Your Mental Health, Your Choice: Let’s End the Stigma
Making an attempt to explain the state of mind of a person experiencing mental health issues in layman's terms + what to do about it.
This is Juhu Beach in Mumbai on normal days.
The incessant kiss of the wind, the sun dipping below the horizon, a sea of happy faces, excited vendors, and alluring food stalls describe Juhu Beach the best. The aura is mesmerising.
And here’s a sight on not-so-normal days — Powerful and irresistible waves roaring at full decibels.
And here’s the aftereffect of the high tide — A solid mat of garbage laid on the golden dust.
Something similar happens in the case of mental health issues [Depression, anxiety, etc].
Imagine the mind as the sea. In it, we trash insult, injury, abuse, betrayal, torture, societal pressure, unmet desires, shattered dreams, guilt, and so on.
You see, the trashes do not float on the sea surface all the time. Hence giving a sense of normalcy. Similarly, the trash dumped in the mind does not float on top of the mind all the time. That’s why you come across a depressed person who smiles, loves, laughs, jokes, etc.
At times one or two pieces of trash do float on top but that’s just a fraction of what’s lying under the sea. To others, this small quantity looks negligible and to the affected, it feels manageable enough to pull it back down under the sea with a gravity of smile or happy moment one is experiencing.
Real struggle happens when a high tide triggers inside. Depending on the intensity of high tide, the mind pukes out a few hundred or tonnes of trashy memories on the surface. When it’s a few hundred talking to friends or meditation or mindfulness helps. But if puking happens too often then friends or mindfulness may not prove effective enough. The same will not prove effective if you want to clean a tonne of trash. The best approach in such times will be seeking professional help i.e. Psychologist/Psychiatrist. Depending on your situation they will treat you with Psychotherapy [Talk therapy]. If required they may prescribe medication as well.
I would strongly recommend seeking professional help. It heals the best. We humans experience a myriad of feelings.
A cocktail of feelings at times makes our minds louder, hearts noisy, and tongues silent.
When someone makes an attempt to express themself or to a friend or a close one… voice gets choked, the brain feels foggy, heart breathes out loud and hard. It feels difficult to weave a proper statement so as to speak our hearts out.
When one hits a state like this, an expert who understands the complex world of feeling and mental processes can be the best listener you can lean on for support. I would recommend visiting a Psychologist/Psychiatrist to resurrect.
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