World Mental Health Day

On the occasion of 'World Mental Health Day', I am going to deviate a bit from my usual fashion and lifestyle blogging posts to draw your attention to something which is a a serious concern for us yet the most misunderstood subject...Yes, I want to talk about "the mental health"and how it is interpreted by the commoners.
Let me start with a short incident that occurred with me a couple of days back. My reserved driver one day finally got the courage to ask me what am I exactly studying and intending to be. As much as I love to talk about my passion for psychology, I was numb for a while wondering how to put a life of a mental health professional. Trying to explain disorders like depression or autism made no sense, therefore I had to go the glamorous way by asking if he had seen 'Dear zindagi' or 'Taare zameen par'. He replied, " those are too boring movies madam, I am a Salman Khan movie fan",an expected reply that came. And then i never realised a movie like 'Kick' would ever come to my rescue. "Oh Jacqueline's role is what you do! Wow so fancy ma'am."

Well the world of mental health professionals is not so fancy but what's more important is those who are the sufferers of a mental health condition. Let me tell you, it's not the condition that is bad. What worse is the tag that comes along being called as 'mental'  or in other words - insane that hurts.
We live in a country with 74.04% literacy rate where the entire emphasis of education system is to know about geometry and physics but not about behaviours and feelings of a human, or the emotions so compassion for fellow students who are not as privileged as other kids in terms of their disabilities. I'm pretty sure my driver has heard about the pythagorus theorum or the laws of motion but not what depression is. And therefore he lives a pretty clueless life regarding me. That's because along with the tags of a psychologist, blogger, teacher comes another strong tag with me - Depression.
He might not have the guts to ask but he sure must be wondering when he sees a fashionista, so lamè ,all decked up one day and the other day visiting doctors that he hasnt heard of and make no sense to him. Trust me, doesnt make sense to me either.
I have nights where I cant sleep, days when I dont want to exist, panic attacks , thoughts you might not want to know but out of all this, the most difficult part is to make people aware of the fact that i am going through depression and no, it's not just a bad day or a sad event... it's much more...

How can a psychologist get into depression ?
Apparently a doctor doesnt perform his own surgery And neither is a cardiologist guaranteed he won't have a heart attack. Depression is one of the most common disorders today affecting more than 5 crore people in India (As of 2017 by WHO)
And as much as the awareness and treatments and therapies are available, which is all the cure. The prevention is lacking way behind us. Because people still are out to call it a way to gain sympathy, showing off, gaining attention etc.

When Deepika Padukone came forward with her condition , not everyone considered it as one of her bravest acts and while I am no one to judge her , it does take a lot of courage to be able to bear the tag in this world dominated by social media and judgementalists. It is difficult not only for celebrities but also as the commoners that i am trying to represent here. Where calling yourself a victim of a mental health disorder as basic as anxiety or depression leads to being referred as weak and emotional, irrationaal and insane.Calling in at work and reporting being physically sick is a better option than to share and state the real reason. The inability of a the sufferer to state that one is not able to win over the mind today or a depressive episode has occurred.

And what can we do about it?
It comes back all to awareness. And here is a simple question to ask yourself or anyone. Can you  or the other person explain 5 mental disorders other than depression and anxiety?
Do you or the other person know the various causes of depression and anxiety?
This reminds me of the time a while back when i was too charged up to create an awareness regarding the same and I walked all in confidence with the fact that schools would give me an opportunity to present a lecture on mental disorders are and how one can help people. The story doesnt end that well because none of them actually entertained me as certainly academic progress is more important than developing empathetic skills.
As the so called 'mental' that the society loves to call people like me, the tag has given me a boon to be more kinder,empathetic and to feel things more than I ever thought.

And as a commoner I wish people understand that our life will be much better if only a world would exist where a friend accepts me, and meets for coffee when I'm low, where I can take a leave giving the exact reason and where I dont have to conceal my feelings and thoughts. If only a world exists where 'mental' is not a tag that comes along.
The Mental Commoner
Naomi
Prudentdiva.blogspot.com