Mental Health – Speaking Out About It

How many of us in this wide world struggle on a daily basis?

I can hold my hand up proudly and admit that I struggle almost every day in one way or another. So often we are asked ‘How are you?’ and how many of us just give the programmed response of; ‘I’m alright’ even when we aren’t. It takes far more courage to say ‘actually no, I’m not alright.’

Many people suffer with mental health on a daily basis and this can range in monumental differences. Some have conditions like Anxiety or Depression, others may be dealing with stress, for some it may be just a feeling of not being able to cope with today.

Every one of these issues is of equal importance, but we are not told this. We are told from a young age not to cry, to just struggle on through the day, to not question or talk about our feelings and, most of all, to not let them show.

This is so harmful to us! Sometimes we need to cry, sometimes we should stop forcing our way through the day, we should question and talk about our feelings and we certainly should let them show.

A lot of people hear those two words “Mental Health” and instantly panic, thinking it must mean that something is gravely wrong inside us. That maybe we are not normal. But let me ask you, what is normal?

We are all a vast beautiful kaleidoscope of different ideas, opinions and feelings. Normal is subjective to the individual, not the collective. Mental health is not something to approach with fear or something to try and hide in the loft with all those old photo albums.

It is something that should be talked about, discussed, shouted from the rooftops if necessary. Nothing can be understood or improved until it is brought out into the light and seen for what it is. Your mental health is not something to hide away.

Most seem to think that it is each person’s own responsibility to say if they are struggling. We can’t see into each other’s minds (as my own mother frequently said ‘I’m not a mind reader’) so we do need to ask for help. However, mental health can be hard to talk about in itself, so add to the mix someone who is already struggling and it is extremely difficult to speak out about it.

So, isn’t it our shared responsibility to reach out to others? to check that they are alright? Whenever I ask someone how they are doing, if I hear, what I call a programmed answer of ‘I’m fine’, I always follow that up with something else.

Even if that is just; ‘are you sure?’ so they know that I really do care how they are. We may not be able to give the exact help that is needed, but just being a willing ear can help so much to someone who just can’t struggle on anymore.

So, I ask you, wherever you may be reading this, next time someone tells you they are fine ask them if they are sure. Do they need to talk? Do they just need some time alone? Do they need a hug?

It can be extremely difficult in this world to say I need help or I just can’t do this anymore but they are the most courageous words I can think of. It takes so much strength to break away from the conventions we are taught and actually just speak out and say; I need help. Your mental health is just as important as your physical health, don’t neglect it.