MENTAL HEALTH – BREAK THE STIGMA

“What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor and more unashamed conversation” - Glenn close

For centuries now, emotional pain has been considered a stigma, a disgrace to be hidden away and never spoken about.  Mental health is given the least priority when it comes to considering one’s health as a whole.  Everybody is going through something, everybody has had something that they’ve had to overcome.  There are a lot of people out there that are carrying around the guilt and baggage for things happening in their lives but who fail to discuss the same out in open. A report by World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that 7.5% of the Indian population suffers from mental health issues which are predicted to grow to roughly 20% by 2020. In our country, the discovery of mental health issues is often followed by denial and hesitation to seek help. Mental health remains a taboo subject which is susceptible to age-old stigmas, prejudices and fears.  But now is the high time that mental health is given its due importance and awareness is spread regarding the same in order to eradicate these stigmas.

This process can be divided into 3 steps:

1.       Creating awareness regarding mental health

2.       Identification and acceptance of mental health issue

3.       Discussing the issue out in open and seeking help

CREATING AWARENESS

The most important reason why people still fail to accept and talk about the problem out in open is lack of awareness. So the foremost step is to make people aware about the importance of mental health and the various mental health issues prevailing. Educating people about the necessity to seek help when facing such issues should be given priority. In the current tech savvy world, social media can play an extremely crucial role in doing so. Through social media mental health campaigns, a huge impact can be created.  Workshops and programs in schools, colleges, corporate and communities can help foster a movement for mental health. A partnership between psychiatrists, psychiatric social workers, anthropologists, NGOs, and local volunteers could play an important role in fostering mental health awareness and making mental health services accessible to the masses.

  

IDENTIFICATION AND ACCEPTANCE

 A significant step towards healing is acceptance. Until the person accepts that he/she has a mental health issue, no remedies can be worked upon. In order to identify a mental illness, we need to periodically re-evaluate our lives, see what has impacted us emotionally and intellectually, and to review our life’s journey objectively helps put things properly into perspective for us. It allows us to shed the mental baggage that we so often begin to unconsciously carry with us from time to time. One needs to be aware of what they are thinking, how they are reacting and what they are doing.

SEEKING OUT FOR HELP

Just as charity begins at home, so does mental health. Support from friends and family is the most crucial step in encouraging people to talk about their suffering and seek proper help. This is followed by seeking professional help. Online apps and support groups can put those who are suffering in touch with those who can help or are facing similar concerns. It is also important for us to learn to take responsibility for our thoughts, emotions, behaviors and actions. At times, it is also beneficial to seek constructive feedback about ourselves in order to be more self aware.

All in all, starting with our own lives, all of us have the joint responsibility of affecting change and encouraging others to do the same.

Remember, YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS.