Mental Health is always a tough topic because we never quite know what to say to ourselves and others, how to guide the discussion, and how to try to empathize with a concept that you may not fully understand.
Having to admit that there might be something wrong, but you can’t quite explain it, is a different type of pain. While I have never experienced a mental illness myself, I have dealt with anxiety and have gone through a fair share of mental pain of my own. I was lucky to have a family that supported me and helped me get through those dark times so that my mental health wouldn’t regress and possibly develop into a mental illness. However, there are so many people out there that are silently struggling through having a mental illness. They are not being able to talk about it, get treatment or support for it, or simply getting diagnosed for it.
The stigmas revolving around this very real illness are sadly common within our world. We wrongfully believe that these people are “damaged goods,” don’t even have a real problem to begin with, are just sad and will get over it, and much more just because it’s something inexplicable.
The truth is far from this because what these individuals are going through is very real and complex. In fact, the National Institute of Mental Health reported that almost one in five adults in the US have a mental illness. For something that is pretty common, we sure don’t normalize it like it should be. Especially now during a very unknown time of a pandemic, our mental health can be compromised due to the stress regarding our physical health, our job, and other strenuous factors. It’s truly important to cope with stress in a healthy way by talking about it and reaching out for professional help if needed; otherwise, you can succumb to destructive forces such as alcohol and drug use (via CDC).
Something To Think About
Why do we go get a physical every year from a primary care doctor, but we don’t get mental health checks?
Being physically healthy doesn’t equivocate to a healthy individual overall because you could be a perfectly fine on the outside but in mental agony on the inside. Going to see a primary care doctor because you have a viral infection should be just as normative as seeing a psychologist because you feel that you might be becoming clinically depressed. Both are accredited professions, but the latter always seems to raise questions or concerns of abnormality. Getting proper help shouldn’t be something that is considered shameful. Those who let their mental illness progress untreated could unfortunately commit to suicide because they see no other way out.
The CDC has reported that suicide was the tenth leading cause of death in America in 2013.
This number should not be this high and it only is because people feel as if their cries for help aren’t heard. Going to even a few sessions with a therapist, a psychologist, or a psychiatrist does help especially for these high-risk candidates that might be prone to suicide. Acknowledging the presence of a mental illness is the first step, and this can only happen with proper help (via John Hopkins University).
The Indian Community
The biggest issue in our culture is the lack of proper awareness and understanding regarding mental illnesses. We believe that we can pray away the mental illness because it's not real. World Economic Forum does a great job at breaking down various statistics of people’s opinions towards those with mental illnesses (check it out). To summarize their points: few Indians are actually seeking professional help because they will get judged for it, be excluded from society, and maybe even be treated with fear and apprehension for it. Once we eliminate these misunderstandings and focus on the facts, the stigmas in our culture will begin to diminish.
Self-Love Is Hard But Necessary
At the end of the day, having good mental health means to take care of YOUR well-being.
A good friend recently asked me “how would you define self-love?” It took me a second to really grasp what this meant. I mean it quite literally translates to loving yourself, but how can we do this when we spend so much time thinking about what others think of us, how to make ourselves be the best of the best, or simply how to change ourselves.
From this conversation, I’ve come to realize that self-love is hard and raw; it’s intensely linked to your mental health because to love and take care of yourself, you need to make sure that mentally you’re doing good. You don’t have to be happy and well 24/7 because it’s okay not to be okay. Life is full of highs and lows, but when you really hit a bad low be sure to ask for help; your mental health is valued and sometimes just needs a little check-up.