Mental Health: a taboo?

I am an avid advocate of mental health and speak quite regularly about how stigma around mental health lingers in society. As I write this, I am aware that someone

my age is thinking about suicide. I hope someone saves them.

As a society, we have stigmatised a great number of things. Sex, menstruation, and mental health are integral to humans; however, they are treated as if talking about them would open Pandora's box and evils would spread in society that would surely be uncontrollable. In a room of 50 people, more than our blood, nationality, or languages, what binds us the best are our traumas, because irrespective of where you come from, trauma knocks at your door at least once in your life. Human life is about suffering and healing, but we are too often told by our elders not to talk about our pains, failures, and traumas. We, as a society, prefer sepsis over healing the wound. Healing our emotional wounds is not something even remotely talked about. We are taught to cover our wounds with our clothes because if people see them, they might judge us for having similar wounds as they do. People spend years with sepsis. Then one day, sepsis kills you, and people often show up saying, "They were so kind." "Everything was so good for them."; "I never knew that this person was going through something like this." People don’t expect you to be vulnerable so that they can protect themselves from being vulnerable.

The conversation about mental health gains traction, usually when a celebrity commits suicide, but it also suffers from more misinformation because people without a degree in psychology claim to know everything about it. It is rightly said that psychology is a subject everyone thinks they know about, even though they don't. A very quick example and the lingering consequence of it can be seen in the following instance: Most people in India and around the world believe that there are only two types of mental illnesses: depression and anxiety. However, only a handful of us are aware that there are 15 types of illnesses recognised by the DSM-5. As a result of this misunderstanding, people attempt to pigeonhole all mental illnesses under these two terms. This is harmful to the person suffering because each mental illness is unique, and each mental illness, like different physical illnesses, necessitates special and specific care. Imagine how fatal it would be if someone treated stomach ulcers like brain tumours.

Looking at the statistics, India's mental health is in a very grim situation. According to recent reports, one in every seven Indians suffers from depression, but we are a society that believes that reaching out is undesirable and that discussing mental health exposes you to unwarranted stigma from society. Glenn Close said, "What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, more unashamed conversations." However, despite all the awareness campaigns, very few people with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, or BPD are seen as a source of negativity, and any conversation with them on the emotional side of the spectrum is seen as overwhelming and tough to handle. It is said that there is nothing talking cannot solve, but people suffering from mental illnesses face more shunning than open ears, emotional eyes, and human warmth. We, as a society, fail to give people a non-judgmental space and prevent people from talking about what they are struggling with. Everyone is bad in their life; it's just that not all of us really talk about how bad we are.

The solution to mental health problems is usually met through "toxic positivity," toxic because it doesn't benefit the sufferer but rather makes them feel belittled about themselves and their issues. We are taught from childhood to be grateful, which is a healthy practice, but as we grow older, we are all taught to be grateful at the expense of our problems. "You have a roof over your head." You have three meals a day. People struggle to get these too; "the least you could do is be grateful," they say, but what they fail to realise is that one cannot simply dismiss their problems because someone else's are worse. The problems are given a threshold value, and comparison is purported to be the way of resolving them. However, the problems an individual has are big for them, no matter what. They have every right to be sad, depressed, and frustrated. We can never deduce an ideal reaction to a situation or struggle because every situation and every struggle are distinct for distinct individuals. In fact, most of the time, people are asked to move on from things that trouble them. People do realise how holding onto things hurts, and no one really wishes to undergo that hurting. They wish to move on, but they cannot force themselves out of it and fake a smile just because society doesn't respect a sad state of mind. It is important to realise that even in this corporate world, we are still humans, not robots. We need space to process emotions; however, hustle has made us so busy that we are trying to meet unrealistic expectations.

Even seeking help is tainted to such an extent that it demotivates people from seeking it. A lot of us, when we open up to our loved ones, are told, "Oh, you don't need a therapist; you have me." This, however, should never be believed, and the person giving out this advice doesn't really understand your struggles, to say the least. Therapy is a process; it is a journey. A therapist is trained to help you sort out your untangled thoughts, traumas, and feelings. NO FRIEND CAN HELP YOU IN THIS SENSE. The stigma is so strong that people who are not aware fall into the whirlpool of the misnomer and give up on the idea of seeking help, even if they need it. Barack Obama once said that asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of strength. However, it is very peculiar of society to stigmatise something as basic as helping and make it a sign of weakness. We never refuse assistance to someone who is hanging off a cliff. In fact, everyone around you puts their all into saving and reclaiming that person, but once you are lost in the dark forest—let us call it depression—no one tries to claim you back, no matter how deep you go or how lost you get, because sometimes getting lost is not really considered getting lost. Sometimes, society makes getting people back to life less important than their pride. However, therapy and medications are some of the more permanent solutions to this problem. We are all traumatised one way or another; there are some unhealthy patterns we attained while growing up, and it is all human. Our former President, Mr. Ram Nath Kovind, has highlighted how India is moving towards a mental health epidemic, but we are still not ready for a healthy conversation.

There is no wisdom in self-sabotaging. Maybe now is the time to change your narrative and heal yourself. After all, it is better to heal a wound than to make it septic and wait for it to become life-threatening.

The efforts of the government in the last few years have been very appreciable. With the Mental Health Care Act of 2017, authorities' responsibilities have grown along with public awareness. The decriminalisation of suicide is a positive step, ushering the country into a positive era. However, the act fails to seek the implementation it deserves and is caught up in the discrepancies with the other acts.

For anyone struggling, remember you matter and so does your life.

A detailed analysis of the legislation will be out in a few days. Stay tuned

By Vaishnavi Gaur