Mental health is a subject that is not talked about enough, or at least in the right way. The light shed on this issue makes people that have mental health issues seem crazy or messed up. This is not true. People do not do chose to have mental health problems. Some are born with them and some develop them over time. Having a mental health problem doesn’t make you crazy or weird, but it does make some days harder than others.
From anxiety to depression, mental health is something that almost everyone knows someone who has a mental health issue or has one his or herself.
Mental health should be treated as any other sickness, but instead, our society treats it like something is wrong with that person and that should be ashamed or embarrassed. We put mental health at the bottom, and it has severe consequences that follow.
I read an article on Women’s Health talking about suicide rates increasing by 24 percent from 1999 to 2014. We have been enculturated to think that depression is just something that a person can change, that they choose to be depressed, that depression is something we shouldn’t talk about and that medications are bad. Some people have an imbalance of chemicals in their brain that lead to depression, it is difficult without medications for them to feel better. Even though exercise and a good diet help, the help will not be immediate nor as strong of help as medications are.
It's not something that you can wake up one day without, maybe not even in a couple of years. Some are for life and others can be healed through counseling, positive self-talk, a healthy diet, exercising and a strong support system.
For most of my life, I have known that I had a couple of mental health issues. The first one was ADHD, which I was diagnosed with in the second grade. I have been on medication for it since then. I was so embarrassed that I had it and didn’t want anyone to know. I felt like something was wrong with me or that I was a freak. I didn’t feel normal. Looking back, I am so glad that I was diagnosed because then I could treat the problem. I had many school problems until I was medicated and now I can concentrate and I feel like I learn more.
Moving forward to high school, I was diagnosed with severe anxiety, depression, an eating disorder and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
As before, I was medicated and it took a while for me to find the right medicine that worked for me, but I finally feel better.
All of these things affect every single part of my life and they are a challenge every day. Thankfully, I have learned the right coping skills and I have a strong support system.
If you have a mental health issue, don’t be embarrassed, don’t hide, don’t avoid it, embrace it and get help.
I have found others that also have the same issues that I do and have gained an even bigger support group. I now have people to talk about it with and learn new things, such as how they deal with it.
If you suffer from any mental health issues, don’t be afraid to seek help from a professional, your parents, your best friend or even the stranger that you sit next to in class that you talk to twice a week. I promise that once you accept it and reach out, you will feel so much better. You will not automatically feel better or be free of whatever issue you have, but it will be that first step.
As a society, we are obligated to make things different. Mental health should be treated as anyother type of illness.
Next time you hear someone even mentation’s being depressed, you should see if we can help them or notify someone that they need help. When someone tells you they have anxiety, don’t tell them to get over it or that everything is OK. Each indivudal deals with their anxiety differently and telling them to get over it or that everything is OK is a sure way to make them even more anxious. When you see someone in class messing around, think twice before you judge them because they may struggle with ADD or ADHD and have not been diagnosed yet.
Even though I have only mentioned a couple of mental health illnesses, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t hundreds more or that I believe these are the only ones that matter. These are just ones that I am most familiar with because I suffer from them. They have made me into the person I am today (after I finally accepted them) and honestly, I am a better person for that.
We need to change the stigma on mental health!
So don’t be afraid to reach out or help others. Take everything someone says is bothering them seriously because you never know what might be the straw that breaks the camels back. And always be your wonderful, unique self.
