If you can’t see it, ignore it because log kya kahenge?

i am a 20 year old girl, suffering with depression in silence and humiliation on my own for years now. Even after telling my mother about my nightmares and feeling of trauma and suffocation I get, on occasional times, I was told – ” Subha jaldi utha Karo Na, healthy Khana kaho, excercise Karo, kaam Hota Nahi hai tum logo se toh Kuch Kuch khanaiya bna laate ho! ” So it turned out I can’t speak with my parents and friends were not of much help, leaving me to deal with it on my own. Yes I could have taken an appointment and go to a psychologist and get treatment but I dare not do it alone because – LOG KYA KAHENGE? If people’s vulnerabilities become public knowledge it will lead judgement, gossips and end-less drama.

I googled every little information I could find, took every test, cried myself to sleep and tried to unheard all the constant criticism but here I am today after years of self treatment, ready to call a psychologist to help me get a hold of my life.

India has the most number of people in the world who suffer from some form of depression but the pressure of society make us act “normal” and pressure us against getting help because here, in India, people believe in “if you don’t see it, ignore it!”

Mental health is a simple understanding of emotional and psychological mind set of an individual which help them live a calm, happy and productive life. It’s necessary to understand that mental health is not just absence of illness but an overall well-being of an individual involving conditions like change in thinking, behavior, emotions. Mental illness on the other hand involves distress and/or problems associated with professional, social or family matters. The experiences are different from person to person. For which it is very important to understand it and re-think the myths society has created about mental illness.

MYTHS ON MENTAL ILLNESS –

#1. Mental illness will never affect me – it can affect anyone at any point in their life time.

#2. Mental illness is not a real illness – as much as we give importance to physical illness, we need to give importance to mental illness as well because it doesn’t go or heal on it’s own and create distress.

#3 everyone gets depress as they grow up – depression is not a part of aging and an growing adult need more support as anyone else.

#4. Mental illness is an adult problem, children can’t have it – mental illness in a kid can occure be diagonised as early as 6-8 months. Children with mental illness doesntd get any help hence it grows.

#5. People with mental health illness cannot perform or follow regular lifestyle – mental illness does’nt certify the inability to work in any individual but they may face barriers to finding and keeping meaning jobs or telarelations but it can be solved with proper help and therapies.

Being mentally healthy is not about being perfect. Nor is it about being extraordinarily intelligent or successful or rich. Mental health is irrespective of these factors. These factors may influence the mental health of an individual but they are not a cause nor do they determine the state of an individual’s mental health. We all can suffer from mental health problems and we all can attain better mental health.