The stigma surrounding mental health and other illnesses stops people from sharing how they feel with the ones close to them.
I am one person that advocates for talking about mental health, but over time I have realised that some people who haven’t experienced any mental health problems are rarely sympathetic and feel like you should snap out of it and get on with other things to forget about what you are thinking about.
As soon as you mention depression, anxiety or ptsd, you are labelled as an attention seeker.
How then is one expected to open up about what they are going through when its not even taken seriously?
How do you answer a question like, ‘so when will you get better or will you be depressed all your life?’
The only time someone is taken seriously is when they have a public meltdown but not everyone that has mental health problems will breakdown in that kind of way. It can be experienced in many different ways, for instance;
- Tiredness and loss of energy
- Sadness that doesn’t go away for a long time
- Loss of self-confidence and self-esteem
- Difficulty concentrating even on simple tasks
- Not being able to find pleasure in things that you used to enjoy
- Constantly feeling anxious
Not too long ago, I was sitting with someone and they asked me where I had been as they had not seen or heard from me for a while. As I spoke to them, they rolled their eyes, then they said you know, “you cant be taking every diagnosis that the doctor gives you seriously. Just listen and walk away. If I had listened to doctors, I would be having a list of ailments that I have to think of and hundreds of pills to take, but I rebuke them in Jesus’s name and I am well’.
She went on for a while about how she deals with her life and that she will never allow an illness to control her life and urged me to do the same.
I started wishing that I had just said ‘I am fine thanks, and you?’ and moved on, which is what a lot of people with mental health problems end up resorting to.
We still have a long way to go in educating people about mental health, especially in ethnic minority communities where culture, religion and social stigma play a big part in peoples lives.
It is not a weakness to accept your diagnosis and be treated for whatever illness you are suffering from, no matter how minor you think that it is.
Staying silent isn’t being strong, speaking out is!
