Mental health! Take it seriously!

Mental health has been hidden behind a curtain of stigma and discrimination for too long. It is time to bring it out into the open. When it comes to mental illness, the awareness just isn’t there.

GET AWARE!

So many people are not even aware that they may be suffering from mental problems. Mental health is as important as any other disorder. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices.

MENTAL HEALTH = PHYSICAL HEALTH?

The general public is not aware about the mental health situation and thus not much importance is given to this issue. What people don’t understand is, when considering mental and physical health, the two should not be thought of as separate. Poor physical health can lead to an increased risk of developing mental health problems. Similarly, poor mental health can negatively impact on physical health, leading to an increased risk of some conditions. It’s also proven that mental health and physical health are fundamentally linked. People living with a serious mental illness are at higher risk of experiencing a wide range of chronic disease such as type 2 diabetes and heart problems. Just as physical fitness helps our bodies to stay strong, mental fitness helps us to achieve and sustain a state of good mental health. When we are mentally healthy, we enjoy our life and environment, and the people in it.

BRAIN IS A BODY PART, SO TREAT IT LIKE ONE!

We can be creative, learn, try new things, and take risks. We are better able to cope with difficult times in our personal and professional lives. Mind is an essential part of our body and thus it’s our duty to look after its health and cure illness. The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. Mental illness occurs when the brain, just like any other organ such as the heart, or the kidney, is not working the way it should. Mental illness is a collection of disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety. The symptoms can range from loss of motivation and energy, changed sleep patterns, extreme mood swings, disturbances in thought or perception, or overwhelming obsessions or fears. Mental illness interferes with relationships and affects a person’s ability to function on a day-to-day basis, often leading to social isolation.

There are a few studies which have measured mental health literacy in the Indian context. One study found mental health literacy among adolescents to be very low, i.e. Depression was identified by 29.04% and schizophrenia /psychosis was recognized only by 1.31% Stigma was noted to be present in help-seeking. In our country, the discovery of a mental illness is often followed by denial and hesitation to seek help. Despite its enormous social burden, mental health remains a taboo subject that is susceptible to age-old stigmas, prejudices and fears. Even though mental disorders can be cured or controlled, most people tend to sweep their issues under the carpet and suffer in silence.

One of the leading issues related to this topic is that the people who are suffering from mental illness deny seeking help even if they know that they need it because it’s shameful to visit a therapist/psychologist/psychiatrist. The general public will only normalize this scenario when they will have adequate information about it so they understand how necessary this is and how normal it can be to seek for mental illness help.
Not only do we need to actively foster awareness about mental health but we also need to create awareness about it. A report by the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that 7.5 per cent of the Indian population suffers from some form of mental disorder which is significantly high in comparisons to other common disease. Mental illnesses constitute one-sixth of all health-related disorders and India accounted for nearly 15% of the global mental, neurological and substance abuse disorder burden. Educating people about mental wellbeing, however, is a battle in itself but not impossible. More than 450 million suffer from mental health disorders; Global burden of mental health will be beyond the treatment capacities of developed and developing countries. The social and economic costs associated with growing burdens of mental ill health focused the possibilities for promoting mental as well as preventing and treating mental illness. Thus, the mental health is linked to behavior and seen as fundamental to physical health and quality of life.

HOW CAN I SPREAD AWARENESS?

Mental health awareness campaigns have yielded positive outcomes. Some of the strategies undertaken to target awareness and address stigma around mental illness include:

1. Participation by family members, sensitization to treatment and social INCLUSION.

2) GAIN KNOWLEDGE! Lack of knowledge about the mental illnesses poses a challenge to the mental health care delivery system. Awareness and health literacy are two sides of the same coin. Stigma and discrimination are negative consequences of ignorance and misinformation. You can also educate people around in a respectful manner if you have sufficient knowledge.

3) Attend mental health seminars. Motivate people to attend and understand the importance of mental health.

4) Watch movies promoting mental health and listen to the experiences of the famous actors/actress who opened up about their own mental illness and get motivated.

As we have now understood the importance of mental health and how it can affect a human being we need to take few steps to promote awareness in developing countries like India. As in a country like India which is highly populated conventional media can play a key role to spread awareness. Just like the popularly known actress Deepika Padukone talked about her depression and tried to spread awareness about it by normalizing talking about it and seeking help for it.

OTHER SOLUTIONS:

1. Mental health programs initiated by government. Arranging seminars which can help increase the awareness.

2. Having mental health topic in our educational books to educate the youth about it.

3. Use the power of social media and internet to talk about mental illness and how to cure it.

Considering that most of the earlier strategies to enhance mental health have not succeeded over the past six decades or more in less-developed countries, the time has come to take on a new approach with renewed vigor. Mental health awareness can become both the means and the way of ending this apathy. Progressive government policies based on evidence-based approaches, an engaged media, a vibrant educational system, a responsive industry, aggressive utilization of newer technologies and creative crowd-sourcing might together help dispel the blight of mental illnesses in India.