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<\/a>It’s this month.<\/p><\/div>\n
The play-offs are actually where I first heard that May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which is worth discussing here. So I thank them for this info, especially so that I can get this article in before the last day of the month, which is tomorrow<\/em>!<\/p>\n But actually, even though having a designated time frame to think about it, every month, week, and day is the right time for us all to take care of our mental health. This is the month to remind<\/em> us, and because of that designation, more entities than ever talk about it publicly. But it\u2019s a topic of whihc we should always<\/em> be made aware.<\/p>\n Even before I realized the significance of this month, I had been thinking about the concept of depression very recently. It\u2019s something I know a thing or two about. I had been in several deep depressions that started during the pandemic lockdown. I actually didn\u2019t mind being stuck in the house for a year or two because Mr. X is the funniest person in the world, and I love having an excuse to be a couch potato. People thought that a bon vivette such as myself would be going nuts, but I was fine because I wasn\u2019t missing anything\u2014there were no events to go to!<\/p>\n So the depression took me totally by surprise. In life, in general, I had, of course, experienced what we all think of as \u201cdepression,\u201d but I had no concept of the very painful deeper<\/em> feeling which is what I guess is actually \u201cclinical depression.\u201d What made it worse was that during that entire time, I was still grateful for my life, and knew that I had no real reason to be depressed. So that<\/em> depressed me even further. It was all a vicious circle.<\/p>\n I\u2019m feeling better these days, without knowing why. I\u2019m just thankful that the depression has lifted as much as it has.<\/p>\n Of course, medical professionals know what to tell you sooo much better than I<\/em> do, but I do<\/em> have some general thoughts on the whole mental wellness topic, apropos of this Mental Health Awareness month.<\/p>\n Take care of yourselves!<\/p><\/div>\n First of all, stop comparing your life to those of others! Especially of strangers, but even those of your pals! If you can\u2019t help but compare your<\/em> life to other people\u2019s mainly-fake ones, please just stay off social media! That stuff causes jealousy that can make one crazy. People post their best, or most boosted-up, moments just for that purpose. None of us have any idea of what their real<\/em> lives are like. Please, please, please remember that!<\/p>\n If you need confirmation of what I\u2019m saying about it, the tragic proof is that many \u201cinfluencers,\u201d along with just people who just frequently share their posts, commit suicide, which is never<\/em> the answer for anybody to begin with. But it proves just how phony their \u201chappiness\u201d is.<\/p>\n Actually, I just don\u2019t understand suicide, no matter how bad you perceive your problems to be. If ever you\u2019re considering this tragic act that cannot be taken back, please speak to someone first. And realize that every single person goes through it at some point. In my first college, I once stopped someone from committing suicide. And I did it on the phone. I stayed on with him overnight until the morning. And he was so grateful that he even gave me a gift, which was miraculous for a teen-ager to do. It was a beautiful star-shaped blue-and-purple candle, and guess what? I still have it today!!! It stayed on my bedroom dresser until I cleared-out my mother\u2019s house eleven years ago, and I made sure to pack it up to move out here. It means that<\/em> much to me because it symbolizes taking the time to help people in need.<\/p>\n I also must advise my younger readers, who might be experiencing problems with bullying and the like, I promise that you will<\/em> grow out of what you\u2019re going through at a young age! I knew girls who were not very popular in high school, and then got a new start in college, and made the most of it. Or they didn\u2019t experience the good times they wanted in college, (such as that they didn\u2019t get accepted into a sorority or get the boyfriend they were after,) but then they became the most successful people of all time! You just never know. You just have to always roll with the punches, and plan for things to get better, which they usually do.<\/p>\n Bob Myers and some of his trophies.<\/p><\/div>\n One real-life example of that nothing is over in life until the end has been on mind recently because of the play-offs. It\u2019s this: When I was running dance clubs in the mid-90s, I became friends with most of the UCLA Championship basketball team. Besides coming out with me to clubs and parties, several of the guys took me to lunch, called me all the time, and even made sure to give me their \u201cfamily and friends\u201d tickets to every home game! Fast forward to 2012, and none of my popular, \u201cBig Men On Campus\u201d friends from that team has achieved much in life. But\u2026Bob Myers, one of the few guys on that team who not only didn\u2019t<\/em> come out with us, (which means he was far from the hippest, most popular guy on the roster,) but whom I don\u2019t even remember(!,) became\u2026the General Manager of\u2026the Golden State Warriors!!! You just never know what will happen as life goes along.<\/p>\n Malika Andrews.<\/p><\/div>\n And to continue in my sports theme, there\u2019s this<\/em> jaw-dropping story, which I just learned about last week. ESPN basketball shows host, Malika Andrews. seems like the most mentally stable person in the world. She\u2019s beautiful, enunciates better than even I<\/em> do, and succeeds in a man\u2019s world without flirting or wearing tramp dresses, (as several of the other female sports hosts and interviewers do.) I\u2019d be jealous of her except for the fact that I admire her so much. And have for a few years now. So I was shocked to discover, (just the other day, as a matter of fact,) that she\u2019s suffered with mental illness since she was a teen! It just goes to show that you can\u2019t judge anyone\u2019s life. (It\u2019s an incredible story, which is too long to tell in this article, but here\u2019s the link to another that explains it all: people.com\/espn-malika-andrews-shares-secret-teen-mental-health-trauma-exclusive-8661472<\/a>.)<\/p>\n On an amusing addendum to that serious<\/em> story, this one happened to me. When I was doing my TV show, Karen’s Restaurant Revue,<\/em> I was coming out of a supermarket early one Christmas Eve. I was used to people coming up to me and telling me they love my show, so when a woman approached me in the parking lot that evening, I assumed she was going to do the same, and perhaps wish me a happy holiday. She asked, \u201cYou’re that girl on TV, aren’t you?,\u201d which is how most people described me back then. So I told her yes, and was just about to thank her for saying hi. And then she unpleasantly continued, “I just want to know what in your life has given you the permission to think so much of yourself!\u201d I was really taken aback from that rude and unusual query, and came back with, \u201cCan’t you tell from my show that I\u2019m a mess? I’m like an open wound. I’m totally insecure!\u201d So she said, “Oh you are? That’s okay then,\u201d and walked away. Yeah, Merry Christmas to me, I guess. But the point is that it made her<\/em> life better to know that my<\/em> life wasn’t as perfect as she assumed it was from television. I was actually happy to help!<\/p>\n The point is to always be a good person, especially to yourself<\/em>, and try your best to both appreciate and work on your lot in life, no matter what it is. Just remember that everything changes, both ways. As the saying goes, nothing lasts forever, not even your troubles.<\/p>\n But always<\/em> talk to someone. I believe that there are free services in every city in America, and I feel that other countries have the same. No one wants others to have mental issues.<\/p>\n At the very least, you can lean on a wise and caring friend or family member. Make sure that they know it\u2019s a serious situation so that they don\u2019t just play it off.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>