Communication About Mental Health is Necessary

Brea Jones/ Staff Writer

With mental health awareness on the rise it is important for everyone to know the basics of mental health and how to help those who are dealing with it.

It is unrealistic and naive to think that everyone has to know how to handle every situation involving mental illnesses because of not every person is the same. People cannot expect others to walk on eggshells for them, that is not the world we live in.    

While people without mental illnesses need to educate themselves about mental health, people with mental disorders have to learn how to casually educate others who don’t take the time to educate themselves.

The world is cruel and unforgiving. As harsh as it may sound, generally, no one cares about people with mental health problems unless they are a celebrity, someone they know, or attempts to harm themselves.

Life is too quick to constantly have to tiptoe around someone because you aren’t sure what will set them off. This may seem sad for some but if it doesn’t we don’t speak up and explain to people what is bothering us who can we truly blame other than ourselves.

People that we interact with on a daily basis may do things that affect us and yet we choose to suffer in silence to avoid seeming problematic.

It is not fair to blame and guilt trip someone, silently or otherwise, because you have a mental illness that they are uneducated about. We have to learn and respect ourselves enough to speak up and inform those we are close to when they do or say outlandish things.            

Sometimes people do and say things that may not be okay simply because they don’t know it is affecting someone. It is important that we began to educate people who may not know better.

At the same time, those who notice they make someone uncomfortable when they do or say things should take initiative and ask that person if what they did bothered them.

If you have the slightest relationship with, a coworker, distant relative, or someone you have to regular interactions with you shouldn’t want that person to be uncomfortable around you when it could be avoided.

Depending on the severity of the disorder, I don’t believe that people with mental health problems should be treated any differently. Out of the 43.8 million U.S adults live with some form of mental illness, according to Nami.org, and in most cases you wouldn’t even be able to notice it.

Each person with mental health issues handles situations differently and has different triggers.

Triggers are often subtle and diverse. I think people forget that mental illness is an internal battle. Small avoidable things may trigger someone.    

We have to learn the difference between ignorance and uneducated because there is a difference in this aspect. Educating those who are unaware of how they may be hurting someone is the first step. It’s important we learn how to coincide without blaming each other for problems that we could solve on our own.

DISCLAIMER:

The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of Panther Press Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

Photo by Jared Rice on Unsplash