Thursday 10 October 2013

The Thing about Mental Health

We think. We reason. We emote. We believe. We hope. We dream. We fantasise. We relate. We talk. We listen.

All of these things we do with our minds.

The thing about mental health, having a healthy mind is we never really think about it. About our mental health.

We might think about our physical health, and take vitamins, exercise, concentrate on our diet, see a doctor if things are not right.

But the thing about our mental health is that we really don't think about it.

Until it's going. Or gone.

We can't reason. Our fantasies are blurred with reality. We can't sleep. We have nightmares. We have panic attacks. We just cannot stop crying. We are happy one minute in the depths of despair the next. Sometimes we feel we cannot go on.

Sometimes we can't. Sometimes we hurt ourselves. Rarely we hurt others, not directly.

Sorting out our mental health isn't easy. Trial and error. Medication. Self care. Talking therapy. More.

Maybe we could prevent mental health problems if we could just talk.

But there is stigma.

There are stupid people out there who do not understand that like cancer is cells gone mad, mental health problems are chemicals misfiring, pathways disturbed.

Mental health problems are not the fault of the sufferer.

Mental health problems rarely make someone dangerous to others.

Mental health problems hurt. Such deep pain that is often unfathomable. Patterns of behaviour develop that can take years to correct. Or might never be corrected.

Care, love, support, true friendship, this is what can ease a mental health problem.

Talk about it.

It's time to talk