Each year, 13% of children, 46% of teens and 19% of adults experience mental illness. People who are battling with their mental well-being can be your family members, your partner, your neighbors, your friends or even your coworkers or even yourself.
Only half of the people affected by this, obtain treatment frequently because of the social stigma associated with mental health. Untreated mental illness can lead to greater medical costs, worse academic and professional performance, fewer job opportunities and a higher risk of suicide.
What is actually a mental illness?
It is a brain disease that results in cognitive, behavioral, energetic or emotional abnormalities which makes it challenging to manage the day-to-day demands of living. There are two most common mental health conditions namely, anxiety disorders and mood disorders.
Anxiety disorders mainly include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder (panic attacks), generalized anxiety disorder and phobias. Mood disorders include depression and bipolar depression which affect around 10% of adults every year.
What is raising awareness of mental health and how can it be done?
Mental health awareness means working to decrease the stigma associated with mental illness and other mental disorders. Due to misunderstandings regarding mental health and mental fitness, many people experience mental illness secretly, denying receiving proper care. Therefore, it is important to raise awareness about mental health and its treatment among the society.
There are many important benefits of mental health awareness. It helps to understand the symptoms. A diagnosis may be immensely affirming, especially with the issues of mental health that are hard to identify and impossible to uncover. It will make us feel less alone and it will be easy to find therapy as well.
Understanding how mental health affects daily life is essential for family members, partners, and employers. Although having a mental health problem might make life more challenging, it doesn’t always mean that you cannot have a happy and interesting life.
Many people have made the mistake of assuming that mental health is just being concerned about mental disease. However, it is possible to be mentally fit while still having a mental health disorder, and being mentally fit doesn’t always imply not having a mental health condition. So, awareness about mental health means promoting mental fitness.
Unfortunately, a lot of individuals don’t receive the therapy they require due to mental health being stigmatized. Some people aren’t even aware that such therapy exists to address these issues. These folks experience loneliness and disenfranchisement when they silently suffer. Among the top 3 causes of death in the world each year is ‘suicide’, and it has increased in recent past years. Although certain groups are noticeably more at risk than others, this is applicable to all socioeconomic classes, racial groupings, and genders.
Each suicide is tragic. It is not only about financial losses, but it’s also about the trauma the surviving family members of the deceased have to live in.
We never know about the gravity of our efforts but it may be enough to save a life!
Keep spreading awareness to help those suffering in silence!
