Rain, Rainbows, and Regeneration
We are all surrounded by prejudices and taboos. Quite often, one may feel overwhelmed and as though the walls are closing in on them. Anyone, of any age, can go through a plethora of thoughts, feelings, doubts, self-hate, and everything in between that this world has to offer, and when that happens, a person generally feels all alone with or without people around them. Mental health has always been sidelined and things that affect it has been extremely romanticized. We seldom mind reassuring the people around us that it’s okay to take a break, to take a step back, and to prioritize their mental well-being.
The person whom you know, with all their privileges and comfort, might still be going through something that is not superficially visible.
Why this happens is not rocket science, just taking a look around us and perhaps a glance at our behavior with others can answer it more than we think it could. In a time when students are burdened with the almost musty way of studying, where employees are overworked, all when they have so much going on in their personal lives, mental health is bound to take a hit. When one thinks of it, the world might seem so cruel with its stereotypes, racism, queerphobia, casteism, misogyny, and sexism and one might simply want to scream their lungs out. If only it was that easy to overcome your sadness and trauma! It will be unfair to say that we’re still totally blind towards the importance of mental health because the awareness is indeed better than what it was two decades ago, but unfortunately, it will not be an overstatement to say that the masses are still very ignorant towards the topic.
It is still so hard for people to reach out for help and go to therapy because the fear of judgment always resides. We judge we bully, we say terrible things in the name of fun, and then wonder why the world is the way it is. People with
depression are still deemed as mentally retarded, asking for therapy is still taboo, people with eating disorders are called freaks, and everything is a joke until it happens with you or someone close. It is common among elders to say that depression and other mental health-related issues are 21st-century
inventions but history are proof that it is not.
Anne Frank confided all her miseries, her feelings, and sorrows, things she couldn’t say out loud, in the pages of her diary because she was convinced that no one cared, no one would understand.
It is very sad that after almost a century, nothing much has changed. But we need to change for good, we must do better. A person may be having so many racing thoughts that rain down in their hearts, making it very hard to carry, but we all must know that with help, it can be channelized to finding the way to one’s little paradise. It is indeed, very much okay to be not okay, to cry, to take a break and that one does not owe anyone any explanation if they think they don’t. Yes, maybe it is true that you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain, but no, it is absolutely fine if all that you want is some sunshine and there is nothing wrong at all to get help to find yours.
This world will become better when people start caring for people and see one’s heart instead of their gender, sex, race, color, and sexuality.
One can always nurture their hearts and find peace, and what better way than being kind with themselves and others?
