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Mental Health and Physical Health

Listening and understanding is important.

By Maddie BaldwinPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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Most people should be aware by now that mental illness is becoming popular amongst society. This is a shame. More people are having a battle within their own minds and cannot find a way to help themselves out. I blame this on the fact that most people do not know how to help themselves because in the human race we are trained to defend ourselves against physical harm instead of mental harm.

When born, it is made aware to us as humans that if we ever feel sick or unwell, we visit a doctor and they prescribe the medications or methods to help us improve our physical health. However, not many people can explain to us how to solve our mental health. Inside our minds is a world where sometimes we do not even know ourselves, and it is scary to think we have thoughts and actions that do not feel like our own. When we go to doctors or psychiatrists, sometimes it can be a place to get out our emotions, but other times it seems as if we are just getting pushed drugs. Do not get me wrong, I believe that some types of mental illness such as anxiety should use meds as a way to help them cope, however I do not often look at it as a permanent solution. When you break your leg, you must allow yourself to learn to walk again. When you break the walls of your mind, you must allow yourself to be you again. I wish more people were trained in this world to understand how difficult it is to walk through life fighting yourself. Medications are not a permanent solution to the fear and anger you feel inside of your mind.

If we treated physical illness as we treated mental illness, not many people would find themselves better. The push we give people who suffer from physical illness, we must give to those who suffer from mental illness as well. I think it is important to try to understand how one feels in that situation and take the precautions to aid them. As a society a lot of people shame mental illness and a stigma surrounds it. If you can talk about your broken leg, why can't I talk about my broken mind? If we all listened and learned from each other, the world of mental illness would be a better place.

We could all open up and discuss what we have tried to do to cope, and the experiences we have had. Mental illness does not have to be a negative aspect of life. It can be one that brings people together in order to help each other, but we all need to have a more open mind. It makes me feel more comfortable to speak to someone who understands how I feel than speaking to someone who will tell me to "get over it, it will be okay tomorrow." For someone who does not know if they will see a tomorrow, this statement makes a person feel as if their struggles are not being validated. I believe if we lived in a world where we validated each other instead of trying to be better than each other, or ignore each other then we would be in a better stance with regards to lots of aspects of health.

It is important to want to understand and listen to each other instead of judging others based on what they have been through or how they appear. Those of us who walk around with a smile on our faces may be broken down inside just trying to hold on. We are all affected by mental illness in some form, whether it be ourselves, our friends, or our family. Mental illness can take a lot from a person, and it takes even more to stand up to it and attempt to get better. It is easier to get better when you have someone by your side, to push you and encourage you to get through it.

If you bring your friend flowers because you know they're sick and it would cheer them up, the same would go for someone who is feeling unwell in their mind. A conversation, a good shoulder, and support can go along way.

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