That’s a whole lot of people in this survey who are not OK with those of us who have struggled with mental health being their friend, a family member, around their kids, in a job or renting a place to live.
That’s some severe stigma.
And on and on. No matter the struggle, there will always be someone there to tell you what you’re doing wrong to explain why you aren’t getting better.
What if we simply understand that life is hard? Anxiety and depression are hard. Living in poverty is hard. Living with bipolar or chronic illnesses is hard. Going outside isn’t always going to fix that. Being positive isn’t going to fix it; some days will just be hard and miserable.
Mental health is complicated. The solution to one individual case is complicated. The solution to the lack of resources is complicated. Telling people to get more exercise, let alone selling them the diet and workout that will solve all their mental health issues, is a fraud, isn’t it? Saying that we simply need to give everyone free therapy without addressing the serious shortage of therapists is as well.
Anyone who suggests there is a simple solution to the mental health problem facing us as a country and the world is not to be taken seriously.
Kids who show the signs of struggling with mental health issues do a heck of a lot better if we intervene. Sadly, we don’t do it enough. Sometimes it’s because we don’t have any intervention to offer them. There are no resources available to far too many families. Other times parents and adults are afraid to look for help due to the stigma associated with mental health issues, hoping the kid will grow out of it.
We have only recently realized that childhood trauma can change the way our brains develop, or that concussions can change our brains permanently. We are still learning the details of how that happens and in the very early stages of figuring out how to treat that.
Could living in a polluted area do something similar? Of course. Why wouldn’t we believe that? It’s another example of something we are just beginning to understand about our brains and mental health.
There is a direct link between the growing prison population and the lack of mental health resources. The only difference is that we can scare people into paying to build more prisons and keep “dangerous people” away from us. It’s much harder to convince people to invest in prevention through mental health treatment, even if that would be much more effective in protecting everyone.
