since I was in middle school. I merely had no idea because I always slept like a log and would only wake up when both of them were already up. My parents wanted me out of the house before they filed for divorce because they could not bear to see their only child deal with a broken home for years.
In addition to that, my high school boyfriend and I had to go to different universities. He had a full-ride football scholarship in his dream school, while I got into an Ivy League school. We talked every night on the phone in the first few months, but our communication started to dwindle after some time. Before the semester ended, I found out that he embraced the jock (or should I say ‘jerk’?) life and started sleeping with one woman after another almost every night. Worse, I had to see him pick up women at the bar before realizing why he wasn’t answering my calls anymore.
My Psychological Wellness Not Improving
The fact that I lived in the dorms with a bunch of other girls did not improve my mental health and I was still unhappy. I did not get lucky in the roommate department since I got stuck with two younger adults: a weed smoker and – pardon my French – a college slut. The smell of the weed, I could still forgive because she always smoked next to the window. But it was horrible to live with a promiscuous young adult who had different guys knocking on our dorm room often. I ended up yelling at the latter when she attempted to have sex with someone, even though we were there.
I knew I was almost on the verge of breaking down when a professor chose me as her most-hated student. Every time we met, she often tried to catch me off guard with her questions, and she was always close to succeeding. I was always close to one day losing interest just like that. But when I learned about my parents’ divorce, I didn’t get to study the night before, so I went to the professor’s class with a blank mind. Though I don’t want to elaborate about the humiliation that I experienced that day, let’s say that it was so bad I wanted to jump off the bridge then. Safe to say, mental health illnesses such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, seasonal affective disorder, and more, along with unhappy mental health, were already creeping in.
Taking Control Of My Psychological Wellness
Despite everything, I was lucky that my best friend lived in a nearby dorm. I called her on that day; I couldn’t even formulate words because of how defeated I felt. Still, she went to my dorm and pulled me to our favorite alfresco café and forced me to tell her everything that bothered me.
After an hour of listening, my best friend said, “I know you are very emotional to see reason right now. However, I want you to remember that life doesn’t end when your parents divorce, your boyfriend cheats, or your roommates and professors suck. You need to prove now more than ever that their actions only make you stronger.”
My best friend walked me back to the dorm afterward, and I went straight to bed. When I woke up, my best friend’s words came back to me and somehow made me want to take control of my mental health depressive disorder.
Reversing My Unhappiness
The first thing I did was break up with my boyfriend. I asked him to meet me; he tried to give an alibi, but I said it was urgent, so he had to go. When he saw me, the prick looked surprise after seeing a massive box of mementos that he gifted to me over the years. I would have split with him calmly, but I couldn’t help but smack his face when he acted hurt and asked why I was leaving him. Nevertheless, he backed away when I told him that I knew his cheating habits.
Then, I went home to talk to my parents. Although I was still shocked by their divorce, I had to let them know that they should no longer feel guilty about it. They were not young adults anymore; they had to find their own happiness sooner than later. We cried for some time, but we separated with light hearts.
About My Roommates
As for my roommates, I couldn’t do anything with them, so I asked my best friend if she wanted to get an apartment with me in between our universities. She agreed; that’s why I didn’t have roommate problems anymore.
Then, since there was only a month left for the semester, I poured all my attention to studying for that nasty professor’s class. I aced every exam she threw at us, so she had no choice but to give me the highest marks. Ha!
Final Thoughts
I believe it makes an entire world of difference when you are aware of your unhappiness and health conditions. It pushes you to ask for help or figure out how to resolve your problems. For some, coping with mental health depression and sadness can be a real struggle. For people who find major depression overwhelming, some light wellness therapy with a health care provider, SSRIs, and nutrition lifestyle changes can make a great difference. I am so lucky that I have enough courage to able to reverse my unhappiness.
Am I Still Unhappy? No Way!
But for people who observe symptoms of depression, help treatment is there. When someone sad begins to experience depression and sad symptoms like trouble with sleep patterns, substance abuse, trouble sleeping, unexplained weight gain, eating disorders, affective disorder, try to begin treatment with trusted health care providers.
Support groups and additional resources are there for you. That is whether you are sad because of winter blues, winter depression, seasonal affective disorder, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, or even something as simple as a lack of vitamin D. Again, support groups and professional help are there for you.