HOW TO: express yourself

Recently I have realized that for some people, it so difficult for them to express how they feel and solve why they are feeling that way. I am going to go into a deeper level instead of the whole dressing to reveal your true self and such. What I am going towards is when you are feeling down or suspect that you may have some disorder that you are worried about, but don't know HOW to tell people and are just afraid to tell them. I personally have had some difficulty over the past years talking about my feelings and actually telling people without making it a joke because I felt uncomfortable and felt as if it was dumb and pointless. This is my point of view and how I have overcome that fear and I do not want to seem like I know everything about depression and anxiety and disorders, etc. because I certainly don't. I learn new things on the topic every single day and still probably don't know half the information about it. Here are just a few tips on how I communicated my mind to friends, family, and surprisingly the Internet and some other random things: (not in order on how I discovered each) *warning this may go off topic or not make sense or something, but try to follow along!!!!*

1. Writing: I first started a journal recently, in the beginning of my junior year and holy. CRAP. You don't know how much better those simple letters and words put together made me feel. The beginning of junior year was also the beginning of my true happiness. I had finally overcame my strong waves of emotions and overthinking-ness(?) and was feeling excited about the year. Although, I was still experiencing it all. I began writing in a journal that I talked about here & here where I wrote about EVERYTHING. From my sister moving out to how I dress to people from class that pissed me off. I never realized how much it helped me until I re-read the journal entries I wrote. It was INSANE on how much my attitude, mind, and personality had changed in just a couple months. Writing not only helps you express yourself in ways you can't say out loud, but let's you go back to those thoughts and realize how much you have progressed.
2. Trusting: I know from personal experiences that trusting people is SO difficult. You never know how someone is going to react when you tell them how you've been feeling. They either will A) understand B) think you're crazy or C) think you're overreacting and that you'll "get over it". Now, personally, when someone would tell me it's just "a phase" or "you're on your period" or "you're a teen" it would make me SO MAD. It may be a phase, it may be my period punching my hormones, it may be because i'm a teen, but DON'T TELL ME THAT. It absolutely does NOT make me feel better. For me, those things are very negative and phrases that mean they're not taking it seriously. It pissed me off maaajooooorly!!!! SO, already having those thoughts on how they'll react, it makes me not want to tell anyone. I am getting off topic, sorry. Anyways, the point I am trying to get across is, you need to trust. If you're scared to tell your best friend something, how are they your best friend (re-read sentence and insert sister, brother, mom, dad, etc.)? It not only insults them, but your emotions as well because you think you're close to them, but you can't open up to them so that can cause an entirely different issue. Opening up is difficult, but if you're ready to talk about it and know you are, talk about it. Let it all out. If you consider them your best friend or sister or dad, etc. then you should know they will help you and try to understand. I may want to add that, don't push yourself to expressing yourself because you may not be ready and that's okay!!! It's okay to not be ready, but just know that telling people about your issues can lead you to solving them.
3. Parents: Oh parents. They, a lot of the times, are the ones saying "it's a phase" or "you're a teen". "YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!" You scream. & you are completely right. They don't understand and, if they have never been in the same position as you, they will never come close to understanding, BUT they will try their very hardest to comprehend on what you're feeling. Screaming and telling them off just will not help, (insert your name). You need to explain to them what you are feeling and HOW they can help. They sometimes don't know what to do in these situations because you may be the first child in the group or only child or first child who has experienced some kind of anxiety/etc. It is not only them who has to put the effort, but you also have to do it.
4. Friends: They are the best and worst people ever, amirite (by worst I mean when they purposely annoy you)? You think you can tell them everything, but when you get to that peak in your life where you don't know what to do and anxiety says hello and depression starts creeping through your window, you think you can't tell them anything. The secret to that is...THEY MAY BE FEELING THE SAME WAY, TOO!!!!! What?!?!?! YEAH MAN!!! Most of the time, your friends are the same age as you and possibly can go through the same issues. You may never know that because both of you could be too scared to tell one another. I am not saying that your friends are feeling the same way, what I am getting at is that you may never know how they will respond. & if they are your true friends, their response will be supportive and greatly helpful, trust me. It goes along the same lines as telling your parents, you need to put the effort in telling them and try to make them understand!!!
5. Self-harm: Oiiiii. What a touchy subject. So this one, I don't have personal experience with. I don't want to go deep into it because of that so here's what I know. I know people do it because they feel as if it takes pain away from them or maybe they deserve it? Those are two that I know. All I want to say is that, self-harm is honestly NOT the way to solve your issues. They won't stop anything, except perhaps your life and that is not worth it. Your life is so unique and more precious than any amount of gold or concert tickets, I promise you, the person that may self-harm, that. That's all I have to say. LIFE >>>>>> ANYTHING.
6. Internet: Good or bad? WE MAY NEVER KNOW!!!!!! It has opened so many opportunities for so many people, but also has shown others things they probably shouldn't know...WELL, I'm here to talk about the positive side of it all. It has helped me communicate with people who are more like me than people from school. I have the ability to contact people who have the same interests as me in a blink of an eye. I have actually made some best friends through the Internet. The Internet has taught me a great amount of things that I don't think I can learn from the "real world". It distracts me when I am feeling down. It is a wonderful distraction, when you are reading/doing positive things!!!! It also opens up an entire multi-community for you to let out your feelings to people you don't know, which may be easier for some to actually open up!! Theres twitter, tumblr, blogger, youtube, vine, etc. SO MANY PEOPLE!!!!! It's incredible!!!!! So if you're not ready to express yourself in the real world, maybe doing it online first can be the first big step!
7. Learning: Thinking of new ideas and morals has helped me not only overcome my issues, but made me a better person. There are SOOOOSOSOSOSOOSOSOO many things you don't know, holy crap, this world is full of new things, it's actually pretty insane!!!! This goes along with the Internet, but keeping yourself busy and learning new things, while solving your issues is such a great way to do it (solve your issues). You can get into a new hobby or maybe look at your future a bit? BUT NOT TOO MUCH, because then that just creates a whole other level of anxiety, ahahhahaha. But you get the idea!!!

It is 11 P.M. and if I keep typing, I may begin to not make sense, maybe I already don't make sense, but hopefully you understand each number!!! These are just random tips and facts and stuff that have helped me throughout the years and may help you. They may be cliche and things you already have heard, but sometimes hearing them a second or third time or fourth or so on can make you realize something new. Hopefully this opened your eyes a bit and made you feel like you are not alone, because you certainly are not!!!! Hope you all are having a fantastic week =^^= (below is a picture of me looking at you)