When you are feeling unwell, you need to see a doctor. Unfortunately, doctors are busy people so you have to make an appointment. This involves calling (or visiting) the doctor's clinic and making an appointment with the receptionist. When you make an appointment you arrange a date and a time when you can see the doctor.
'I have a cough.' (PRESENT SIMPLE)
Both of these are used to describe our health problems. The present perfect continuous is used to show that something started in the past and is still happening now. We use 'I have been + -ing verb.' Other examples of this form include:
'I have been sneezing.'
'My head has been hurting.'
'I have been having headaches.'
'I have been feeling tired.'
'I haven't been sleeping well.'
The present simple is used to focus on a situation at the present. It is more common to use the present simple than the present continuous when we see a doctor: 'My head hurts' is more common than 'My head is hurting'.
We also use:
2.
If you don't have a mental health disorder, you may be wondering how mental health is relevant to you. Sure, you're sad sometimes, but you don't have clinical depression. Yeah, you get anxious before you take an exam, but you don't have panic disorder. So why do you need to care about mental health in any way shape or form.
This is why: because your brother has depression. Your best friend has PTSD. Your neighbor had a baby and now is coping with post partum depression. Your co-worker is bipolar. Your professor struggles with clinical depression. There are people all around us that are coping with some sort of mental illness. Yet, we (as a society) choose to silence them.
It's time for us (as a community) to stop putting our hands over our ears and start listening. You will find that someone you know has mental illness, and their story needs to be heard.
It's time to stop treating mental health disorders as if they are something to be ashamed of and time to start thinking about them as legitimate health concerns. You wouldn't telling a diabetic to stop whining about taking their insulin. The same goes for the person coping with a manic episode.
Speaking openly about mental health is important for the world.
There are people who are self-medicating mental health disorders every day by abusing drugs and alcohol. One of the reasons for this is that they are shunned by society.
If they could speak their truth...
If their voices were heard...
If we just listened...
We could change the dialogue surrounding depression, anxiety and PTSD. The first thing we need to do is listen.
You can read some of the stories of people living with mental health issues on a community I created called Stigma Fighters(link is external). If you are living with mental illness in silence, I encourage you to submit your story to this community. We want to hear your voice. You are not alone.
