How did I get interested? Why am I still interested?
Before going in to college, I constantly felt like I was an outcast to my family and friends. No matter how wonderful things were going, I felt like I wasn’t good enough at all. Even with being in the top of my graduating class, getting accepted to colleges, receiving good grades, etc… I just did not see any good in myself. I became uninterested in so many of the things that used to bring me joy. I lost the passion for the things that I used to love to do the most. Confusion, frustration, and irritation all describe how I felt.
Not long after college started that I became even more discouraged and mind you, I was doing SUPER great in school. I actually made the Dean’s List for three semesters in a row. But I knew it was not normal for me to have felt the way I did so I sought professional help.
I talked to people that also suffered from depression and anxiety and we shared our stories to help one another. I looked for ways to help ease my anxiety when it gets the best of me. I searched for new things to do to keep my mood up and keep my day going. The very things that I learned on my own was so beneficial for me and others around me. It feels good to be able to help people understand mental illness, whether they are a victim of it or not. The more I learn about mental health, the more I became interested in talking about it.
“As it turns out, the person who knows me better than that voice is me. This is what depression does: It lies to you. At this point in my life, I’m stronger than it is. But if I were younger — or if the voice were louder — things might be different.”
A perfect line of words said by Jennifer Finney Boylan’s NY Times article, “What Is Sadness? What Is Depression?”, published back in June 2018.
She explains what depression feels like in a way that I never could. In her article, Boylan expresses what mental illness has done to her and analyzes her problems to help others.
Learning about other people’s struggles helped me with my own. I am finally comfortable and accepting of myself as for before, completely closed off and isolated to everyone around me. My battles do not define me nor do they make me less of a person. I no longer feel ashamed or scared to be who I am and to share my story.
“Mental Health ≠ Physical Health”
Mental health is as important as physical health, but it often gets ignored simply because people can’t see them the way they can see physical health. Some would argue that mental illness is not a real disease and, in fact, does not exist at all. Moreover, mental health problems are seen as non-legitimate and those who have mental illnesses are just “crazy”. This same reason contributes to the statement that mental health disorders are not real diseases because there are no lab tests, brain scans, or chemical imbalance tests that can verify and confirm any mental disorder is a physical one. Some people who experience mental illnesses may act in ways that are strange to others so they see it as an excuse for poor behavior. After all, mental illness is not physically visible like a bruise or wound, or can be screened and tested to prove that it is a real disease. For that very reason, many doctors and physicians don’t take mental health as serious as physical health.
What is mental health and mental illness?
While mental health is a state of well-being that includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Everyone has mental health and it is important from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.
On the other hand, mental illness does not mean the same thing. Mental illness affects the way we think, feel, and act. It also determines how we handle our stress and make choices. There are a lot of different mental illness disorders and each of them have different symptoms and impacts on our lives.
In a recent NY Times article published in January of this year, “Dealing With Anxiety, Mental Illness and Grief”, Judith Newman briefly talks over some issues that she has in dealing with her own mental illness. Newman shares a bunch of books that she thought would be helpful for those that want to learn about their mental illness, for those that need a message, and for those that want to read about other people’s stories.
“Certainly reading a book or three may not be the answer, and none of these books emphasize, or even discuss, medication as a possible aid. My own thoughts about dealing with severe anxiety? Start with your doctor.”
Of course book suggestions aren’t enough to help but it’s a start for those that cannot seem to find one.
Why We Should All Care About Mental Health Issues
The truth is, mental health issues affect everyone — whether they are at home, at school, or on the streets. In any given classroom or school setting, there will be at least 2 persons with mental illness, such as ADHD or depression. That would affect teachers and classmates, right? In an office setting, there will be workers that struggle with anxiety, which would affect their coworkers.
Mental illness cannot be easily fixed and there are many ill people without care. Also, there are not enough resources for mental health. With the issue of health care being taken away from millions, there is no way for access to affordable and quality mental health care.
With stigma and misunderstanding being so widespread, National Alliance on Mental Illness established Mental Illness Awareness Week in the first week of every October to raise awareness of mental illness. Their goal is to educate the public, fight stigma and provide support.
Raising awareness of mental health problems would be the start of the process, but is certainly not the end :)
Works Cited
Boylan, Jennifer Finney. “What Is Sadness, and What Is Depression?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 June 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/opinion/sadness-depression.html.
Newman, Judith. “Dealing With Anxiety, Mental Illness and Grief.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 Jan. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/01/15/books/review/erica-feldmann-hausmagick.html.
