Mental Health is not just a “hot topic” that should gain reverence just for today because it is World Mental Health Day. It is a topic of great magnitude that deserves more than a highlight in the media or a tone of triviality because it is a serious matter in our society. Mental Health wellness requires ongoing learnings, as well as teachings, in ways we can support and be mindful of each other. In the fast world that we live in, where we are constantly being bombarded with noise, it is easy to ignore the signs or better yet, the questions that we should have asked had we taken a little more time to be aware of our surroundings and the people around us.
It is important to take the time to ask the questions and let people speak until they have said what they need to say because you never know what they are going through. From a personal perspective, I have dealt with ‘situational depression’ – to the point where I did go see someone to seek medical advice. Talking about life is hard, but being able to speak to someone who is trained and knows how to navigate the human emotional landscape helped me a lot. It helped me understand where the feelings stemmed from and deal with the feelings before they got away from me. Does this make me a crazy person? No. Does it make me more fragile? No. Because I took the time to dig deep within myself and sought help so that I could continue to lead a full life, I know that I took the necessary steps to ensure my best life. And there is nothing wrong with that.
The stigma associated with Mental Health is disturbing and disappointing especially at a time where we need to treat each other better and as a community, as opposed to brute savages out to beat each other out. We have bad days. That’s okay. We have bad periods of time where we need medical attention. That’s okay too. The days might be short or long, but for as long as we seek help, we can continue to build on our knowledge and learn from each other because the more we talk about it, the more we deal with the stigma and break down the barriers. It is okay to feel. It is okay to talk openly about it in a safe space where judgment doesn’t exist. It is okay to not be okay. Remember this, if nothing else, if we don’t talk about it to people who are trained to help and deal with the emotional turbulence that makes us human, most of the top psychologists and gurus would not have a job or a calling.
Mental Health took a new meaning of its own when I personally was affected, along with my family after my sister suffered a severe anoxic brain injury. Six years on, we continue to deal with mental health wellness, and we continue to get educated and seek guidance when we don’t know what the next step should be.
Sometimes we do a good job of smiling away the pain because we feel and think that nobody wants to hear about the BS that is causing sleepless nights or crazy hormone levels. From the standpoint of someone who does deal with mental health on a daily basis, today is an important day where the state of the conversations we have and the ones we start around us matter to push the conversation forward. It is a day that should nurture the continuation of these conversations so that we can build a circle of hope in our community.
So, ask someone today, tomorrow and every day – “how are you?” not because you don’t care; but because you want to know and have taken time to get to know how they are doing. Start the conversation. Break the stigma.
