Get Inspired, Be Empowered Forums Access to Healthcare Why it is a taboo to talk about mental illness? Reply To: Why it is a taboo to talk about mental illness?

Shubhangini Shaktawat
Participant
@shaktawat9
#31962
Helpful
Up
1
Down
Not Helpful
::

Why it is a taboo to talk about mental illness?
We have somewhat developed to a great extent as a society in different aspects. A larger number of houses have access to electricity and fresh water as compared to earlier times, one has become tech-savvy so as to keep up with the changing times, medical facilities have advanced and cured diseases that were known to be deadly earlier and a larger number of children are able to educate themselves without having to work tirelessly in fatal surroundings and circumstances. Yet, one lags behind in the area of acceptance and understanding, which is why one considers mental illness a taboo.
What exactly does one mean by mental illness? Mental illnesses are a wide variety of emotional, behavioral and mental changes that affect a person’s behavior socially. Certain degrees of mental illnesses can also lead a person to take his/her own life. Our society is such that, firstly, it does not consider mental illnesses to even be a thing. Secondly, it does not think that mental illnesses can even be serious. Hence, everyone who says that he/she is suffering even from the slightest of symptoms of such diseases, he/she is declared ‘mad’ and boycotted. Also undergoing therapy, or consulting medical advisories is considered ‘unnecessary’ or ‘unneeded.’ It is also said that only ‘mental’ patients go require therapy, and not normal people.
One must understand that as the human brain is developing with the growth in humans, it is also undergoing changes that lead to severe stress, anxiety, depression, etc. due to the hustle and bustle everywhere, competition in everything, changing statuses in life, societal pressure, self-consciousness, insecurities, unsettling relationships, tension of declining physical health, fear of acceptance, peer pressure, trauma of past experiences, broken bonds, keeping up with the rest of the world, etc. Hence, it is absolutely normal for any person around you to have suffering from mental illnesses and one must consult experts for the same in any form.
Studies tell us that about 10-20% of adolescents suffer from mental illnesses but remain undiagnosed and untreated. Most of them untreated and undiagnosed as people feel scared and under-confident as to what the society will think of them or even fear of being boycotted or sidelined or outcast. We must now change our thinking and address this problem with a calm mind. Let us accept the reality and not make people suffer even more. Let us break this ‘taboo’ and make this world a safer and more peaceful place for all.
Shubhangini Shaktawat