Mental Health- still a taboo?

Just because no one else can heal or do your inner work for you, doesn’t mean you can, should or need to do it alone.

Lisa Olivero

Have you ever felt the stark desire to inevitably scream in a room full of people, hoping they just care enough to notice the signs you have been leaving regarding your deteriorating mental state and how desperately you need help? But instead, you just accept your solitude in an empty chair and try to repress your bottled-up emotions deep within the realms of your consciousness.

A lot of us might have gone through the same situation at a certain point in our lives. The primary reason behind this subconscious aversion to the expression of thoughts is the mere fact that humans have been conditioned to do so throughout their lives. Men are typically the most vulnerable victims of this detrimental mindset. From an early age, they are frequently instructed to not cry like a girl. According to a survey, a significant percentage of men in the nation are currently depressed, and they themselves admitted that they lack a support system.

Mental health is still a deeply rooted stigma that people aren’t ready to accept. In order to understand the concept one needs to broaden the perspective of understanding humans and follow certain ways like-

1. Instead of asking,”How are you?” ask,” How are you, really?”
2. Look for obvious signs in a person- whether they feeling low from abnormal no. of days.
3. Asking your closed ones to describe their day in detail and be a good listener.
4. Do not mistreat someone who is already going through some sort of trauma.
5. Treat people with kindness, you never know what someone is going through.

Additionally, in India, therapists continue to be overlooked as a useful resource for treating a person’s mental health. A person is called a “lunatic” if they see a therapist. In light of the increased public awareness during the pandemic’s lockdown time, these issues are being explored on social media, and many people now see psychology as a crucial component of the educational system. People have now started considering mental health as being equally essential as physical health as because of an alarming spike in suicide incidents during this period.
Still, awareness needs to be assured at ground level and there is still a long way to go to see the day when all of us are not reluctant to lend a helping hand to our fellow humans.

A fundamental aspect of any society should be understanding, accepting, and embracing each and every emotion one feels which makes them human.