I'm talking mental health. 'Time to talk day' encourages you to talk about things like mental health. Mental health problems affect one in four of us and yet people are still afraid to open up and talk about how they feel, about mental health.
Talking brings people together
Talking about mental health helps to bring people together, helps improve relationships, helps to break down stereotypes, it also helps us to work through recovery from issues around mental health.
Ever since I was small, I always wanted to talk about things. Through The CP Diary, I now talk. Talking helps take away the stigma associated with mental health. We don’t have to be experts to talk, we just have to want to open up and talk about what we deal with. Let’s talk about the things we have concerns over, the things we care about. It is important to get your thoughts and feelings out there. Talking about mental health is important. It's time to talk about mental health.
Mental Health problems
Mental health issues mean we can struggle to talk about those issues – and not being able to talk can be difficult when it comes to communication and relationships. But not talking, makes you more susceptible to illness and that should be avoided at all costs. Since 'Time to Talk Day' first launched in 2014, it has sparked millions of conversations in homes, in the media, online, in schools and workplaces. It is the perfect opportunity for us to talk. Don't ignore Your 'mental health.'
Conclusion
Getting something off your chest, saying how you feel can be invigorating. It can also make you feel better with what you deal with. It can be the difference between being calm and dealing with anxiety. Expressing how you feel is important.
My fears about really talking about my mental health issues has kept me paralysed for most of my life. I couldn't seem to get beyond my fears, doubts and insecurities that plague so many of us.
I have spent half of my life in counselling, talking about so many different things besides what was really bothering me. The hardest part is that people who don't have any of these issues don't understand what it's like and they just don't get it.
There has been a lot more talk about what it's like and how to deal with mental health, but there's still a long ways to go on dealing with the stigmas attached to mental health issues.
I know there's a lot more that I can do to help people better understand, like to write a book I have in mind, but I also have to battle the mindset of 'why even bother' that I have been battling all of my life.
Don't be put off Randy. Speaking from experience, my mind also continues to talk back. There are times when I struggle to play those thoughts down. I hate how I'm always on guard.
Finding out now about Autism and my cerebral palsy means that I'll always have to deal with controlling and keeping my emotions in check.
You're not to blame for what your parents have done. But it is important you stay focused on what you can do and bring those who you can speak to into your confidence; so they can help you when you need it.
Mental health is hard, because it's not something others will always see or understand, but their responses towards us very much make it our problem. But it's important to keep talking.
What I do know is that when you surround yourself with people who want to help you you'll feel so much better about what you deal with.
If we only have one meaningful conversation with someone this year it should be about our mental health, as it affects us all at one point in our lives.
Talking about how we feel can help us work out how to deal with negative thoughts and feelings and make positive changes.
We've a long way to go but I do feel the tide has turned on the stigma around mental health. Thankfully mental health has now become a mainstream issue.
You and your website are certainly making an important contribution to the debate of mental health.
Thanks, I also believe my blogs and website certainly add to the debate and help others with mental health.
I think you're right about mental health becoming main stream. But it is important we all learn to say how we feel. That's where mental health starts. Just asking someone how they are can change how they think and feel with what they deal with.
But I still think we have a long way to go. It's important where we make changes we continue to stay focused so that also continue to move forward.
Two steps forward and one step back is fine. The idea is that even though we may take a step back, we still continue to move forward nonetheless.
We have good intentions but patterns are hard to break and even with good intentions, it's easy to revert back into a slump when we're stressed.
Mental health has been a topic discussed widely among nations due to the increase in the number of people being affected by Mental illness.
Even though there is alarming rise of mental health issues all over the world, people are still reluctant to start talking about mental health, due to the stigma attached to it.
Like you mentioned in your blog, I believe initiating conversations and defending for mental health is the need of the hour. People should start talking about it, like they would discuss any other health issues in their country.
Only by doing so, can we start meaningful conversations and find solutions to combat the problem. In my personal experience, I have felt people benefit more from peer supporters.
Peer supporters are people who have similar experience of mental illness like the help seeker and who is presently in his recovery process. I think people would benefit more from listening to people who have had illness in the past, get inspired and become hopeful about their recovery journey.
Your blog will definitely help people who are searching for solutions for their mental health problems and also make them believe that they are not alone in the process.
I think we need to work with the community more in fighting stigma and promote mental health literacy at all levels. The problem in the community is that once they have labelled a person with illness, it remains the same even when they show considerable improvement in their recovery.
It is sometimes difficult to handle such cases where the person would have achieved a considerable recovery stage and sent to his community but face non-acceptance from them.
Hi Arun and welcome to the site. You're right and I agree. Peer support where people provide knowledge, experience, emotional, social or practical help to each other is exactly what is needed. It would go a long way to help those who need emotional support.
Where childhood is the catalyst for mental health problems to start, parents and institutions like school must work together to allow for spiritual and emotional growth. Schools in general don't promote spiritual or emotional growth. I believe that is pivotal to mental health.
Having struggled with mental health issues through anxiety brought about through what I know to be Autism now, I believe our upbringing, environment and parentage particularly, play a bit part in mental health wellness.
Had my emotional health been dealt with as a child, it wouldn't have taken me this long to work through my own mental health issues. Whatever emotional or mental health issues we have, it's important we're able to manage the condition so that we can function in our lives.
I agree with you, there is still a stigma around mental health as there is a stigma around 'things that makes us appear different such as sexuality, race or religion.'The whole being different thing must be embraced in society and the wider world and as you say we must start talking about it.
Mental health issues always starts in childhood. Therefore, it is important parents learn to communicate openly with their children regardless of their own issues.
Thanks for posting. I'd love to see you back on the site again.
Mental health issues are increasing day by day. Most of us do not know how to resolve it and people are really ashamed to talk about mental health, due to the stigma behind it.
Many times mental health issues are becoming the underline cause of many physical illnesses. For instance, anxiety and tension can increase blood pressure level and also reduce our metabolic rate.
I think an open conversation about mental health issues even from childhood can eliminate stigma. As you said Ilana, parents and teachers need to work together to improve spiritual and emotional growth.
They also need to teach students how to accept failures because life will not be a bed of roses. Some times it is very difficult to accept failures and that can cause anxiety or depression. Thus moulding needs to start from childhood.
Hi Hima and welcome to the site. Yes, I agree moulding needs to start from childhood. I also believe that open conversation about mental health, if there are mental health issues will eliminate stigma in time.
I can only speak from my own experiences of course, but parents and children need to be open and honest and they do need to be able to talk about things. As a child I was always looking and wanted to talk about my disability, to understand my emotions behind my neurological and physical difficulties.
If parents are open and talk about the things that matter to their children, their children will learn it's okay and normal to talk about things. But parents tend to parent as they have been parented as their parents before them.
Sadly, where parents don't talk or learn to support their children emotionally that cycle will continue with the children into their adolescent years and beyond.