Why People are Afraid to Talk about Mental Health

No one wants to be a stigma.

People who experience mental health can feel alone. They have no one to talk to that may understand what is going on. Talking to friends and family members can be beneficial but not relatable. At first, a person may not want to admit they have an illness (I witness this all the time at work). But with the education and tools to understanding their illness, they slowly start to accept why they are hospitalized and appreciate the help when it is time for them to leave. It’s important to not only inform someone what they have but to give them an understanding that they too can conquer their mental illness. Sadly enough, we live in a society that gives mental health a stigma, which makes it difficult for people to get help and accept treatment.

Why does society do this? What’s the purpose? We march for health issues but when it comes to mental health we give the side eye. 

Some people act as if mental health does not exist. Others have no desire to be a part of the topic because they feel that the matter is not important to them. It is easy to talk about mental health when a disaster happens, but that’s not the ONLY time we need to talk about it. Mental health should be a part of daily conversations. People should obtain mental health resources without feeling like an outcast or think the world is judging them. Mental health is just as important as our medical health and it’s time society takes this topic seriously.

We have to do better for our community and generations after us

When a tragedy is caused by someone who experienced a mental break, it’s common to be shocked. After we learn they experience mental illness we hear a few things about their diagnoses and that’s it. But why wait for things to get to that point? If a person is not taking care of themselves mentally, it can lead to harming themselves or others or worse, death.

What is mental health? For starters, it’s something society seems to have a hard time understanding. How can anyone accept something when we don’t understand it?

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