Moving with the pretext that you have read the previous article, Welcome back! This is a simple thread of articles about mental health from the perspective of a teenager with limited experience in the psychology sphere but one who is inquisitive by nature and bound to go out of her way to help someone out.
I sat down today with a simple question in mind, what is the future of our mental health? I find the need to emphasize on the ‘our’ primarily because I don’t find myself talking about an individual’s perspective here, but I move to understand it in our country in general. In narrowing it down, we came to understand that an individual can lead a more fulfilling and satisfying life when in control of their emotions and mental well-being. And therefore, logically if every individual was so well-tuned, it would naturally be beneficial to the whole country. But then, since we have so many platforms and various other programs in places, why are we still not benefitting as a whole?
Yet before we dive into the future, we must have a sense of our past. We lived in an era where physical health was an individual’s sole motive. It overshadowed the mental well-being community to a great extent. There was a period where individuals, who showed signs of mental weakness, were forced sometimes against their will to be locked up and tortured under the so-called umbrella of ‘medicine’. Individuals with mental illnesses were seen as a threat to society and more often than not a threat to themselves. However, by the late 1990s, mental illnesses described as depression and anxiety were skyrocketing. With time and the advancement of psychology, we started to understand the importance of mental well-being.
However, today I find myself trying to swallow the hard truth; mental health is one of the most neglected areas of our country. With more than one-third of our population living below the poverty line, a man pushes hard to provide for their family and therefore barely pay attention to a feeble emotional upset in their life. We talk about the importance of speaking up and reaching out and yet at some level do stoop down to judge and label others even if it were at the smallest of things. We try to comfort one another and yet tell others to be strong and snap out of it for a mere ‘attention’ they may be seeking. We tell one another that this is for one’s betterment and yet are quick to hold someone accountable for the cause of our condition. We understand the repercussions an upset state of existence can have upon us and yet some-how we refuse to acknowledge there may be something wrong with us in the first place.
I do not mean to highlight our flaws. I simply tend to put them across in a way that people understand that even though they may be helping a loved one, they may be pushing another towards the tipping point.
Our present nature has however also showered us with the courage to speak up. Inspiring another through one’s own story, using social media or various other platforms such as this one has allowed individuals to take the first step and recognise, they are in need to seek help. We as a generation move towards normalizing mental health and understand the need to sometimes have another untangle our thoughts and emotions for us, so that we may piece them together. We are accepting mental health and are guiding individuals down the path for success.
Many may stumble upon a question of why is it necessary to open up? Our parents may not have even heard of therapy in their time, and there is no denying the hardships they faced. The generations before us survived just fine without twelve sessions of therapy and therefore automatically some move to the assumption that this is unnecessary.
There is no disregarding their opinion, but merely changing the lens they view our world from. With cut-throat competition where each child runs the rat race, hoping to achieve a 99% with no practical knowledge achieved of the world. One trying to make it on their own and trying out for a job interview with thirty overqualified candidates. The constant desire, nay the need to do better not for themselves but the world around them judging and critiquing every move. The constant need to please everyone, to be aware of what others may think. To fit in the box that society has created for one, and to rise above social hierarchy. One of the few things that run to a teenager’s mind at least, at some point you’re bound to seek advice or rather guidance and that brings us to the answer to our question.
And yet the question remains, what about our future? In highlighting whatever I have spoken about in this article, one comes around to understand that humankind has in the past trod lightly around the topic of mental health. And yet today with advancing technology and lack of human interaction, we are heading to a more challenging world. We are heading towards a world of ‘disconnect’, one filled with limited social interactions that will cause individuals to struggle with keeping balanced mental well-being. The pandemic will give rise to a new to another sinister pandemic, one filled with individuals struggling to maintain a good sense of mental health.
And yet, not all hope cannot be lost. Before going through a dozen articles telling us about our own future, why not start to shape our own? I could ramble on about how we must learn from the mistakes of our past, and yet the only thing I would choose to highlight is that mental health is not our weakness. As we can learn to understand and imbibe this in our daily lives, we have ensured a brighter and more productive future.
All it takes is one step of courage and acceptance and I hope to take one of those with you through these articles.
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