"Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble."
-Yehuda Berg
Since mental health is already a worldwide concern I decided to put my thoughts into writing,explaining the horrors of this problem. I have heard a lot of stories narrating their personal experiences with this issue and I think that everyone should be aware of this silent killer. We can never understand what they are going through but that doesn't mean we have the right to judge them as if they are not ordinary people.
I came from a bloodline that has histories of mental illnesses. Some of my relatives from my father's side are mentally challenged wherein they are diagnosed with mental problems,substanced abused or are suffering from neurodevelopmental disorders at a very young age. I am not new to this and I am not ashamed to share this dilemma that is tainting our family.I also know that we are not the only one's who are facing this ordeal,people all around the world also has their story to tell about this menace since it is already common and widespread.
It is not easy to cope up to the fact that our loved ones has mental illness. It requires compassion,dedication and huge amount of patience to adjust to a new environment. It will be very difficult because your personal interests may not be pursued anymore because of the responsibility of supporting your significant others in the treatment process.
What are mental illnesses? And When Can We Say That We Are Suffering From It?
I'm not the best person to describe how mental disorders are since I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist but I will share all the things that I have learned in grad school. (By the way I did not complete my masters in clinical psychology yet because of work but I'm planning to go back to school probably next year if my schedule permits.)
Mentall illness is the sickness of the mind. Just like colds and fever it also needs medication and proper treatment. Though when you have these sickness it only affects your body but when your mind is affected it could influence not only your physical aspects but also your mental,emotional and psychological state. It greatly affecfs your work,your personal activities and your interaction with the people around you. The normal things that you do everyday might not be normal anymore since it's affecting you in a negative way.
According to DSM-5 or Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders page 5:
A mental disorder is a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition,emotion regulation,or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological,biological or developmental processes underlying mental functioning.
- American Psychiatric Association
The book contains 3 sections and each section briefly explains mental disorders.
- Section 1: Gives detailed introduction of the book
- Section 2: Elaborates the different diagnostic mental categories.
- Section 3: Conditions that need further research
DSM contains every official psychological or psychiatric disorder. There are more than 200 categorized mental illnesses ranging from Neurodevelopmental disorders to other mental conditions that may be a focus of clinical attention. So this means that there are a lot of psychological conditions that should be given immense amount of consideration.
The Stigma on Mental Disorders and The Habit of Putting People Inside Boxes
First.It's a common misconception that when you are diagnosed with mental health problems it would be the end for you.
That you cant live a normal life anymore and people will distance theirselves away from you. What I'm emphasizing here is "social avoidance". Since mental health issues are considered as taboo people will isolate themselves or they will be isolated from the crowd. Eliminating this stigma would yield positive results. It would increase awareness to mental health concerns and would prevent the occurance of more cases of patients with mental disorders.
Second.Another problem underlying this issue is the influence of social media to the manifestation of self-diagnosis or misdiagnosis of people with or without mental illness.
With the availability of information online, people who think that they have psychological problems seek help from internet doctors than real life professional doctors. Because probably of shame and embarrassment of coming out of their shell they find solace from helping theirselves alone and treating theirselves alone. Seeking help from professionals will be the wisest decision you will ever make if you have mental health issues. Stop rubbing salt to your wounds and embrace complete healing.
Third,labeling people as if they have mental disorders and the truth is they actually dont
I've heard a lot of people labeling others as someone who have Narcissism just because they posted a lot of selfies online or OCD because they spent a lot of time in the bathroom making it squeaky clean. Or a kid being classified by his teacher as someone with ADHD because he likes to move around so much. Just because we read something online about these disorders we will label people right away. It could perpetuate negative beliefs to others and they would think that they have actually these disorders. It could result on them boxing them up on how people treated them to be.
These judgements are unfair! What if that woman who posts selfies on her social media account is just proud of her new make up and wants to share it with her friends. Or that guy who was classified as someone who has OCD is just a person who wants everything to be neat and tidy. Or the kid who was called by his teacher who has ADHD actually is just too playful and energetic.The problem with us is we easily label people as if they are sugar or salt. Asking for help and letting the professionals diagnose mental health issues should be the best avenue for this issue. It doesnt mean that we can see one or two symptoms of mental disorders in a person we can finalize that they have it. Remember mental health problems are syndromes. It should possess a set or collection of symptoms before one is diagnosed with a mental health problem.
The bottomline here is if you think you have a mental health problem or if you know someone who you know is suffering from the likes of it. Seek immediate and professional help. Do not self-diagnose or do not even try to diagnose others. The best thing that you can do to help yourself and to help others is acknowledging that you are not okey and your significant others need medical and psychological intervention.
Lastly,be careful on how you label others because it might ruin them mentally and emotionally. Always choose the best words for them to feel better. Assure them always that if they have something going on inside of them you will always got their backs.
