Let’s talk about mental health:
It’s one of the broadest topics on wellbeing out there, given its elusive nature. It affects us all, whether we are aware or not.
Mental health refers to a person’s condition regarding their emotional, psychological and sometimes, even social well-being.
Without proper functioning mental health, we may have issues relating to others or even ourselves rightly.
In this post, I have outlined ten misconceptions people commonly have about mental health based on knowledge, research, and experience.
1. Have Mental Illness first before talking About Mental Health:
Mental health is a topic that affects all of us in different ways. You don’t need to be suffering from the symptoms of a mental illness before you show concern for yours. The stigma surrounding mental health awareness has to be completely eradicated for us to move forward as healthy individuals all around.
2. People Suffering From Mental Illness Are Always Aware Of It:
Many people often assume that people who have mental illnesses always display obvious symptoms that they are conscious of. This is not always accurate often because people who may have the illness may see it as a normal way of life. It is important for everyone to pay attention to their mental state, even when supposedly okay. A habit of doing this can help to reduce the rate of occurrence of severe mental illnesses.
3. People Who Post About Their Mental Health Issues Are Attention Seekers:
The thing is, there’s no single tried and trusted way of handling issues concerning mental health. Anything that concerns the intricate functioning of humans is often hard to understand.
Sometimes, those that post online content that carry subliminal messages of depression or suicide are often leaving out a cry for help. Other people who may suffer from these symptoms may be too shy to express themselves in the open. Hence, it’s important to treat all people with care and kindness.
4. Mental Health Should Not Be Talked About Because Everyone Has Problems:
Everyone does indeed have problems. This is true, but hardly anything true can apply to all situations of life.
People are different. Some are more fragile than others, and because of this, we can’t expect everyone to take life the same way. Some people might be comfortable drinking and doing drugs after a breakup, others may just be sad for a while, and continue with life. A few might get swung into depression and may even consider taking their own lives.
Everyone in each of these categories may need to pay attention to their mental health. However, you can agree with me that those in the first or last category may not do it without some form of help.
5. How I Look Is Subject To How I Feel:
Tons of research done have shown that just a slight change in a person’s mood can cause or trigger stomach upset, migraines or even body pains. Several people have also testified that after a breakup or losing a loved one, they had the feeling of their heart actually breaking.
It shows that the things that go on in our head can affect how we feel physically.
Various forms of psychosomatic illnesses crown this to be a fact. Hence, we should take care of our mind and our body. Maybe even the former more than the latter.
6. Being Sad Means You’re Or Depressed Of Being Anxious Means That You Have Anxiety:
Sometimes, when we feel a certain way, we are quick to label ourselves as having some type of mental illness. This shouldn’t be so because it makes those who actually have these issues look really dumb. It needs to be stopped.
7. Sadness Is Aesthetic, Depression Is Fun, And Suicide Can Be A Way To Get Back At Those Who Hurt You:
There’s been a lot on social media concerning the romanticization of Mental Illnesses.
Although I hate to admit it, even one of my formerly beloved shows, 13 Reasons Why, fell guilty of this claim. Hannah Baker, the protagonist, takes her life, and leaves a box of tapes containing her reasons why.
In the series, she looks like the Messiah who suddenly shows everyone the wrong in their ways. It sort of gives suicide this kind of glorifying look to teach people a lesson. Suicides are ugly in reality.
8. Mental Illness Is A Way To Give Meaning To Your Life:
Here, I want to be careful in order not to contradict myself because I said in one of the earlier points that we should not ignore or label those who post about themselves going through mental illnesses as fakers or clout chasers.
However, there is a thin line of separation between the two; those who are sending out a cry for help, and the others who claim to have a mental illness in order to feel special.
Factually, having a mental illness can never make you special. There are over 264 million people of all ages who suffer from depression today, and someone dies from suicide nearly every 40 seconds.
When differentiating those with mental illnesses from the fakes, It’s sometimes easy to know the latter because they often give an exaggerated view of their “predicament”.
9. Having A Mental Illness Gives You An Excuse To Be An Asshole To Everyone:
Several people think that having a mental illness, such as depression or anxiety, excuses them to be assholes.
Having a mental illness should not make you unaccountable for yourself.
10. Mental Health Professionals Have Perfect Mental Health:
Your therapist is human too. She probably has a kid who she’s trying to talk out of doing crack, and she may feel stressed about her husband’s poor communication skills.
However, she’s able to live with all these things and live a happy and healthy life, and that puts her in a position to help you. We all have feelings and we all need help. The only thing is that some people may be more experienced than some others.
Someone being able to help you address some of your issues doesn’t mean they don’t have issues of their own. They might have someone who is more experienced than they do that for them.
Olaide Bodunwa – A freelance writer from the College of Sciences, Abuad
