The Importance of Mental Heath: My Opinion
Mental Health (MH)…
Health, with out it you either have bad health or no health… oh which then you would not be able to read this. You see the body is composed of well it self. Your arm is as important to you as the chemicals in your brain that allow triggers of neurons to allow it to move. Mental health, well… to me its amazing! To many, it is a stigma.
But first off… what is a Stigma?
Stig·ma (www.dictionary.com)
1. a mark of disgrace or infamy; a stain or reproach, as on one’s reputation.
2. Medicine/Medical.
a. A mental or physical mark that is characteristic of a defect or disease: the stigmata of leprosy.
b. A place or point on the skin that bleeds during certain mental states, as in hysteria.
You see… It all starts with what you have been taught from a young age of what Mental health is. To many, even educated people Mental Health referrers in their mind to the word Crazy, “eso es para los locos” (it is not always the case). Mental Health is actually a positive term… Health, meaning you have health, you are healthy. Illness, well… it has that stigma also. Illness relates to fear, being scared of the unknown and again that word, having something that isn’t normal. But what people fail to see is that most of the time people can be helped.
Which brings me to this. You brain is part of your body, of which with out you have no moving body. Now, Is having a cold a stigma? Not really… your parent or spouse makes you chicken soup, you drink some remedy and you are back to feeling better. YET, when someone gets SAD, because there is a difference between sad (symptom/emotion) and depressed (list of symptoms), automatically they are labeled depressed by almost everyone and when they seek help, its bad. Is seeking help for your cold bad? I don’t think so, so why should obtaining MH Services be?
Something that I never get tired of education is this scenario: I get a cases where the patient is hesitant of getting help, but once I’ve educated them and answered all their questions, they are able to work it through and not be afraid or scared. Why? because they were educated.
What to do?!
So why not, next time you hear someone trashing Mental Health services, you educated them instead of making fun of the services, or placing fear instead of hope. How about that for helping break the stigma?
Why is this important?
Because There are a lot of people who can be helped through Mental Health Services. There are people about to harm them sleves when they could have been receiving help instead.
“I always tell parents/patients, there isn’t a line out there for parents to take their child to therapy. WHY? Because people are not ready to work through their issues, because other’s express fear, but I’m thankful you brought your kid in, because not only will he learn, but you will also learn how to work better as a person.”
And I thank you in advance for your help.
Kindly,
Jes Sofia