Blog Post #14: This is why we need to talk about Mental Illness

It’s sad to think that up until today we still face incredible discrimination and stigma against Mental illnesses. Despite it being recognized as an actual disease and even has its own effective treatments, it is still unfairly prejudiced and discouraged in talks and despite mental illnesses having a large contribution over the 800,000 suicides that supposedly happens every year, a lot of people still fail to see and realize the presence of it everywhere.

It makes me wonder why.... what is so unbelievable about having a mental illness? Is it because people think that it can’t possibly be as serious as cancer or heart diseases? Is it because “it’s all in your head”?

Well if you are one of the people who has doubts about mental illnesses, I’m going to tell you why we need to talk about mental illness more. We need to talk about it because it is real. It exists. At work, at school, at the park... everywhere. It could also be anyone. Your boss, your professor, your seat mate, your neighbor etc. and believe it or not but there are actually far more people who are affected by different kinds of mental illnesses than heart diseases & cancer. It’s just that these people who suffer from mental illnesses, some of them are discouraged to speak about their feelings, some are shamed. Most are scared to be judged & discriminated. These leads them to not be able to get the help they need.
We should change that, right? We should improve our conversations about mental health and we need to be able to talk about it more openly without being prejudiced. So, if there’s anything that I want to ask of you is that I hope you keep an open heart and an open mind about mental health. I hope you become more sensitive with dealing with people who has mental illnesses and I hope you educate yourself more about mental health because this affects you, too.

Anyway, don’t get me wrong, I am well aware of the amazing progress that has been made so far but seeing people who suffer from mental illnesses get discouraged, get discriminated at & get shamed?

I still feel like this battle against stigma won’t be ending soon.

Nevertheless, we must continue fighting and we must not lose hope. We need to keep moving forward and keep encouraging people to seek the help they need. We need to let them know that there is nothing to be ashamed of. That it’s okay to not be okay, it’s okay to be broken but that does not mean that they have to stay that way. It’s okay to have depression or anxiety or any mental illnesses but what’s not okay is to give up on yourself. We need to let them know that there are people who genuinely cares for them, who understands them. We need to let them know that they are not and never will be alone in this world. 

So if you’re going through something right now, I’m reaching out to to you. 

Whoever is reading this right now, you are not alone. I’m here. I may not know what you’re going through at this exact moment, but I’m here to remind you that you are not in this alone. And if needed, you should seek the help you need. Remember that you should never feel ashamed for getting help. If anything, you should be proud. Here you are fighting your demons and saving yourself. Being the strong human being I know you can be. I’m proud of you.