You say I’m okay

On the outside

So I must be alright

To keep going

But have you once thought

About how I feel inside

How mad I feel

How terrible

Afflicted

 

Why do you ignore it

Why do you shove it to the side

Into the background

My mental health

Is just as important as

My physical health

I may be healthy

In the bodily way

My body functions normal

My bones are strong

My muscles tough

But why must that overshadow

How sick I feel on the inside

How it feels as if I'm going insane

Slowly

 

 Insomnia

Keeps me awake for days

I hallucinate

Paranoia runs rampant

My body is sluggish

And I'm always lethargic

 

When I pass out from exhaustion

Don’t you dare tell me to “Get over it.”

 

Depression

Manifests slowly

It seeps its twisting tendrils

Into my bones, into my brain

Into every breath I breathe

 

When I go to do something

And I feel so terrible

That I have to release it

By painting a picture

In red

On my own wrist

When the only way to actually feel well

Is to pop pills and live

On a concoction of medicines and therapy

Don’t you dare tell me to “Get over it.”

 

Anxiety slithers in

When I go outside

And end up in a crowded place

When I feel the nausea

And the lightheaded feelings

As I puke in the toilet

In a public restroom

And jump in surprise every time I hear someone

 

As I run home

Cower in my room

And cry because another day is wasted

Don’t you dare tell me to “Get over it.”

 

 

I didn’t choose to live like this

If I could take remedy

For all of it

A one time remedy

Don’t you think I would?

 

Everyday I wake up

It’s a burden

I go to school or work

Come home

Sit

Create more lines

That may never disappear

Try to figure out a way

To go out

Without freaking out

And when I go to sleep

I don’t

It’s like sleeping

Without sleeping

And when I wake up

It all starts again

 

Don’t you dare tell me to

“Get over it.”

 

That’s like telling

A blind man

to see

A paralyzed woman

To walk

A deaf person

To hear

 

You don’t tell them to

“Get over it.”

 

So why is something

That eventually affects

My health in the long run

Any different?

 

It’s not.