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R U OK? Day (My Snakes and Ladders Mind)

This year's R U OK? Day is more important than ever before. 

Mental health is something that should be talked about on a regular basis and with current statistics indicating that anxiety has increased up to 40 percent due to COVID-19. 

Having someone check in is a simple way for us all to help each other. 

On a personal note, I know that I have stopped a panic attack a day during the COVID-19 crisis thanks to the support of my family. 

It is time we get rid of the stigma attached to mental health. 

People don’t look at me funny when I take pain killers for my pain. So in my opinion the same curtesy should be extended to people seeking treatment for mental health conditions. 

This R U OK? Day take the time to ask just one person if they are okay because you never know if you might be the person who helps them climb out of their snakes and ladders mind. 



My Snakes and Ladders Mind


How fast my thoughts make my head run until I think my brain might start to unwind.

This is the beginning of my snakes and ladders mind. 

Life is more than a childish game when I am strong it is easier to fight off the feeling of being insane. 

Every time I roll the die I wonder if I’ll have the strength to give it a try. 


When things are going good it is easy to find the ladder

 Then I am bitten by the snake and the slide back down to where things don’t matter. 

Each day I picture myself climbing the ladder of success and hope I am not crippled or overly anxious

The never ending round of snakes and ladders continues until you win or the mind shatters. 


This game represents virtue and vice; our mental health should be fought for at any price. 

The serpent that is depression likes to find a home at the bottom of a bottle of alcohol 

So we can slide even deeper into anxiety's dark hole. 

Every time a friend asks 'are you okay?’ I know that this not a game I have to play and can temporarily hit rewind on my snakes and ladders mind. 


Chris van Ingen | 10 September 2020

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