For years mental health has had a stigma surrounding for as
long as people have discovered that psychological problems are a thing. Folks
would often prevent their loved ones from visiting a professional for the fear
that they might be considered as mental, and may never be accepted by society.
Long before, during the medieval times, mental health
disorders like schizophrenia, anxiety, bipolar disorder, multiple personality
disorder meant that the person had been bewitched and a townsperson would be
dragged out of their homes and burnt at stake without any physical evidence.
The person suffering from the mental illness would either suffer the same fate
as the “witch” or would be subjected to a regimen of herbs and smoke to lure
the evil out of the person.
Then came the infamous mental asylums which were a nightmare
for all those already living inside their head. Their despicable living
conditions and treatment of patients have been long documented as more and more
of these sprout up from the corners of the world. Records of cold bursts of
showers and lobotomy have long been recorded with the readers reading on in
horror of how the doctors tried to “extract the evil from the root”. Slowly the
mental asylums were becoming a constitution to be feared rather than one sent
to for treatment. What was supposed to be considered a safe haven to protect
those suffering turned into a torture chamber for many. They were, thankfully,
shut down when news of their inhumane practices went around. However, that did
not stop people from disregarding mental illness as a non-serious thing
regardless of its growing numbers. People would usually just politely avoid the
topic or look for more physical evidence to blame on. Many people were not even
aware that these things could happen. Others would believe that a lot of these
“illnesses” were self-inflicted. For example, depression was considered as when
a person just refuses to themselves be happy. Remember the phrase, “Why are you
sad? Just be happy”. Yes, that mind-numbing bottle of misconceptions that those
who were suffering were hit with on a constant basis.
There were many well-known celebrities like Katherine
Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe, who visibly suffered from the illness, however, the
public would turn a blind eye to them. However, taking on from a few of the
brave celebrities of that time, many more actors and actresses started to come
forth with their mental health struggles. Not only that, aggressive researches
were prompted towards the several disorders in order to properly understand
their root cause and come to a solution. Mental illness was being given the
priority status that it deserved so much. Participants after participants were
evaluated and treated. Other than that, a sudden interest in the field of
psychology also helped the cause by a mile. People started to understand what
mental health illness was about and what their root causes could be.
Though the mental health issues had started to gain an
empathetic momentum, few still knew of the struggles that one faced, and so the
ignorance was still rampant. People with mental illness were still afraid to
come out with it, so that not to be branded as an “oddball”. This is where
social media came in. Social media is what really set off the storm of mental
health awareness. Now with a public platform available, with millions of people
ready to take in everything that you have to say, people were becoming more and
bolder with their cause. Campaigns were started by independent users or
companies to raise awareness through mental health in general, or towards one
in particular, the ALS challenge assisted in gathering donations for the cause
and celebrities would often come out discussing their issues as well. The
internet allowed for another wave of celebrities to emerge “YouTubers”. Though
people loved and idolized the likes of George Clooney and Tom Cruise, they felt
closer to these people who looked more like them creating different content for
their knowledge and entertainment. When these people came out with their own
mental health struggles, people who were going through the same issues as them
were able to accept that they had a problem to confront and solve. There are
times that the human brain is not able to comprehend that it has a deep-seated
problem present in their subconscious or maybe does not want to. So to be able
to identify with the troublesome symptoms helps it come to terms with the
problem at hand.
Though the awareness of the problem is at it its peak at the
moment, there is a lot more research to be done on its solutions. People are
actually talking about the problem today which is a good sign. Though the brain
is pretty powerful, it can be overwhelmed by the complexities of the world that
we live in. It usually adheres to the “stick to what you know” rule, and so
when something more complex comes along, it perceives it as danger or a threat
and turns on its defense mechanisms.
The good news here is that the brain is not entirely
inflexible. It is constantly updating and adapting the world around it, and so
when it sees more and more people being open about their issues, it becomes
encouraged to work on its own as well. Their real trick is not being aware of
the problem. It is about bringing in behavioral changes that would lead to the
eradication of the problem. The reason for this because we might have the
abstract understanding of it all, but being able to switch up the instinctive
reactions is difficult. This means that people might be aware that mental health
problems are a thing, but they might not want to deal with it for they fear
that it would be expensive, time-consuming, and taxing. With the rise of mental
health awareness, there needs to be a rise in the importance of seeking
solutions as well.
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