Before I go into giving a brief insight into this dreadful disease let me first show my stance on society's attitude toward mental health. Mental health deals with wellness of the mind/psyche. Everything we do depends on the brain/mind in order for it to be carried out effectively. Therefore if the mind is sick the whole body is as well. That is why it is incumbent upon the health service providers of any given country to invest into this segment of its services and implement measure to ensure that its citizens mental health is well taken care of. Is this just a pipe dream? Does a country really has its mental health department at the top of its priority list or are other services deemed more vital are pushed a step ahead of it?
Society has stigmatized mental illness for far too long. I believe the health system of a country is to be partially blame for this since it seems to slight it and treats it like a second class citizen where monetary investment into educational programs is concerned. I hardly think enough effort is being put toward public awareness of the importance of diseases associated with the mind and educating the public about signs, symptoms, and possible solutions to curb this disease.
Of the diseases to plague humankind, I have seen enough evidence pointing to the fact that it is acceptable by our society to be diagnosed with CANCER, AIDS, DIABETES, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, ETC ------> BUT it is not ok to have a mentally associated illness. When this becomes evident the person suffering from this disease is being immediately judged, looked down on, and even scorned - Often being perceived as SOCIETY REJECTS!
Here are a series of tough questions. 1. Who gave us the moral right to decide which disease is good and which ones are bad? Isn't this itself contradictory when the very term disease both denotes and connotes NEGATIVE/OPPOSING/ANTAGONIZING that which was suppose to function healthy? Aren't all illness designed to potentially carry us six feet under the ground? If so why favour some over others when they are all killers?
I am no expert on mental health but having personally struggled with diseases of such nature I can safely say that many people are afraid to come forward and say they are mentally ill due to the fact that they are immediately placed in a box wearing the scornful label "CRAZY" or "COO COO" connoting negativity to the highest degree. Society places us at the bottom of its social ranks and makes us feel as though we are unworthy of living a successful life like the rest of the citizens who don't have this problem.
I am of the view that a LACK OF EDUCATION about mental illness/wellness is responsible for the misconceptions related with how people with this defect are treated. First of all it is important for us to note that there are a series of diagnosis of mental illness than what the average person really knows. There are depression, post traumatic disorder, bipolarity, etc. Why group all of these I to mean "crazy" when they all have their own signs and symptoms and affect the person differently?
Are we as a society part of the problem or solution? Do we contribute to a person's mental illness by the way we treat them?
I hope that this brief introduction to mental illness will have opened your eyes to the importance of mental health to the productivity of a country and the role you play in it.
In the next post we will examine #DEPRESSION in terms of it nature and how it affects an individual.
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