February 21 marks the commencement of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, and, until I started to really pay attention to the calendar, I did not know that this week existed.
Imagine you are sitting around the dinner table with your entire family: your mom and dad, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins, all forming a picturesque scene from a movie. As your family eats and enjoys civil small talk about sporting events and grades, you know there are some topics you just do not bring up. Mental health is one of those topics that people choose not to talk about or bring into discussion, but it should be.
The week of February 1, Stetson University held the annual John B. Wellness Week, which was focused on various mental health related functions, yet there was hardly anyone who recognized it. I know I did not remember there being a Wellness Week previously. As an advocate for the importance of mental health, I went to all the events and I was surprised by the dismal attendance. When I tried talking to people about these events, hardly anyone knew what I was talking about, and I was amazed. With all the posters and updates for the week of events, I would have assumed that some would know what was going on around their school.
There are many different facets of the topic of mental health and illness, and, more often than not, people stay away from the discussion because it makes them "uncomfortable." There are others who chose not to acknowledge the topic altogether. Many remain ignorant to mental health because it is not a physical ailment, and as humans we are visual creatures. When we cannot physically see anything wrong, we often disregard it. The stigma that comes along with mental illness prevents open discussions and honesty when mental health is concerned, and, as a result of a lack of discussion about these topics, those who struggle with their mental health feel far more isolated. Since it is not acceptable to talk about these things, what do you do? Who do you talk to? How do you explain what is going on? How do you deal with facing the stigma that so many try to keep quiet about? I can safely say that I never want someone to feel the way that I did. I never want someone to feel like they can't talk about something that is bothering them, or keep their emotions, their struggles, their thoughts to themselves because they are afraid of what judgment they will face.
Those who suffer from a mental illness do not choose to bear it. Having depression is not a choice. No one wants to struggle with anxiety. No one wants to have their world consumed by their mind telling them not to eat, or to binge. There should not be a stigma around possible chemical imbalances and someone's own thoughts turning against them. With mental illness, one's most powerful organ in the entire body turns against them, in effect breaking itself, yet, there are plenty of people who act like it is just a choice. They cave into stereotypes and stigmas and taboos to believe that those who struggle every day just to get through the day are the issue. Even if they do so indirectly by refusing to talk about mental illness and mental health. There are only more and more cases going untreated and being faced alone. It is hard enough for someone suffering from some form of mental illness to accept what is happening for themselves, they should not have to fear the opinion of others.
As National Eating Disorder Awareness Week begins, I want everyone to think about what kind of impact not discussing mental illness can have. Eating disorders are only one topic of mental illness that should be open to discussion and not stigmatized (but if you want more information on eating disorders in particular, check out this website). By talking about it and being open to understanding what is really going on with an individual, more and more people will receive help and can find that they are not alone.
Some things we need to be able to talk about, because if they are left unspoken nothing will change.
