Coming from a society where mental health is not just a stigma but talking about it is a Taboo and literally people try their best to hide it from society; it's not only hard but quite impossible to talk openly and make awareness about mental health.
I'm glad, the Healthy Bees community make this prompt so at least the people of Hive can find a safe space to talk about it openly and learn.
I have a long battle with depression, anxiety, and stress management. I still didn't win but learned the technique of the battle. Fortunately, it is not that severe that needs medical attention. But I sure needed counseling which I didn't and can't get because of social stigma.
I have shared in some of my early posts about my mental health condition, and just a few days ago talked about how mental health needs to be discussed more. Now, this contest is a perfect place to talk more about it.
The first thing we need as a society to talk about mental health is creating a space to talk freely about our emotions and feelings. That's blank in my society. Not only here but the whole Asian region is suffering from this.
The Silence of the society
In my culture, emotional suffering means we need to deal with the pain in silence. People say, 'Get over it', 'you are causing a drama out of nothing', 'there are people who are struggling more than you', and whatnot.
Even I have heard about this so many times that my emotions are all made up and not valid. So people choose to be silent.
Be Tough
We are often taught to be strong and not cry. We can't talk about our true emotions and any issues with our parents or with our partners. People fear getting tagged as Crazy and choose to pretend and mask their emotions.
Family pressure
You may think that family will come first when we need help. But when it comes to any mental health issues, the family is the one who will point the finger.
It's hard to find any family who supports their members during this hardship. They don't try to recognize in a fear that this will make things worse.
Religious misconception
Often people think that those who have a strong faith would never feel depressed. If anyone asks for help that means they are not faithful and a shameful act.
Who would take this judgment on top of their depression?
My journey
When I was in my 'down time', was not sure how to get help; I used to read a lot about mental health to self-help. I couldn't talk about it with anyone and asking for professional help is still not possible for me.
But what I learned is that we need to be aware first and then talk about it with our closest one, the person who will listen and would probably help us. There's nothing wrong in asking for help.
Now, after almost 5 years, I can safely say that I can talk about my sleepless nights openly, I can share how I sometimes feel crazy in my head, and even my faith sometimes doesn't help me to stay strong and not feel anxious about things.
My learning helped me a lot to make myself aware. I believe, this is what we need first to remove the stigma and barrier of the society, we need to make ourselves aware first and then spread the knowledge.
Your @peacefulsoul