My purpose in writing this is to help others break free from feeling the stigma of mental health. The definition upon googling stigma is this: “a mark of disgrace associated with a particular person, circumstance or quality, or a visible sign or characteristic of disease”. In psychology, stigma is defined by verywellhealth.com as “a negative attitude or idea about a mental, physical or social feature about a person or group that implies social disapproval.” Stigma leads to discrimination, stereotypes, poor treatment of people, misunderstandings, ignorance, broken relationships, broken homes and even suicide when symptoms become worse and more isolating.
I am not alone in saying us therapists want to reach our hand and hearts out to those who feel the weight, the pain, and the lonliness caused by stigma, or caused by bullying and discrimination and lack of knowledge (ignorance) about mental health. Stigma is tied into much bigger issues and what helps our communities and individuals break-free is knowledge. Knowledge is power. Knowledge is freedom.
If you had diabetes or heart disease (as over 50% of Americans do), would you have a doctor treat it and take their recommendations? I would. And I want American’s to get to the point of automatically saying yes to treating mental health diseases and ailments also. Our brain is another organ in the body. A very special organ that we cannot live without just as we cannot live without our heart. Our mind and heart is the very essence of our being, as is the spirit or soul if you believe in that, but that’s for a whole other post. Our mind and heart is our mental and physical strength. Our whole human body depends on both working together in harmony just as a car needs its engine and tires to move. What good is one without the other?
We all can help end stigma right now by talking about it. Talk about it with hope. Share your stories of triumph. Share your stories of defeat. Encourage others to talk about their thoughts and feelings, and share yours with others, too. Only then, will we see the suicide numbers come down, crime numbers come down, broken family numbers decrease, depression and anxiety numbers decrease. We can all help this epidemic seize to exist. There is hope and there is only shame in seeking professional help from counselors, doctors, and therapists if we let shame win by not talking about it.
Getting help for your brain is different in process than that of your body, but both require nurturing, self-awareness and sometimes, professional direction and treatment. The mind body connection is huge and at Lakeview Wellness and at Mental Health Matters Blog- we get it. We strive to educate and encourage others to see this connection. You feel it in your mind, your body activates-hormones release with our emotions. Sometimes it feels like we are physically drowning or in pain when it is emotional-this is normal. And that is okay. It is okay to not be ok.
It is okay to talk about loss, death, anxiety, depression, hallucinations, trauma, emotional pain and whatever else this life we all live in throws our way. We are not meant to handle it alone. Any of it. Reach out today. It is confidential, we respect your privacy and we want to help. We have all been through mental illness in some form and life struggles. Even us therapists and doctors. There is hope and healing! Therapists have the tools and knowledge about what is most effective to help you get better. It can get better. It will. Reach out, we are ready to support you.
Tessa Fultz, LICSW (Therapist @ Lakeview Wellness Counseling www.lakeview-wellness.com tessa@lakeview-wellness.com
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