People needing help, should receive it.

Something my sister said to me this afternoon sparked the inspiration for this post: 'you never know what a person's story is.' This was whilst we were talking about her anxiety and how she wanted to tell more of her friends about it, in order for them to understand her situation a bit better. Having been through it myself at her age, I suppose I am able to help in some ways, however as her anxiety is a different variation to what mine was, it can still be difficult. Not that she has yet been diagnosed, which appears to be a growing problem, but her symptoms and feelings point towards that of social anxiety - a fairly common form of anxiety. The worst thing is sitting there and knowing that you can't do anything to help. Despite seeing a therapist likewise to myself, he insisted that the sessions were no longer necessary and then made the decision that she apparently did not need medication. Funnily enough, ever since then I would say that her anxiety levels have increased and apparently children under 16 years of age are not being offered medication to help their mental health. I know that some parents are dubious as to whether they want their child on medication at a young age, but if somebody needs help, then they need help and I see no reason why taking one tablet a day is a problem if it is going to give the person a better quality of life. 

Anyway, recently we found out that due to a lack of funding our most local mental health centre is being shut down. I didn't want this post to be too negative but the topic really does make me angry at times, our generation is full of young people who are suffering and yet it is apparently fine to make cuts to the  already limited services available. 

Again, take my sister as an example. Whenever we're out she is constantly thinking that other people are talking or laughing about her and panic attacks are fairly frequent, she is extremely sensitive regarding what others say to her and has not attended high school since year 7 (currently going into year 11). To me, it just seems utterly ridiculous, are you telling me that this person does not have anxiety or need help? At the moment she is counting down the days until she turns 16 (a year and a half away) in hope that this will mean she can be put onto medication, when perhaps it will still be a fight and struggle even then.

It just makes me sad. On top of that, the stigma surrounding the subject still exists as many of her friends fail to recognise or understand what is somewhat considered 'normal' to us now. I'm sorry but anxiety is something that we should not have to live with, more needs to be done and I hope other people agree with what I am trying to convey through this post... For the record, I know that at times my sister feels like I don't fully understand and I probably never will completely but she is beautiful, and will always have my support.