Mental Health Awareness Month: Ending the Stigma
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and it is a valuable time to discuss the stigma surrounding mental health as a consequence of misconceptions about mental illness
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which places an emphasis on having important discussions about mental health, especially since 1 in 4 Americans over the age of 18 have some type of diagnosable mental illness, according to the National Institute of Health. This statistic covers the entire population, and college students, including Marist students, belong to this statistic. I belong to this statistic. At face value, this statistic doesn’t hold much humanity behind it, but the numbers behind this statistic are people. In college communities particularly as we begin to find ourselves, we each develop our individual stories when it comes to our mental health. Whether mild or severe, our collective experiences make it important to have conversations like this to destigmatize mental health, which comes as a consequence of misconceptions about mental illness. Below are a few common misconceptions of mental health that I’d like to debunk.
“Have you tried to just be happy? Just look on the brightside; it can be worse. ”
For some, the idea of just being happy, or finding a different perspective can seem commonplace and expected. However, the idea of “just being happy” is far more difficult to do, and is rooted in a physical inability to. For people diagnosed with depression, the chemical imbalances within the brain create symptoms that span a wide range of mental symptoms like hopelessness, anxiety and fear in addition to physical symptoms like fatigue, weight loss and social isolation. As depression is a psychological illness, it can take many forms, including Major Clinical Depression, Postpartum Depression or Bipolar Depression. To someone who hasn’t experienced, or hasn’t known someone with depression, to just “be happy” seems obvious, but it is deeper than that. Depression is an illness that requires care akin to a broken limb, and to tell a person with a broken arm to shake it out seems silly, so to ask someone with depression to just be happy is just as unproductive, and results in stigmatization of the illness. In addition, this misconception raises the concern of toxic positivity, in which people try so hard to remain positive that they ignore their feelings and portray a facade of happiness. This can be even more harmful to those with depression, who physically have trouble feeling enjoyment due to chemical imbalances of serotonin and dopamine, and gives off the misconception that people are happy all of the time without a mental illness.
“It’s no big deal; why are you scared of that?”
This saying heard by many who struggle with a type of anxiety disorder is invalidating at best because it minimizes their illness. Anxiety disorders include but are not limited to Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic disorders, Phobia Related disorders and Agoraphobia, all of which can be completely debilitating. Worrying about a specific event or stressful time period is a common aspect of life that can be uncomfortable, but for those with anxiety disorders, a situation that may seem minuscule to some can cause unbearable worry in addition to symptoms like hyperventilation, digestive problems, insomnia and a rapid heartbeat. Because anxiety disorders are diagnosed when the worry becomes uncontrollable, telling someone with an anxiety disorder that their worry is negligible mocks the nature of their illness. It is important to understand that with anxiety, the invalidation of the struggles that people face from persistent anxiety can sometimes make it worse, so listening to the person experiencing anxiety will do far better for them.
“Stop acting so bipolar!”
An aspect of stigmatization can be using terms outside of their proper context to gaslight and cause distress within someone, and trivializing illnesses like Bipolar Disorder or others is a form of stigma that has made its way into popular colloquialisms. Bipolar Disorder is characterized by drastic swings in mood from highs to lows and its accompanying symptoms associated with mania and depression. Acting “manic”, being “a psycho” or other sayings may seem innocent, yet the implications are potentially more sinister. Bipolar disorders throw people into manic highs, and deep depressions that can be debilitating if not managed. It is a difficult illness with other factors like drugs or alcohol that can exacerbate the issue. A way to end the stigma around mental illness is to be cautious with word choice that involves mental illness as to not trivialize them further no matter the intention.
“Go outside, get a hobby, or take a deep breath. Medication isn’t going to get to the root of your issues.”
Besides the general public having a misunderstanding of mental illnesses, there are also misconceptions around the treatment of mental illness. Therapy, medication or other treatments can be extremely valuable to people who use them, and they can be combined to help treat mental illnesses. For some, therapy may not be enough to cope with mental illness, so psychiatrists can prescribe medication to help alter brain chemistry to create more balance between mood-regulating chemicals. There is no shame in treating any sort of illness to help cope, like antibiotics on a cut, a brace on a sprain, and a pill to help regulate a chemical imbalance in the brain, especially since many mental illnesses result from chemical imbalances only solved by medication. Although all of the above are valid ways to treat illness, one of them tends to be stigmatized more than the other, and it is important to look at treatment of mental health as any other sort of treatment to help a physical ailment.
These are just some of the misconceptions around only a few types of mental illness, as the stigma around mental health continues to be far-reaching. However, with a collective dialogue and effort that continues beyond the month of May, we can lessen the stigma surrounding mental illness. These deliberate efforts to end stigmatization can begin with conversations that happen on a college campus with Marist resources that exist such as Health Services, or outside resources online from crisis phone numbers to online therapy. If you are in need of help, it is available to you, and there is no shame in getting help when you need it.
Therapy, medication or other treatments can be extremely valuable to people who use them, and they can be combined to help treat mental illnesses. Source: Total Shape