Mental health: Myth or reality
In my philosophy class recently, my teacher raised a question, for us to think over critically: is mental health a natural phenomenon or simply a way for psychiatrists and/or psychologists to make more money. This got me thinking what if it’s all true or what if it is just a seed of doubt placed in our minds against ourselves, to make us flawed and instead of perfect we would always stay flawed in our own eyes.
My take on the subject is that it is a very natural phenomenon, for I myself have faced it head-on. My father like the others wanted me to believe that I was alright and there was nothing wrong with me, but my gut instinct kept nagging me that something in me was in need to be fixed. It was not because I was flawed but because I was constantly thinking about my flaws and exaggerating them. I was so into the darkness that I couldn’t even begin to fill the void inside that was entrapping me. To me, mental health was and is very much natural and real.
So why is it that the need for mental health awareness began so recently? Were these issues not prevalent in our parents’, grandparents’ times? My answer is, yes, they were. Everyone who knows the history of psychiatry probably agrees with me when I say that yes, these issues existed but we called them by other names. Supernatural possessions, hysteria, blasphemous behavior, we are all too familiar with these terms. Yes, this is what they called various mental illnesses back in the day. So, the question of if these illnesses are real and natural or not is negated.
But my whole point is why are we even questioning the realness of mental health? Why are we debating if it exists or is it just a conspiracy instead of helping the patients heal? What good is this debate while children are killing themselves and the youth is scavenging for ways to self-medicate? Shouldn’t we instead help those in need to heal and become whole again? I think we should stop talking and start listening. Just sitting down and listening to a person in need goes a long way too. It can help more than we could ever imagine. It could save a person’s life. So please, can’t we just listen? How easy it is to just listen and save a life. So on humanitarian grounds can't we please, just listen.
M.C. Newberry
Mon 24th Aug 2020 15:26
Mental health - or rather, its opposite - has varied causes and has
to be treated on a case by case basis. Its effects on sufferers and
others are impossible to define and every care should be taken
to negate them in any way possible. My own observations were
from some years ago and provided a personal experience of what
its existence can mean for those dealing with it. Places like Horton
Hospital, with its endless corridors,and extensive grounds, may
have seemed to some like a throwback to less enlightened days.
For those needing to escape the demands and pressures of life -
often a root cause of illness - they provided a retreat from those
demands and pressures, hopefully enabling staff (no doubt under
their own demands and pressures) to deal with each admission
according to diagnosis and need. They were certainly not ideal,
but at least those admitted had somewhere to go that offered a
reprieve and perhaps eventual relief from their own type of illness
in a 24/7 environment.of examination, assessment and treatment.
Set against the proper concern for individual freedom from
restraint and incarceration, there were always concerns that
eventually took precedence, and it appears that "care in the
community" was the result for better or for worse.