Mental health, in general, explains how people behave, what people feel and how they think and judge accordingly. Mental health can affect a person’s day-to-day living, their physical health and relationship with others. In short, mental health can affect an individual’s overall way of living.
The World Health Organization states that mental health is more than the absence of mental disorders and even healthcare professionals recognize that mental health conditions do have physical roots whether we notice it or not. “Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.”
Due to a number of reasons, there is a growing call in our society at present for taking care of a person’s mental health status. Supporting them along the way and being reachable at a time of their need, are essentials to support their ability and make them enjoy their life with an ease and positivity. It is a simple act in which a person can balance their activities and responsibilities with proper discipline norms without the stress or anxiety they’d need to face when guided under mental care from their seniors, equals or juniors alike.
While it is true that everyone is at risk of mental illness in different forms, in recent years, there has been an increase in unrelated issues, especially among young individuals. The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that almost one in five adults experiences mental health problems each year. In 2021 alone, an estimated 14.1 million adults in the USA, which was 5.5 percent of the population, had serious psychological conditions.
Some issues
Mental Health and Human Rights
Many individuals from around the globe face mental illness as a major problem to uplift their social aspects and reputation. However, if this is the case and there has been a constant upward graph for psychological torment and mental conditions in the past few years, why is it happening? What’s been so different from 10 years ago for this to be a genuine concern nowadays? These are complicated questions to answer especially due to the fact that people in many cases feel insecure to open up about their ongoing emotions when they are afflicted with this issue. Social and financial issues can play a part in this type of psychological tension, apathetic behaviors from your seniors and even your equals from an early age can lead a person to this stage too.
Adverse childhood trauma, underlying medical conditions and even various biological factors can affect a person’s well-being and mental growth. It’s always important to note that mental well-being depends on a balance of factors and isn’t reliant on a so-called root cause, several factors are at play when it comes to a complicated health related subject such as mental health. There are few obvious ones that we can pin point-- childhood adversity in today’s society plays a big role in these cases, loss of a parent or loved one, parent negligence, child abuse, parental separation-- cannot be rolled out from under the bus when talking about mental health cases, most of which occur at a younger age. Biological factors such as family background and history, and genes passed on from the ancestors can have some impacts on individuals, while their insecurities, physical ailments such as cancer, diabetes and chronic pain can worsen their conditions further.
Looking from the lens of socioeconomic pressure in this world of neglect, intimidation and oppression to an individual on the pure basis of their gender, ethics, education, occupation and nationality, researchers found out that females could face mental health issues four times lower than that of an average male. Self-harm is not common for socioeconomic pressure. Past actions lead to past guilt, past guilt leaves a scar in the present which in turn leads to self-harm in the future. The feeling of not succeeding, guilt and even peer pressure given to an individual from their own family, friends, loved ones and even teachers can affect an individual’s perspective on the world around them, existential thoughts are a cause of the issue too.
Yet the question still does not have a proper answer, what’s been different in the last few years compared to now for this increase in mental illness? After all, the things the article has mentioned so far has happened for millennia before, most articles like this one presented so far fail to mention one of the most crucial reasons for why this is an increasing issue as of right now. The social aspect is a genuine concern but not the social pressure alone, primates and even humans like ourselves are social creatures, we need to be around others of our own species or at least that share a bond with us for us to overcome our anxiety and loneliness. Social isolation is a massively overlooked issue for mental illness, while yes pressure from others can feel like the biggest burden to cross your way, isolation isn’t far behind. No matter how introvert you are, you can never truly be away from those you love before you miss them again. Social media has been the biggest long form way of communication for a decade now and even that isn’t enough to last you indefinitely. Physical care, physical touch and physical love is all necessary for a person’s mental growth and psychological care no matter what.
While talking about mental growth, an overarching enhancer for mental trouble are mental disorders, anxiety, panic disorder, phobias, PTSD, OCD, Schizophrenia disorders, mood disorders and conversion disorder are all key factors to take into account when dealing with a mentally unstable person. Disorders such as these don’t just give mood swings and torment, they also can be used against a person from various individuals misunderstanding.
Remedies
Diagnosing a mental health disorder is a multi-step process. A doctor or health professional may begin by looking through the person’s medical history and through various physical trials and exams. The professional will perform a psychological evaluation asking questions such as the person’s symptoms and how it may affect the person’s life. Most mental health care professionals use the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, to make a proper diagnosis.
Deciding on a treatment for this situation can be proven to be difficult. As a mental health issue is subjective, there is no proper “cure” for this “disease” and instead can most times relate entirely on the patients’ communication with the doctor.
Though the treatment is subjective, a few common types of treatments are present. Psychotherapy and medication such as antidepressant drugs can provide a significant amount of help to those suffering.
Above all, self-help however is the best treatment a person can provide to themselves. Self-realization and change are the best overall outcome for these types of individuals, by ensuring them with confidence that they can recover from their own physical problems and mental conditions. By combining self-care, professional support, and potentially crisis intervention, individuals can navigate mental health crises and work towards recovery and well-being.
In summary, mental health is a cognitive, behavioral and emotional effect on an individual and the increase of mental health issues is still ongoing without a definitive answer to why its increased or how it can be cured, those that suffer from it could still have a chance if those around them can provide them help in those dire times. The most of us individuals can do is focus on what we see as our ambition in our life and use the comments of both the hateful and the helpful to our own advantage, motivating and supporting those that undergo this form of issue and also avoid it ourselves, explain their cocoon shape in a way they understand for them to crawl out on their own learning curve while being there to be a blossoming cherry tree on stormy nights and rainy days, to be the brick wall that stands between our own health, and the mind numbing oppression and neglect. This is how we can change the life of our own and those around us, not through financial aid, not through physical check-up but rather by being a beacon of admiration of our own and other like-minded individuals’ motivation.