Pounding the Mental Health Stigma Together

Two words: mental health. For many individuals, these two words have a negative connotations because the stigma still continues. Individuals dealing with mental health issues are often stigmatized which causes them to be afraid to seek help. This can also delay treatment if a person has a diagnosis that requires immediate intervention. Many religious ethic groups such as Christians also suffer silently. Because of the pressure to follow a certain value or belief, some Christians view mental illness as a spiritual issues. Christians then follow their belief and never seek help. I use to be guilty of this myself until I learned that this is a stigma that needs to be broken from the church and religious groups. Our health is important and must be taken care of whether it’s our mental, physical, or spiritual health. Mental is just as important as physical because the mind works in unity with the body. So why does the majority of society abandon their mental state? Since I’m guilty myself, it’s difficult for me to give an unbiased response. Now that I’m learning more about the significance of our wellbeing, I’m pounding the stigma and working towards bringing awareness.

The human mind and body works in conjunction. If one is bad then it affects the other. The health of the mind can even cause a physical illness to arise. I’ve witnessed this numerous of times. Due to the pressure of life, it can be a challenge for people to prioritize their mental health. The pressure to be strong and fearless 24/7 makes it difficult. The pressure of timeframes and comparison makes it difficult. And the pressure as a Christian to be perfect makes it a challenge. In honor of mental health awareness month, I want to challenge everyone to come together to pound the stigma. For the ones suffering in silence I want you all to know that I’m here for you and you’re not alone. It’s okay to acknowledge your depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, or other diagnosis. It’s okay to accept it. What’s NOT okay is dismissal. It’s not okay to hide or run from it. It’s not okay to suffer from it. Whether you are a Christian or nonbeliever, everyone deserves help. Mental illnesses doesn’t discriminated and can affect anyone—Black, white, catholic, atheist, etc.

As a Christian, I use to follow the belief that prayer is the only answer. Now, I’m learning that prayer is important but therapy and treatments are also needed. Mental health professionals are here for a reason. God wants us to use the resources we have on earth to get better along with having faith. We must all play our role to pound the misconceptions of mental health. As mental health awareness month comes to a close, I challenge all my readers to be an advocate. For the ones who are bias, I challenge you to educate yourself on the topic before judging. I challenge you to stop undermining someone’s mental health concerns and to practice active listening. For the ones who are suffering, I challenge you to be accepting of your diagnosis and to seek help. As for me, I’m going to challenge myself to be consistent with attending therapy. Most importantly, I’m going to challenge myself not to abandon my mental wellbeing. We are all in this together and we must be a team so that the stigma can be erased.

Let’s stop the shame and lets pound the Mental Health stigma together!

Tips to improve your mental wellbeing.

• Practice self-care

• Seek professional help (therapy, counseling, support groups, etc).

• Become physically active

• Get more sunlight exposure — sunlight triggers the release of serotonin which plays a role in mood regulation.

• PRAY