Go stub your toe as hard as you possibly can against the edge of a table that has been in the same spot for as long as you can possibly remember and then try to tell me it did not hurt.
Let's say you theoretically went and did that, or once upon a time it actually happened. Didn't you yell? Curse? Tell the person in the room with you what happened?
You talked about it to some extent, even if nobody heard and you just happened to curse at the top of your lungs all alone.
Think about emotional pain, often referred to as mental health, as stubbing your toe. The way anyone would validate stubbing their toe and the pain it caused them is the same way we should look at emotional pain.
With this week being Mental Health Awareness Week and this upcoming Thursday being World Mental Health Day, it only felt right to address what this means for us today.
It is much deeper than stubbing your toe, but still deserves to be yelled about. That is actually the entire point.
World Mental Health Week spans from October 6-12. This is a whole week that is dedicated to the soul purpose of talking, learning, and sharing resources about mental illness. Not only that, but an entire day is devoted to openly speaking about mental health, even though the stigma still exists.
I, as well as so many others, are incredibly grateful that this week and this day exist, that alone is a step in the right direction.
Although we see these events stretch themselves to different communities and continue the conversation each year, it has to be known that mental health does not just show up and stick around for this single period of time.
We should probably keep yelling about it like we just stubbed our toes.
This is not the only time that we should be talking about mental health.
This is not the only time to be aware of the healthiness of our minds and others.
The struggles that come with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder or any other mental illness do not care what day it is or if they have shown up during the week designated to them. They don't care who's talking or when; they stay all year 'round and sometimes forever.
It has to be remembered that these challenges do not have a start and finish line within this week.
This week of awareness should remind you and everyone to keep mental health, your mental health, at the top of their priority list, no matter what day it is.
It is hard to remember this sometimes, but it's true. Your mental health is the basis for everything else you do. This week and beyond is the time to talk about it.
Let's yell about mental health like we stubbed our toes.
Sheetal Tadiparty
Flickr Creative Commons
