Mental Health: Overview
When i say 'mental health,' what comes to your mind?
For a lot of people, it makes them tink of someone running around naked or barely clothed on the streets and markets, of someone unkempt or who pays little or no heed to their personal hygiene... of that person who everyone knows is afraid of certain colours like red because it provokes them to think the devil is on their tail...there are so many tales abounding about this scenario. This is indeed a saddening reality for most people.
See, mental health is part of the WHO definition on health. Like Physical Health (of the bones and organ functions), but specializing in how the brain works. Health is not health without infirmity or absence of health in the mental sector.
Then, why do people hear 'mental health' and flinch?
Well, there are quite a number of reasons. See, contrary to most people, when they have a problem with their state of mind, they cannot purchase OTC drugs. Secondly, not much is known about the working of the mind. Yes, we are much advanced at the moment about all the brain functions, and have neurosurgeons and people who can tell you that your brain is not working properly, but then most people tend to thinkt whenever someone behaves slightly differently from society's norms, then they are bonkers. Which may not be the case, because sometimes people are just different because they are.
What most people dopn'tknow is that most of us have the ability to become mentally ill. See, today's world is completely different from what our ancestors lived in. They had to be strong to survive, and they had to make sure that they healed quickly and evolved to beat the viruses and bacteria that wee out to kill them all because they didn't have any disease resistance. However, today, most people utilise their mind ore than their body due to jobs that require them to constantly think up solutions. It has come to the point where pressure at work leads to depression and suicidal tendencies.
In such cases, you will not find these people running through the streets in their underwear (well, some do that, but majority of them turn to alcohol and suicide to deal with the disappointment). You'll find them putting on a smle, making everyone around them happy, and making sure to avoid talking to people about how they feel because most people's replies center around, 'it will pass,' 'keep holding on,' or the more painful one, 'you complain too much.' See, no one wants to be told that they complain too much or that they are 'not working hard enough' or that 'they need an attitude adjustment...' No one wants to hear that from the people they confide in, especially if this person is depressed because they make huge efforts to do their job to the best of their capacity, but all people ever point out is their mistakes, even the tiniest one will be made to look like a mountain.
Other people are different because the issues they have with their mental health affects their physical health. Some of these are dementia, self-harm and schizophrenia. These people have issues that can predispose them to harming themselves. Today there are a lot of young people suffering from self harm. The perception of the society towards perfection makes a lot of teenagers feel like they are not good enough. Others deelop conditions like self harm because they have been bullied and abused and this is their way of feeling something because they shut it all out. There are many reasons why people with self-harm do what they do, but that doesn't mean they are freaks. It just means that they need someone to talk to them and help them realize that their issues are valid. That they matter.
Solutions
Most people need someone to listen to them, and to be there for them. See, mental health, like physical health, requires the patient to be watched over, and to be assured that they will be okay. That their fears are valid, athat they will always have a support system waiting to give them a helping hand.
Diagnosis is very important. Someone who feels like they are not themselves should see a psychologist to find out what the problem might be. Some of the mental health issues can be solved by taking medications, and only stronger solutions should be sought after if there is no response. Some of the issues wehave can be treated by getting a therapist and scheduling regular sessions. Others need you to take pills, while others need, well, other solutions.
I love what the world is doing about mental health today. A lot of people are coming forward and admitting that they are not healthy, but that is not their label, just a part of who they are. There are spaces to discuss metal well-being, and the taboo topic is slowly but surely getting conquered, one milestone at a time. It is so inspiring and it makes you want to be part of the change.
My Experience.
While i am the kind of person who normally has a lot on my mind, it is most probably about all sorts of random things. This was always the case for me when i was younger and when i'm having a normal day at work. I think about things like my next meal, the cute cushions i saw at a sale, the fake wedding ring i forgot to wear to work, the earrings i saw that were a little too expensive, but which i will still save to get... the sort of things that cross your mind out of the blue.
A few years ago, everything changed. I was a teenager, going through the usual growth spurt when my family discovered that i had quite a number of issues which could only be solved by medication (respiratory and eyesight problems) and so hastened to get my doctors to help me. While the medication helped me, it also made me vulnerable to bullying, insomnia, and weight issues. For a teenager, in an especially competitive setting where she is trying to study as hard as she can, that is already too much to handle. it got to a point i actually stopped studying for the CATS. I'd pretend to be doing that but in actual sense, i was simply passing time .
By the time i was in third form, i had attempted drug-induced suicide. For some strange reason, none of my family members noticed. My sister however knew that i was having a rough time, she just didn't know i attempted or even considered suicide. After realizing nothing was happening, and going through too many pills, i decided to try and live my life. I figured there was a reason God kept me alive that long. I struggled with getting up in the mornings to go to class, with being content with life, with acting like i was okay with the bullying, the constant jibes about my weight... but i wasn't. Nothing appealed to me anymore. Everyone thought i was a failure, so why try any harder? i failed exams even when i studied, so why try?
Our last CAT before joining fourth form made me decide to study hard. Everyone was convinced it wouldn't be marked, so they were mostly careless and didn't pay attention to anything. However, i did. When the esults came out in the next year, I was number 76 on the list. Remember, i was always playing around the huge group of 130-200. We had about 250 students in my year, so this was a huge improvement! I was so excited to make the huge improvement. It was a wake up call that even though i was not number one, i could still amount to something.
Years later, I always strove to do what i felt was best for me. While most people work out to lose weight, i do it because i need to breath better and not use my inhaler more times than is necessary, and also because i love dancing. Years later, i have been able to encourage people going through rough patches to hold on, to assure them that i am always there when they need me to be, and assuring them that we will get through it all together. Most feel better after that, but what they don't know is that i know all this because it was all i ever wanted- for someone to hold my hand, look me in the eye and tell me that i mattered, that i was strong and beautiful despite my flaws, that i am better than who i think i am, and that my purpose was bigger than what i initially thought.
This is a small portion of my experience that i am sharing with you. I would have loved to talk some more, but i would like to save that for a rainy day. Of course there are days when i want to throw it all away and head down that road again... but then i think of how far i have come, and i tell myself that there must be a reason i am still here. I am also thankful that i am a pisces, and i can hate and love myself at the same time (strange but true) without anyone's help. The things i say in my head are worse than the things say to me about my insecurities. Sometimes it almost gets to me, but sometimes i am an everyday vitor.
Well, i should be wrapping up on this, people keep looking at me weirdly as they walk past in the office (i am a fast typer)because all they hear is 'tap tap tap' and i am so busy looking at the screen while hiding it with my body at the same time...
i gotta go. Adios amigoes!
Sincerely,
Me.
For a lot of people, it makes them tink of someone running around naked or barely clothed on the streets and markets, of someone unkempt or who pays little or no heed to their personal hygiene... of that person who everyone knows is afraid of certain colours like red because it provokes them to think the devil is on their tail...there are so many tales abounding about this scenario. This is indeed a saddening reality for most people.
See, mental health is part of the WHO definition on health. Like Physical Health (of the bones and organ functions), but specializing in how the brain works. Health is not health without infirmity or absence of health in the mental sector.
Then, why do people hear 'mental health' and flinch?
Well, there are quite a number of reasons. See, contrary to most people, when they have a problem with their state of mind, they cannot purchase OTC drugs. Secondly, not much is known about the working of the mind. Yes, we are much advanced at the moment about all the brain functions, and have neurosurgeons and people who can tell you that your brain is not working properly, but then most people tend to thinkt whenever someone behaves slightly differently from society's norms, then they are bonkers. Which may not be the case, because sometimes people are just different because they are.
What most people dopn'tknow is that most of us have the ability to become mentally ill. See, today's world is completely different from what our ancestors lived in. They had to be strong to survive, and they had to make sure that they healed quickly and evolved to beat the viruses and bacteria that wee out to kill them all because they didn't have any disease resistance. However, today, most people utilise their mind ore than their body due to jobs that require them to constantly think up solutions. It has come to the point where pressure at work leads to depression and suicidal tendencies.
In such cases, you will not find these people running through the streets in their underwear (well, some do that, but majority of them turn to alcohol and suicide to deal with the disappointment). You'll find them putting on a smle, making everyone around them happy, and making sure to avoid talking to people about how they feel because most people's replies center around, 'it will pass,' 'keep holding on,' or the more painful one, 'you complain too much.' See, no one wants to be told that they complain too much or that they are 'not working hard enough' or that 'they need an attitude adjustment...' No one wants to hear that from the people they confide in, especially if this person is depressed because they make huge efforts to do their job to the best of their capacity, but all people ever point out is their mistakes, even the tiniest one will be made to look like a mountain.
Other people are different because the issues they have with their mental health affects their physical health. Some of these are dementia, self-harm and schizophrenia. These people have issues that can predispose them to harming themselves. Today there are a lot of young people suffering from self harm. The perception of the society towards perfection makes a lot of teenagers feel like they are not good enough. Others deelop conditions like self harm because they have been bullied and abused and this is their way of feeling something because they shut it all out. There are many reasons why people with self-harm do what they do, but that doesn't mean they are freaks. It just means that they need someone to talk to them and help them realize that their issues are valid. That they matter.
Solutions
Most people need someone to listen to them, and to be there for them. See, mental health, like physical health, requires the patient to be watched over, and to be assured that they will be okay. That their fears are valid, athat they will always have a support system waiting to give them a helping hand.
Diagnosis is very important. Someone who feels like they are not themselves should see a psychologist to find out what the problem might be. Some of the mental health issues can be solved by taking medications, and only stronger solutions should be sought after if there is no response. Some of the issues wehave can be treated by getting a therapist and scheduling regular sessions. Others need you to take pills, while others need, well, other solutions.
I love what the world is doing about mental health today. A lot of people are coming forward and admitting that they are not healthy, but that is not their label, just a part of who they are. There are spaces to discuss metal well-being, and the taboo topic is slowly but surely getting conquered, one milestone at a time. It is so inspiring and it makes you want to be part of the change.
My Experience.
While i am the kind of person who normally has a lot on my mind, it is most probably about all sorts of random things. This was always the case for me when i was younger and when i'm having a normal day at work. I think about things like my next meal, the cute cushions i saw at a sale, the fake wedding ring i forgot to wear to work, the earrings i saw that were a little too expensive, but which i will still save to get... the sort of things that cross your mind out of the blue.
A few years ago, everything changed. I was a teenager, going through the usual growth spurt when my family discovered that i had quite a number of issues which could only be solved by medication (respiratory and eyesight problems) and so hastened to get my doctors to help me. While the medication helped me, it also made me vulnerable to bullying, insomnia, and weight issues. For a teenager, in an especially competitive setting where she is trying to study as hard as she can, that is already too much to handle. it got to a point i actually stopped studying for the CATS. I'd pretend to be doing that but in actual sense, i was simply passing time .
By the time i was in third form, i had attempted drug-induced suicide. For some strange reason, none of my family members noticed. My sister however knew that i was having a rough time, she just didn't know i attempted or even considered suicide. After realizing nothing was happening, and going through too many pills, i decided to try and live my life. I figured there was a reason God kept me alive that long. I struggled with getting up in the mornings to go to class, with being content with life, with acting like i was okay with the bullying, the constant jibes about my weight... but i wasn't. Nothing appealed to me anymore. Everyone thought i was a failure, so why try any harder? i failed exams even when i studied, so why try?
Our last CAT before joining fourth form made me decide to study hard. Everyone was convinced it wouldn't be marked, so they were mostly careless and didn't pay attention to anything. However, i did. When the esults came out in the next year, I was number 76 on the list. Remember, i was always playing around the huge group of 130-200. We had about 250 students in my year, so this was a huge improvement! I was so excited to make the huge improvement. It was a wake up call that even though i was not number one, i could still amount to something.
Years later, I always strove to do what i felt was best for me. While most people work out to lose weight, i do it because i need to breath better and not use my inhaler more times than is necessary, and also because i love dancing. Years later, i have been able to encourage people going through rough patches to hold on, to assure them that i am always there when they need me to be, and assuring them that we will get through it all together. Most feel better after that, but what they don't know is that i know all this because it was all i ever wanted- for someone to hold my hand, look me in the eye and tell me that i mattered, that i was strong and beautiful despite my flaws, that i am better than who i think i am, and that my purpose was bigger than what i initially thought.
This is a small portion of my experience that i am sharing with you. I would have loved to talk some more, but i would like to save that for a rainy day. Of course there are days when i want to throw it all away and head down that road again... but then i think of how far i have come, and i tell myself that there must be a reason i am still here. I am also thankful that i am a pisces, and i can hate and love myself at the same time (strange but true) without anyone's help. The things i say in my head are worse than the things say to me about my insecurities. Sometimes it almost gets to me, but sometimes i am an everyday vitor.
Well, i should be wrapping up on this, people keep looking at me weirdly as they walk past in the office (i am a fast typer)because all they hear is 'tap tap tap' and i am so busy looking at the screen while hiding it with my body at the same time...
i gotta go. Adios amigoes!
Sincerely,
Me.
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