We all got into writing for different reasons. This was written for those of us who got into it for your mental health. Whether it be to escape, to vent, or maybe just a way to express how you really feel inside. For some of us with depression, it can help you cope. But you are not defined by your depression. I repeat, YOU ARE NOT DEFINED BY YOUR DEPRESSION. You may fear that getting help for your mental health or your sadness may change who you really are or change how your writing is. For example, if in order to get your poems out, you have to go to that dark place, so you feel that getting help may in turn make you a worse writer. That is simply untrue. Artists are known frequently for having issues with mental health, but there is no need for you to become another statistic. You are better than that, and your writing is better than that.
Don't use your writing as a crutch to hang onto your mental illness. Your writing can define you, and no matter who you are at the end of it, it will be okay. Your writing, your brain, your anxiety. It will be okay. Matter of fact, the writing will even improve. When you take care of yourself all things end up being better. All things end up improving. It's a shame that beautiful people such as Robin Williams couldn't stick around to keep inspiring those around him. With or without his sadness he would have been great. With or without your mental illness, you also can be great. Don't define yourself by your mental illness. Don't let that become your identity. As Bojack Horseman once was told, "“Every day it gets a little easier… But you gotta do it every day — that's the hard part. But it does get easier.”