A Cultural Stigma on Mental Health : “Why Don’t We Discuss Depression and other Mental Illnesses?”

16 June, 2020 : Depression is being colour blind and constantly being told how colourful the world is. Depression is real; speak up before you give up.”

Depression is one of the most serious problems, so no one should underestimate the severity of it. People who deal with this are not only sad or lonely but much more. Depression makes them feel unmotivated, gloomy, hopeless, upset, and angry. There is something even more that’s much needed to survive a better life. It is mental health! And yes, “Depression is real, speak up before you give up.” All I want is to share everything that I know about depression and how to deal with it. Some of my students shared their loneliness with me.

One of my students asked me, “Sir I am not feeling normal. My partner of three years broke up with me and I am extremely depressed. I need motivation. I want to talk to you about it. Will you listen to me please ?”

Another class ten, SEE waiting student, asked me, “Sir I can’t focus on my studies. I struggle with poor concentration and memory skills and I have almost lost interest in school. Can you help me?”

I receive questions like this often, and I am going to share how I help students express their thoughts and feelings. I asked the first student how long she had felt depressed and she told me about three months. I asked her if she shared her problems with anyone who is close and trustworthy to her, such as her parents, friends, teachers, or other relatives. She told me no so I was curious why she decided to divulge her deepest and most vulnerable thoughts to me because we had only met once about 3 years ago during a career counseling presentation.

I met the second student once while giving her class a 40 minutes motivation lecture four months ago. We connected through social media and talked rarely. Yet, I directly asked her if she shared her problems with her parents. She also said no. I suggested she talk to her parents and get necessary help so that she could process her emotions properly, but she seemed nervous asked me to help her before she shared her problems with her own family members.

Similarly, I met the third student only once, four years back in a group session after she passed SEE and was ready to join college. Now she has already begun pursuing her bachelor’s degree. She had asked me for advice regarding her plans to go abroad for higher education and the process for a dependent candidate visa. I wanted my response to be simple and not fully cloud her judgement, so I had simply suggested her three things:

• First, doesn’t feel rushed to apply to go abroad
• Second, fully researches her options and consults others to make sure that studying abroad would add value to her long-term career opportunities and financial prosperity both in Nepal and overseas,
• And third, she realizes that the dependent visa application process is sensitive in the financial investment and emotional burden. It has the potential to lead to both positive and negative impacts to both the partners for long run so she needed to be sure that they were in mutual agreement.

These are merely some examples that represent different ways that many youths suffer through stress and depression. How tough is it to talk about one’s stress, mental pressure, anxiety and depression and loneliness? Why do most people seem unable to open up with their own family members and close relatives? Why is there such a big fear? Even people that never fear to share their physical health remain silent on their struggles with depression and mental health. So who can you can talk to and share your problems with? Who will listen, understand, and be able to help you?

And the main question remains: How to we fight with the social stigma surrounding mental illnesses? How do we change our social attitude towards mental health problems and towards the people living with mental health related issue? How will we search for a solution?

1. Mental diseases shouldn’t hold Prejudices:

We can’t shame or hate people because they are living with a disease or health complaints, no matter what the disease is. How would you feel if other people treated you as an outcast only because of you are diagnosed with a disease? Why do we add a stigma? Depression and so many other mental health problems do not need to be long term diseases due to their symptoms being temporary, if treated properly. We don’t hesitate or feel any discomfort to visit health care professionals if we have any physical health problems.

We listen to the advice of the doctors and take the medicine we are prescribed. But why is there such a fear and stigma to visit a doctor or counselor to share your stress and depression problems and follow their advice regarding medication and treatment of mental illnesses? There needs to be a collective initiative where all Nepali people are able to accept that mental health should not be seen as a stigma, but rather a treatable illness.”

2. Humanity Matters

Nothing is more important than one’s life and happiness. This is accepted anywhere on this planet despite a person’s economic status, nationality, culture, geography, language, gender, religion etc. We can create a new perspective if we develop the empathy and sympathy towards the families who have lost their son or daughter, father or mother, sister or brother because of suicide and mental health problems. If we are able to feel the pain of an individual who is suffering from stress related mental health issues and feeling forcefully dragged through life with intense mental isolation. If you asked what the greatest religion in the earth is; it is ‘Being in touch with one’s Humanity’. Let’s not make humanity too costly by promoting social stigma towards mental health issue. Happiness is a fundamental human right even though we hardly quote it in our constitutions.

3. Creating Constant Awareness

We should know educate ourselves and understand the underlying realities and myths associated with mental illnesses. Awareness programs and campaigns may be based in small communities and limited to schools, colleges, universities, places of work etc. but we should make feel people that we understand how important every single human being’s right to happiness is. We can make the best use of social media to create awareness on how every person can identify symptoms, know how to receive treatment, have knowledge of preventative practices regarding mental health, and mental health friendly environments. Youth volunteers, celebrities, media professionals, health professionals, social and political leaders need to utilize their platforms to create extensive awareness.

4. Do not be in Denial About your Own Mental Health:

You can’t accept anything by saying ‘No’. Social acceptance of mental health problems are productive from all aspects like people , boost up self confidence of patient , consulting for professional’s help for treatment timely etc. People suffering from the very beginning stages or a person experiencing heavy symptoms of chronic stress and depression should all be vocal and aware of what they are experiencing. It also paves the way for creating a positive mental health awareness environment which allows for supportive and understanding behavior. More importantly the individual with successful recovery history can take lead and motivate others who are suffering which ultimately proves to be effective to overcome the situation with lots of rays of hope. Acceptance regarding mental diseases can contribute towards faster recovery and improves the self-guilt, feelings of humiliation, social isolation, or fear of being outcast by family or society members.

5. Promotion of Self-Help Groups:

Self-help groups are organizations of like-minded people having similar problems regarding any issue people can be struggling through. Such groups are self-organized and spontaneous. Self-help groups aim to share a common platform of mutual support among victims. It also works as motivation to spread the positive messages, experiences, and required skills that can help cope with the challenges faced by an individual. While connecting the issue of mental health and social stigma such groups can unite people and strengthen the voices of those suffering. They can offer judgement free spaces for people to open up and express themselves. Thus, we need to inspire and promote self-help groups from local to international levels to fight the social stigma against mental health issue and people who are suffering from related metal health problem like depression, anxiety etc.

6. Placing a Mental Health Priority:

There are no doubts that people give quality time and pay attention to anything that is of utmost importance to them: like their study, career, relationship, passions, or health. If you honestly give priority to your health you need to also give input towards your mental health, even if you are not struggling with an illness. If we analyze WHO’s definition: “Health” is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. It is clear that without a check to make sure that your mental health is well, you are not fully healthy. So, let’s understand and treat this issue with sincerity not like a short term problem. We need to rethink on our health and mental health policy if necessary.

7. Preventative Mindset:

The slogan “prevention is better than cure” is not relevant only for our physical health. We can take different measures for prevention or minimizing risk of potential mental health problems. For instance, we can sensitize people into caring for their mental health by letting them know the consequences of losing their mental health well being. Minor steps like having a balanced diet, getting enough sleep, drinking sufficient amounts of water, managing one’s relationships positively, engaging with spiritual practices and mindful meditation, participating in social work, sharing your worries with others, and applying stress management tools such as regular physical exercise may help to maintain your emotional stability and happiness followed by sound health.

Participating in preventative actions keeps your health in check and will also allow for you to check in on your relatives and friends to make sure they are doing well. Change begins with each of us individually so let’s do what we can to remove the social stigmas that lead to people not understanding what they are experiencing and in turn, mistreating themselves.

Finally, let’s not make mental health issues a stigma. To anybody going through something, please talk. Please let it out. There are a lot of people who love you, want you, and wish to share life with you. There are lots to cherish about, fight for, and to live pleasantly, beyond making haste decisions to end life. It all depends on how to manage and maintain things to keep up with the perfect illustration of our dreams.

Remember that, each day, each minute, each second counts !

Health is wealth and health is happiness. Believe it, and act on it.

Stay happy. Stay safe. Keep on Sharing Your Feelings. #Corona#