The Mental Health Stigma…

Michelle Flowers

4 min readAug 8, 2021

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 ‘𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃’ 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐮𝐩?

If I can be more specific,

HOW ARE YOU 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑳𝑳𝒀 DOING?

Many of us, when we have a physical ailment either

go get over the counter medication

go visit the doctor

Many of us, in an effort to take care of our physical body either

exercise

eat healthy

MOST of us, when asked “How are you doing?” either

Pretend we are fine

Come on, admit it.

I know, some of you are happy and life is great and you don’t ever have a bad day…… this post is not for you….well, then again

I want to magnify the point that we as a society have this ‘𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑔𝑚𝑎’ around mental health …..

Why do we have to be so secretive if we are hurting

emotionally?

Why do we disguise our mental pain with fake smiles?

Google the stats, where ever you reside on planet earth.

You will be floored by the number of people that suffer with mental health issues and the devastating effects it has on everyone.

Mental health issues don’t only apply just to schizophrenia. Depression, anxiety, phobias, OCD, bipolar disorder, paranoias, dementia, etc. ….There are many many struggles we all face at some point in our life.

Unfortunately, many find ways to cover up their issues so as not to be seen as “crazy”, “weak”, “weird”, and the list goes on.

We MUST stop this

If you suffer with anything that effects your quality of life, then please seek assistance.

If you know someone suffering, encourage them to get help.

The IGNORANCE of those who play down mental illness, MUST NOT effect one’s necessity to reach out for help.

The more we talk openly about our struggles, the more the stigma will dwindle.

Oh and guess what? If you are going thru anything YOU deem hard to handle alone like a

pandemic,

divorce,

sickness of a loved one,

caring for an elder parent,

grief,

loss of a job,

parenting a special needs child,

high stress job,

aging,

a physical diagnosis,

ANYTHING……..ANYTHING………ANYTHING…..

then seek help.

Many times we think “Oh, a lot of people deal with this, so I should be able to as well….”

Do not compare how other people handle life situations, because what matters is

YOUR EXPERIENCE AND HOW IT AFFECTS YOU!

𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳, 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗔𝗺 𝗜 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗗𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴?

Being proactive with your mental health starts with being 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 with yourself.

How do I know this feeling, well, let’s just say, I tried isolating myself and hiding that I was going thru a divorce because I was embarrassed to show my emotional pain.