Mental Health Awareness: Celebrating our progress & facing the challenges

In honor of mental health awareness month (albeit a bit late jumping on the bandwagon), I just wanted to make a post acknowledging the importance of mental health and the removal of the stigma around mental health issues from within society. In fact, any day is the perfect day to talk about it. I think most people still underestimate the power of the mind over the body, and vice versa, too. As much as depression or bipolar can wreak havoc on your physical state as a consequence, your physical health is equally as important in improving your mental health as well, to begin with.

There is no doubt that there are chemical imbalances underlying some (if not all) of these disorders, but this field remains so developing, that no one has a concrete "why" or a complete understanding of these processes. The issue, however, lies in the fact that people get blamed or judged, or disregarded when it comes to mental health.

"Oh it's just in your head" or "shrinks are for the weak"..."How are you depressed? You have it so good!". Sound familiar?

We need to stop letting our egotistical selves downplay someone's feelings, someone's wellbeing, someone's situation, or life as a whole, period.

Everyone has their own challenges, and basting in someone's suffering or practicing "false" empathy thinking "oh but thank God that's not me" does not help anyone. Everyone has their own understanding of success, wealth, happiness. Just because someone "looks fine" does not mean that they are, or that they can't struggle with anxiety because "their life is so perfect". Someone may also be going through something that may not seem like a difficult situation for you, but for them, it takes all their effort and strength to tackle. Even day-to-day happenings. We all cope differently too, keep that in mind.

Workplaces need to be more accommodating to those who struggle with mental health. AND those who don't. Mental health days shouldn't be reserved for those with "an actual diagnosis". Call it what you want, "self-care" or otherwise, we all need those days. I'm not even talking about the basic offering enough time off or being understanding towards someone who's grieving, for example. I've seen employees threatened to be fired if they skipped work to attend a loved one's funeral. I am so blessed to have an amazing team that I am a part of in the workplace. As a matter of fact, our head of the team encourages all and any of us to participate in regular psychotherapy sessions to improve our overall health and well-being, our quality of life.

This, is what I call support and being more attuned to mental health and mental health disease. THIS, is awareness. Together, we can make it "the new norm". Be kind to each other, be more understanding, be patient. And be all of the above to yourself. Because it all starts with YOU.