Why Mental Health Matters — An Understand the Stigma Series Part 1
Why Mental Health Matters — An Understand the Stigma Series Part 1
Mental Health is Physical Health. The mind is not separate from the body, but in our society, they’re treated as such. This can be seen in how mental illness isn’t granted the same recovery time as a physical illness in workplaces, for instance. A key difference is that mental illness or mental health concerns, in general, cannot be solved with one visit and it’s unreasonable to expect that as well.
What if one visit could help in identifying the next steps for working through the current mental health problem? What if mental health medication was more accessible price-wise and not stigmatized? How can we make these realities? Currently, these are far from accessible ideas, especially since mental health should be treated with different expectations for recovery and duration in comparison to physical health. More than physical health, mental health is influenced by past development, external forces, and ongoing experiences that can’t just be solved in one visit. However, there are ways that we can at least make mental health services less of a luxury and more of a necessity:
•Advocate for more mental health care services in low-income communities (not that low-income need it more necessarily, but there are barriers in place that make it incredibly inaccessible for these communities such as the small number of service centers available, long waitlists, cost, and time)
•Respecting holistic, pharma, and forms of therapy equally. Not trying to make someone feel horrible or uneducated in their own health by suggesting something else. The great thing about the Internet age is that 9/10 times someone will second guess themselves or research into the best approach anyway and find results that work for them. So if you’re going to offer counter-advice, do so in a “hey, have you thought of this?” after acknowledging the work they’re already putting in
•Prioritize your mental health and encourage others to do the same
— Sharing your story or sharing resources and articles to get ahead of the stigma’s enduring power
•Starting a GoFundMe or Crowdsourcing opportunities to raise funds for the community you belong to and disperse the money to those who fill out applications and show an inability to access mental health services. Consider partnering with low-cost/free therapy centers and clinics nearby especially if they can provide that access outside of just their office (through phone or video)
•If you’re a mental health care professional, how can you partner with others to start mental health clinic vans?
•Advocate for Universal Health Care through voting, petitions, educating others, and supporting organizations that are already filling this gap
•Advocate for Mental Health Services to be required for Employer Insurance Plans. Since the ACA, all employers with 50 or more employees must provide mental health services through their insurance plan but with the repeal of ACA in recent years, this isn’t consistent across the board
(more info: https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2020/aca-10-how-has-it-impacted-mental-health-care
and https://www.thebalance.com/getting-health-insurance-coverage-for-mental-health-treatment-4174118)
•Promote caring and empowering work environments or hire someone who will
•Build community service into business model
•Build mental health and physical health compassion into the business model, especially for those who are marginalized or left out because they’re not able-bodied
•Report Employer Discrimination
If these ideas, seem like a lot (or not enough!) take it one step at a time. Every idea is of equal impact and relevance. Additionally, please feel free to suggest more ideas below in the comments section.
Beyond these ideas, what can you start doing for yourself?
Mental health check-ins throughout the day are a great start!
At least three times a day fully listen to your thoughts and emotions, and preferably associate these times with an event(s) in your day where you have alone time and the space to process for at least five minutes (15 minutes per day, 105 minutes per week). More than five minutes is preferred but the rumination zone can start to manifest if you don’t have a limiting and set time frame for these check-ins. I recommend spacing these out instead of trying to get it all done in one-go because things will happen throughout the day that will get your mind going, and the whole point of these check-ins is to listen to what your mind is trying to tell you so you can find more ways of caring for your mental health. If only one or two mental health check-ins are possible for your schedule though, then feel free to adjust the time frame above accordingly to fit it in. Better to give it a genuine try than to not try at all.
So what does a mental health check-in look like exactly?
•Keep a digital notepad or physical book/planner (with space to reflect) this is helpful when you have thoughts or ideas you want to remember, and also helps when you pose a question to yourself about something you want to improve or understand about yourself. This helps if you process emotions and thoughts through poetry or drawings, too.
•Listen to your thoughts at the moment, reflect on moments in the day that stayed in your mind, reflect on your emotions in the moment and from the moments up until this point of reflection, and ask how you feel reflecting on all these. Is there resistance? Are you having a strong emotional response? Why may that be?
•When you reflect like this, often you’re isolating all these things you’re paying attention to for this moment. It’s not a quick solution of quieting your mind, but over time your mind will adjust. It does take consistency with the times you set for yourself in the day. When these mental health check-ins want to happen outside of your designated times, then you should have a handy mantra or saying for yourself that will ground you and bring you back to the present. Or a simple “not now” would suffice, and repeat as necessary. Visualizing the brushing aside of your thoughts or letting them go like a caught fish can be beneficial, too, so you don’t have to repeat your mantra. Basically whatever visual helps you see the thoughts dissipate and makes them leave you alone for the time being will be effective.
— Note: This only works if you stay consistent with your mental health check-in moments, otherwise, the lack of thought management will become like a child demanding attention through an unreasonable tantrum. Your thoughts and emotions deserve to be heard, but boundaries are necessary for your health.
•It’s important to have a closure moment, where you say something, hear something, do something, or visualize something for yourself that signals the end of your mental health check-in.
What else can be done to understand and tackle the stigma against mental health care?
I hope to dive into this deeper through this series of articles, and this is just the first one of many. In the meantime, I will leave you with a resource list and encourage you to research and start a resource list for yourself (especially for local options). If you’re interested in collaborating with me to form a website that does this for others and their localities, please feel free to email me at criticalaw.reach@gmail.com.
Resource List (not exhaustive, looking for additions if you have any):
Feeling like you are experiencing current mental health problems? Free screening available through Mental Health America: https://screening.mhanational.org/screening-tools
Find a therapist: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists
Find a therapist, Better Help: https://bit.ly/3grmAxC
Mental Health online resources: https://socialworklicensemap.com/social-work-resources/mental-health-resources-list/
Crisis Text Line HOME to 741741 U.S. & Canada, 85258 UK, 50808 Ireland
The Trevor Project 1–866–488–7386 (call), START to 678–678
Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1–800–273–8255 (call)
Mental Health Apps: https://www.psycom.net/25-best-mental-health-apps
