Portraits of my life

Abstract

Psychic suffering has different facets, while it is invisible. It only really knows the size of its expansion and the damage those who live with it cause. People with depression are often given labels such as: lazy, mad, lack of occupation, lack spirituality or just a matter of not having positive thoughts, focusing on their inner energy, looking inside. What everyone does not know is that within us there is only anguish, despair and loneliness. The difficulty of approaching people, the fear of making mistakes or being badly received or mistreated, the fear of asking for any information; I have faced all this over the years. And for all these experiences and overcoming, I had the opportunity to become a Facilitator of mutual help and support groups. Listening to other people's life stories, providing even minutes of joy after crying, and watching the hopelessness dissipate, all of this brought hope to my own life and made me see mental health with a new vision. With the isolation caused by the pandemic, it was as if they had taken all the people with psychic suffering and left them in the desert to fend for themselves. For this reason, mutual aid groups are like water to the thirsty. How calm on a stormy day. Like the hint of a gentle breeze to our suffering lives. Had it not been for this support received and shared through mutual aid groups, I would not have realized that, despite all the suffering, I am not alone.