My Passion for Mental Health
I mentioned in my previous blog how passionate I am about Mental Health. I feel that as a society we don’t seem to put as much effort into caring for our mental or emotional well-being as we do our physical well- being. If we have a cough or cold we will go to the pharmacy and pick up some “over the counter” medicine. If we cut ourselves we will put a plaster on it and if we feel we need professional input we will visit the Doctor.
The point is, that many of us are quick to recognise a physical illness and act on it but when it comes to our mental health we tend to side step it. It never seems important or visible enough to take action and for many action is only taken when it hits crisis point. It’s no surprise that we all feel down or stressed; as human beings we are constantly dealing with decisions, choices and challenges in our everyday lives. Most of the time we can manage these either on our own or with the help of friends, work colleagues and family. Other times we might need additional support to face these challenges that we come up against.
This is why I’m passionate about mental health. Over many years much has been done to promote mental health issues and to increase services. For me I feel that although these services are greatly needed and a positive step towards better mental health in many cases they’re not enough and are set up on a “one size fits all” basis which for some, doesn’t fit.
The fact that you can’t see a mental health issue causes a lot of the discrimination people with mental health issue’s face. We accept when someone has a physical illness they need time to recuperate but we find it difficult to understand how someone with depression has no motivation or energy to get up in the morning. We recognise that a physical ailment or disability might prevent us from doing certain things but we don’t understand when a mental health issue stops us from leaving the home, leaving us isolated. Many of us have experienced and will no doubt have yet to experience a whole range of issues throughout our lives, and I’m no different. Counselling helped me to work through the challenges I’ve experienced throughout my life.
So, there you have it, for me an individual’s mental health is just as important as their physical health. I truly believe that we should be treating the “whole person” taking into account both the physical and psychological symptoms. I hope this gives you some insight as to why I’m passionate about mental health.
Until next time take care of yourself.
