Written by: Namitha Acharya
Edited: Pruthvi C.S
“It doesn’t get easier, you just get stronger.”
The significance of Mental Health has come into focus in the past year. The lockdown was both physically and mentally taxing. People experienced random breakdowns and weren’t able to cope up with them effectively. There was a lack of social interaction and a feeling of solitude. With the situation worsening due to the second wave, it is important that we talk about mental health.
What is mental health?
It is our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It is often confused as being free from mental illnesses. Mental health can affect daily living, relationships, and physical health.
Mental health portrayed by the media:
The media has tried to portray mental health via movies like Dear Zindagi and Karthik calling Karthik, where the former shows the advantages of seeking professional help and how it can impact one’s life and sheds light on what schizophrenia is. While they have succeeded a few times, on the whole, they have failed miserably. Let’s take an example of the unfortunate death of a famous actor that was sensationalized by the media and used as a ploy to bring out controversies and settle personal scores. Suicide is serious and it is extremely saddening to think that someone thought it was better to end their life than to live it. Another example of this would be the popular Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, where triggering graphic scenes were showed and viewers were greatly impacted by it in a negative fashion. It could falsely be interpreted as a ruse to bring out rumors and could be used to avenge themselves by just blaming someone for their death. They gave out the wrong message and were condoned for it.
How is mental health affected?
Our mental state is affected by our environment, our lifestyle and the way we perceive the world.
One has a good state of mind or is in fact happy when the things around the individual is positive like a good supportive family, a happy job, and is contended with one’s possessions. But when things don’t go according to plan we are very disturbed and feel unsatisfied.
Everybody faces some amount of stress, anxiety, and sadness. This is normal if not beneficial. In some, it can bring out the better side of them and help them to reach their goals. The easiest way to understand this would be, say one has a test tomorrow, the stress and anxiety would help the person reach their goal as there is fear of performing poorly on the test and could make one more efficient in revising the syllabus. It becomes a problem only if it persists and is hindering one in reaching their goals and it is difficult for them to even get through the day efficiently. If the stress and anxiety is holding them back and they are unable to study, then it is a condition. It is something that one has to work on and if it still persists it requires some professional guidance.
Anxiety in severe cases could cause insomnia. The person becomes really restless and has trouble sleeping or continues sleeping. This hampers their health, as well as a reduction in the productivity levels of an individual, is observed. Anxiety could also cause eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa (view themselves as overweight and avoid eating), bulimia nervosa (cannot control the amount of food intake), binge eating disorder (eat an unusually large amount of food in a short period) or purging disorders (using purging methods like vomiting, laxatives, excessive exercising to maintain their weight). This could put their lives at risk and also cause depression.
A common thing we hear when someone is sad is that they are “depressed”. Depression is often used out of context and we don’t realize the depth of this word. Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how one feels, the way one thinks and how one acts. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities the person once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease one’s ability to function at work and at home. Hence the usage of the right word makes a huge difference. Everyone feels sad but if there is constant sadness, loss of appetite, loss of interest in activities that were once enjoyed, feeling guilt and being unable to concentrate on things, they need help from a professional. It is one of the most common mental-illnesses people are suffering from right now. According to the numbers by WHO, 56 million Indians suffer from depression and another 38 million Indians suffer from anxiety disorders.
COVID-19 has really affected and traumatized us. Some of the people who are impacted by this traumatic experience, find it difficult to accept the fact that they need to seek help from a professional. They believe that one should only consult a professional if it is severe and have no other option.
The stigma around mental health:
Social stigma is due to the cultural disparities. Most people in India believe that seeking help means or shows that one is weak and due to this they often shy away from the help they need. They try to numb themselves and turn to substances which only hurts them more. Asking for help is okay, it doesn’t make you weak but in fact, stronger. We must destigmatize the need for asking help. Having a support system really helps; it could be friends, family or anyone who could give one emotional support. Especially in times like this, talking to them about one’s feelings and troubles will make one feel lighter. This can make one feel less lonely. This can only be achieved with a positive attitude.
Like most things, the sad reality is a gender-based stigma exists, the society looks down on men receiving help. This is because of the constant societal pressure that men must stay strong and should be able to deal with everything with ease (chauvinistic and machoistic). Men have more trouble dealing with their emotions because of this and tend to shut people out and turn to alcohol or substances. Only about one-third of people in therapy in the US are men. While over 14% of men in the US experience a mental health issue, very few of them get help. Only 60% of depressed men go for treatment, but over 72% of women obtain help. And while 9% of women make use of outpatient mental health services, only 5% of men do so.
The LGBTQ+ community finds it difficult to access professional help due to a lack of inclusivity in society. Everyone is entitled to seek help irrespective of gender, class, caste, or race.
Several biases also prevail as to who can receive help. People believe that only when the person’s state of mind is at its worst, they can reach out for help. But treatment at the earlier stages is so much more effective. For instance, medical professionals insist on going for a general checkup regularly so that early symptoms of any illness could be detected and prevent severe damage. We take note of this and rush to a doctor at the sight of the smallest symptom. If people can take physical wellness seriously, then why is mental health taken so lightly?
The key to positive mental health is,
1. Acceptance
2. Seeking Professional Help
It is important that one has a positive attitude towards life as it makes things less miserable in this cruel world. But that doesn’t mean that when you have experienced trauma you need to put up a sunny outlook. Positivity is essential but not toxic positivity. Toxic positivity is always looking for something good and completely ignoring negative thoughts and feelings. This can easily be understood by the phrase “Good Vibes Only”; such thoughts must be avoided as it gives rise to withdrawal syndrome, which will result in no growth for the individual. It could be dangerous in the long run. We shouldn’t have to pretend to be happy when we are not. Let’s say there was a lay-off and one loses the job, it is definitely an unfortunate thing to happen. Retaining hope and looking for other opportunities is okay and accepted reality. Not accepting/acknowledging the situation, completely ignoring it is damaging. It could cause guilt if one can’t find something happy and one is feeling ‘negative’ emotions. It is important to recognize and experience all feelings, positive or negative.
Therapy can really help one achieve a good state of mind. A major factor that is required for the therapy to work is the person’s acceptance that he needs help and the willingness to accept the therapy. No matter how efficient the therapy maybe, if forced on to one, it will show absolutely no improvement. The person may become hostile and it could worsen the problem. So, acceptance is a key factor. It is not only crucial for the person receiving help but also for those around them. They need to acknowledge the fact that the person needs help and it is okay to receive help. It is important that they are supportive of the person and empathize with them so they feel that they are in a safe environment. Knowing that there are people who will always be there for them, can make the person less lonely.
With the current scenario, it is important that we know how to combat these negative feelings when we are unable to seek professional help. We could do small things that could ensure our mental wellness. To make up for the lack of social interaction, we could have video calls or call our friends and family to stay connected. As cliché as it sounds, meditating and having some alone time really helps. Constantly being aware of what you are feeling and working on them helps with your intrapersonal skills and could motivate you to do better. Working on physical wellness can greatly affect your mental well-being.
Just a reminder! It’s OKAY to seek help. Suffering is worse.
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great article! it touched upon many important points. we really need to spread awareness about mental health and how it impacts our day-to-day activities.