Let’s not forget about the people stuck inside their minds.

I'm begging you, please, as the vaccines arrive,

as life slowly goes back to normal,

and people start to emerge from their apartments, houses, or wherever they’re staying.

Let’s not forget about the people still stuck.

The mother with a newborn, with an extended case of the baby blues. She’s stuck in the arms of postpartum depression. She’s sad, overwhelmed, and anxious by all of it.

The young twenty-something stuck in the cycle of eating disorders that has only gotten worse with the isolation of covid. She sees no way out, even when the world opens up.

The woman whose days still seem to be blurring together because they’re all the same. “Is it Thursday or Friday? Who knows, who cares.” She’s too depressed to do anything anyway.

Let’s not forget about the people stil l stuck inside their minds when our lives speed up again, and we go back to achieving at all costs.

Let’s not forget about the people still stuck inside their minds when the focus turns to our social calendars.

We don’t have to wait for World Mental Health Day to draw attention to mental health each year. We’ve all struggled on some level during this pandemic and now know the importance of continuing the conversation.

Because we know how bad it can feel,

to doubt yourself,

to obsess about the what-ifs,

to snowball think,

to withdraw,

to fake happy.

So please, as life eventually goes on,

let’s not forget about the people left behind,

the ones still stuck inside their minds.

This post originally appeared on the author's Facebook. Her book "Living FULL: Winning My Battle with Eating Disorder" is available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2O4mJId