Why it is important to talk about mental health
With a high prevalence for mental health in our societies, why is it still something people are afraid to talk about?
The misunderstanding of what mental illness is and the doubt about clinical diagnosis are some of the barriers that prevent people with mental health issues to seek help coupled with stigma from those around them. Stigma is something that is deeply engrained in our societies that sometimes we might not even realize it.
The brain is the most complex organ in our bodies hence mental health is something you really cannot see like other illness such as cancer when you see a tumor or a fracture when you break a leg.
As mentioned earlier stigma is a major hinderance in mental health but the root lies in fear. Fear that everyone with mental health is crazy or a "suicidal maniac". Education is one way of shifting this fear with actually statistics or facts about mental illness. Challenge people's misconceptions and stereotypes.
We should break the cycle of stigma, see people with mental illness as people and not their diagnosis.
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