SILENCE AND STIGMA

Suicide.. The word suicide caught your attention, didn’t it? The truth is suicide catches everyone’s attention. It’s the actions that lead up to suicide that go unnoticed. Every 40 seconds on average someone on our planet would take their own life. Four out of five people suffers from mental illness in their lifetime. Statistics state that 90% of suicide are caused by a treatable or temporary mental illness. Why is it that people continue to suffer in silence waiting for death? Perhaps the main reason that people do not seek treatment is the stigma surrounding mental health. Sadly, this is widespread in today’s society. The stigma attached to mental illness is so strong in Nepal that most people would not seek help when they need to.

Mental illness aren’t choice. Break the silence. Break the chain of stigma. Lend a listening ear. Be kind. Lend a hand to save life.

If we just remain silent about the epidemic of mental disease in Nepal tens of thousands of people will continue to suffer in silence. I think it is time to start thinking about mental health problem in the same way as any other medical problems. If you had a friend or family member who was physically unwell, telling them that “you need help” would be kind and supportive advice why doesn’t the same hold for encouraging someone to see a psychologist?

MENTAL HEALTH STIGMA LOOKS LIKE

1. Everyone has anxiety, some people are just stronger than you are.
2. Mental illness is just an excuse to live life off benefits and not contribute to society.
3. Therapy and Medications are just scams, you don’t need all that.
4. Kids and teens can’t have mental illness, what have they got to worry about in life?
5. What do you mean” you can’t get out of bed”, it’s not like your legs aren’t working.
6. Mental illness is just attention seeking.
7. Mental illness is not disease and so on…..

If we don’t act to change our perception towards mental illness, there will be no real change with the stigma that’s associated with it

WAYS TO REDUCE STIGMA ATTACHED TO MENTAL HEALTH

1. Talk openly about mental health.
2. Encourage equality between physical and mental illness.
3. Be positive mental health role model.
4. Do not label or stereotype people with mental illness.
5. Show compassion and love for those with mental illness.
6. Educate yourself and others about mental health.
7. Choose empowerment over shame.
8. Be honest about treatment normalize mental health treatment just like other health care.

The stigma associated with mental illness creates an environment where people are reluctant or unable to get help they need. Breaking stigma is important. It is a form of suicide prevention which is the second leading cause of death in youngsters. Let others know when they are stigmatizing mental health. Don’t silently endorse stigma by saying nothing. People with mental health condition deserve just as much support and compassion as the people with physical conditions. Having a mental disorder is even harder when people assume you can just ” get over it” . I truly hope that in my life time things will change. I hope that mental disorder stigma will become history. The field of evidence based clinical psychology is relatively young, So, perhaps it’s understandable that the world hasn’t caught on yet. However, we can all do our share. One way to start is for us to change our attitude towards mental health.

Mental illness aren’t choice. Break the silence. Break the chain of stigma. Lend a listening ear. Be kind. Lend a hand to save life.