Mental Health

Mental Health

 (By Rounakshi Dey ) 

Image By:- Darshika Singh

“What mental health needs more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation,” said Glenn

Close. How do we define mental health? Mental health is not just a theoretical concept, rather, it’s a state of psychological and emotional well-being where an individual is able to use his cognitive and emotional capabilities to meet the ordinary demands and functions in society. We can never formulate an official definition of mental health. We are made of a body and a soul. Though often, we do not consider the presence of our soul, it is as important as our body. How often do we ask our near and dear ones about their mental well being? I think the answer is, maybe NEVER. Whenever we ask someone, how are you? The answer we expect is how they are doing physically. It hardly crosses our minds to ask them about their emotional well-being.

Mentally Ill and Mentally Unwell

These two terms are the most confusing terms for almost everyone. Mental illness is completely different from being emotionally unwell. We human beings, feel a number of emotions like happiness, sadness, anger, love, hatred, etc. The negative emotions we feel get accumulated at times and cause us to be mentally unwell at times. If someone, is sad or bothered due to some event occurring in his life and is unable to find a solution to his problems, his sadness and anxiety get accumulated. If these negative emotions keep on accumulating, the person gets depressed. So, can we say that he is mentally sick? Definitely, NO. He is emotionally unwell, he is depressed. Mental diseases refer to mental ailments like anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, etc. Being sad, depressed, or anxious is completely different from being mentally ill.

Dr. Jehangir

We all need a Dr. Jehangir from Dear Zindagi in our lives. Who is he? Well, he was a professional psychologist.  The movie deals with the stigma around mental health, how a girl overcomes her childhood fears, and eventually falls in love with her Zindagi (life). We all need a friend in our life whom we can confide to in any situation. People who are mentally unwell, needs a friend, a person whom he can open up to, share his worries, and hope to find a solution. Generally, people who are lonely or introvert, have difficulty in sharing their worries. We should all try to be a Doctor Jehangir in someone’s life. No, I don’t mean a professional psychologist. But, a good listener, a friend, a trustworthy person. People who are mentally unwell, require just a good friend to overcome their depression. We hear cases about people committing suicide out of depression. This shows what loneliness have done to that person, he felt choosing death was way easier than dealing with problems in their life. Life is precious. May be by being a Dr. Jehangir, we can save someone from taking the ultimate step.

Being depressed is not being mad

Even in these modern times, when we have progressed so much, we still have stigmas surrounding mental health. Whenever we find someone consulting a psychologist, there is a hush-hush rumor among the family members that the person has gone mad. Really!! This is the most disrespectful comment a depressed person can get. Being Mad and being depressed are in no way the same. Consulting a psychologist refers to the seriousness of the problem. Someone is so depressed that he has taken professional help to recover. This is nothing to be mocked or ridiculed. We all consult a doctor when we have a simple viral fever. Are we mocked at? No, this is normal. Then, why is a depressed person mocked at? She/He is sad, hence, She/he had gone to get some help regarding how She/he can get over her/his problems. A psychologist is in no way less than a doctor. A psychologist treats us for our mental health, a doctor for our physical health. They need to be treated with the same honor and importance. Our mental health is in no way less important than our physical health. Next time, we find our dear ones visiting a psychologist, we should make a point to accompany them and constantly be in touch with them. More than medications, they need people.

October 10, is celebrated as Mental Health Day. On this day, we have various awareness camps organized by different NGOs, removing stigmas surrounding mental health, and offering a helping hand to the people in need of help. In this tough time, we are all suffering due to the global pandemic, very often we call our relatives and enquire about their physical health. We ask them if they are running a temperature or not. Do we ever ask them if they are happy? No. We don’t even think of asking about being mentally well too. At this time, as the uncertainty of our future being back to normal continues, most people are still at home. Many have lost their job or at the verge of losing theirs. Businesses are suffering, officials are not getting a salary. It’s getting difficult to run a family. People are increasingly worried and stressed. Mental Health is taking a toll not only for grown-up people but also for children. We are unable to meet our near and dear ones. Our way of life has taken a complete toll. Most of us are suffering from depression. In these tough times, we should make a point to regularly keep contact with our loved ones, over phones. We must enquire about their physical as well as mental health. We should listen to their anxieties and try to soothe them. We can try to be a Dr. Jehangir in someone’s life…

Disclaimer:-

The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Light de Literacy and LDL does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.