Knew They Always Knew

Written about my struggle with Mental Health and Anxiety.

About 5 years ago I had a break down which lead to my discovery of my mental health issues and struggles with anxiety. This song is written about how it was like before I started working through my issues with therapy and medications.

Our family has endured a lot of over the past few years. My breakdown occurred after spending a month in hospital with our son, who was born premature at 34 weeks (2013). In late summer of 2016 our daughter passed away and our lives were forever changed. We have just spent 6 months at hospital with our latest daughter as she was born at 23 weeks in September 2017 and travelled daily to McMaster children’s hospital in Hamilton. I’ve included these aspects of our family’s journey at the end of the video to show that mental health and happiness can conquer/prevail in the face of adversity.

The song lyrics reflect on how one puts on a fake facade for others when on the inside things our chaotic and out of control. The video includes short captions that explain how my brain thinks about the world and how I’ve learned to interact with it in my own way versus how I use to.

I hope this song lends some support or insight to those who struggle with mental health issues and helps family members or loved ones to learn to be open minded and how they can help.

Please share your own struggles below and share this video with others who may benefit. It is important that we bring the stigma of mental health out from behind closed doors and openly share with the world. The right things are usually the hardest things to do and talk about.

After delaying the release of this song for over half a year, I decided April 1st, 2018 (Easter and April Fool’s) to be a good one to remember.

“Be Kind To One Another”

Ryan Thomas Smelle