Attention needing.

The phrase 'attention seeking' has such negative connotations. People with mental health issues are often branded as attention seeking or dramatic, usually because a mental illness is not something you can see. But if you think logically, everyone has an innate need for attention, love, care and affection. So in literal terms, every single human being is, by nature, attention seeking. It was this phrase, or rather the fear of being branded so, that caused me, like many others, to brush their problems under the carpet and try and ignore the ever growing pile of worries and loneliness. But soon enough, the carpet will be too bumpy to walk on and you will have to accept that asking for help and telling people how you feel is not weak. It does not make you attention seeking. It makes you brave. Brave for being able to name something that is making you fall to pieces from the inside out. Brave for being able to face the stigmas and social taboos surrounding mental illness. Brave for being able to admit that you can't make it on your own. Everybody needs attention. People with mental health issues are not attention seeking, we are attention needing, just like every other human being.