Mental illness — elephant in the room
Whave days, weeks and months in a year dedicated to Mental Health Awareness. One of the gigantic strides in the way of calling the attention of the world, to the issue of mental health.
It is the time to shout out loud so that the stigma and shame attached to mental illness is immediately addressed and banished.
Awareness will lead the way to early diagnosis, intervention, professional care and family support. The question is: Should anyone who is diagnosed with cancer be feeling ashamed? If not, then why should anyone suffering from bipolar or depression or even schizophrenia feel so?
According to the World Mental Health Association more than 350 million people across the world suffer from mental health issues but only a fraction of them are officially reported.
Records state that globally the number of suicides every year is increasing. This is a matter of great concern.
Breast cancer was rarely heard about earlier, but these days thanks to media and the regular awareness campaigns these diseases are no longer unfamiliar or dreaded.
Same can be achieved for mental health. It is in the interests of any country and its people that government as well as private entities deliver the information as to, from whom, from where and when to seek help, enabling everyone to identify the warning signs. It will be extremely beneficial if such information is made available at the government, corporate and educational levels.
People are now vocal about their mental illness. From Hollywood actress Glen Close admitting depression to the overcoming of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD by Michael Phelps the swim champion or the legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s dyslexia are all proof of it. Thanks to people like them, mental illness is accepted like any other physical illness.
Initiatives to spread awareness by conducting seminars, mental health fairs, and talks by experts should be encouraged in colleges, schools, universities, private and government offices. The day when we will see organising of free mental health screenings as often as the other free physical health checkups, we will be able to claim that our society no longer considers mental illness a taboo or stigma.
Media has come out as the hero in raising breast cancer and cervical cancer awareness on a large scale. I believe that if it does the same for mental illness, we will see a happier society.