Giving Speeches on Mental Health Alone Isn't Awareness

PRATIMA SHARMA

We all have been talking about mental health quite a lot this month, emphasizing awareness, but somewhere between organizing programs and talking about how important it is to take care of ourselves, did someone give a thought to how we really behave around someone who is struggling on a serious note?

There still lies a huge gap between what we talk about and what we actually do, or maybe not everyone really understands how real and deep the pain is.

The common terms every individual is labelled with are “anxiety and depression” when people around them find out that they have been visiting a Psychiatrist or Psychologist. And people are so quick to draw stories around the onset and the aetiology. A few things I personally hear around are, “a guy left her,” “he has nothing to do,” “pampered parenting,” “oh, he deserves it, look how he treats others,” “it’s just nothing, it’s all an excuse,” “oh, she never comes out,” “they use mobile phones the entire night, so why wouldn’t they fall ill,” and many more. I do not know if people really understand the weight some sort of illness or disorder brings into the life of a person trying to do their best.

Mental health is not a small term, it is the base of how we make our life meaningful and warm. And I believe awareness lies in being non-judgmental, empathetic, and including everyone equally in daily spheres of life while they are battling to even come out of their bed.

Mental health awareness is deeper than what we see on big screens. It starts with us, within us. And I hope you understand it too. Let’s be gentle with how quickly we label and instead see the bigger picture of what actually is happening. Empathy is really important, but check first if you’re sidelining yourselves for someone else.