The oh so ridiculous stigmas attached to mental health

In the past five years, we have seen an upward trajectory of mental health awareness and have had more people coming forward with their journey. One of the main reasons people choose to remain silent on the issue of mental health is the stigma attached to it and the frivolous meanings that people attach to the disorder. 

People can be insensitive and above all else, places of mental health healing have become something that is used as a joke or as a way to ridicule the next person. “She is mental” and “He belongs in the Pietermaritzburg hospital” are all statements that take away the seriousness of the disease. It’s making fun of a serious disorder and desensitizes the impact that it has on people. 

There is also multiple stigmas attached to having mental health disorders. If you are depressed, then most people think you are just sad even though we know it goes beyond that. Some people also use the word “depressed” so openly and honestly, too carelessly because depression is a multitude of emotions – not just sadness. If you are an anxious person, people call you a panic mechanic or tell you to just calm down during an attack. People also think that anxious people are fragile people that can’t handle certain situations and that we cannot face certain challenges. 

In both cases, with anxiety and depression, the word is used so commonly for the incorrect reasons, that it’s actually quite sickening for people that actually suffer from it. Not every experience in life gives you anxiety and maybe it does for a few hours however, there are people like me, that have it chronically. The feeling as you brush your teeth and are breathless, your hands trembling during an attack, your chest feels like it’s about to burst open and every time you exhale, it’s like you can’t deep exhale out. 

Nobody will come forward and admit they have mental health issues such as PTSD, anxiety, major depressive disorders, bipolar disorder as well as the whole host of mental health issues. Of course nobody would come forward, it’s a secret you want to keep because it’s associated with so many negative things that you even start to believe that you are crazy. I get it, a joke is just a joke however a joke is only viable if both parties find it funny. 

The moment  you do develop the courage and admit you are mentally unwell, people misinterpret that and feel like you are incapable of doing minor things like driving or major things – like your job. It’s hard even to be honest with friends because you have reservations on how they would take it – would they make it into a joke and tell you that you are over reacting? That stigma of depression that I’m doing this for attention is one of the most hurtful out of them all. What kind of attention do you think I would possibly want when I want all of this to go away.

Another stigma attached includes the way people view you as a person. Some take pity on you (no thanks) whilst others feel as though you will not make it out of the world we live in. They look at us differently, almost as if they have attended a funeral and don’t know what to say to the grieving family. They look at us and barely make eye contact almost like we are pressure cookers, about to reach boiling point.

It’s about time we stop stigmatizing people with mental health problems and stop calling us attention seekers. There is absolutely nobody that has this condition that wishes for it to stay to get sympathy. Even though we go through what we go through, we are the strongest people you have ever met because on the outside we hide it so well, that you will never know what’s brewing underneath. We are not weak and we are not emotional people that break down at work and use it as an excuse to get days off. In fact we are the ones that show up, look good and get the job done. In other words, we live a double life – that which is extremely exhausting. 

To the masses that suffer with mental health – it’s okay to take your medication, ignore the phrase “pill popper” because honestly, your medication is what keeps you alive. I hate when people pick on the fact that we take medication for a disorder as of they don’t take anything when they have a minor headache or muscle spasm. If we look drowsy or sleepy towards the afternoon, we are not high on medicine, we are tired from a full day of mental exhaustion and it has nothing to do with the medication that we take. 

I understand and completely believe in the power of prayer however like any other disease, by simply praying it away – it’s not going to disappear out of nowhere especially if it’s high functioning anxiety and major depressive disorder. Yes, God will be my strength, but unfortunately I need my medication in order to get through the hurdles of each day. 

The saddest part of suicide, is that the person felt like he/she could not talk about how they feel because according to society men are supposed to be strong and women should think about their family before committing such an act. We need to create an environment that allows people to feel safe without being criticised or judged for how they feel. 

We need to end the stigma associated with mental health before it’s too late.

I hope you found this helpful. Till next time