Mental Health

We are more open to speak about mental health and more resources are available now and yet the stigma associated with a mental health diagnosis is very present. It is often associated with the weakness and shame.
There is awareness about the impact of stress on mental health in relation to the pressure of professional life and there are many people in our surrounding who suffer in silence for other reasons too – family situation, toxic relationships, school problems, bullying, poverty, loneliness, social isolation, just to name some.
Our lifestyle and beliefs do not always allow us to pause and recognize what happens with us or we just keep putting a brave mask on and believe that it will go away. Because this is what the world expects from us – resilience, positivity, achievements, and perfect appearance scream at us from everywhere. This ‘toxic positivity’ may lead to suppression of what is really happening within us, suppression of our real emotions and thoughts. Mental health is the biological health and our intelligent body and mind will keep sending us messages. So, listen.
Let’s give ourselves a permission to be who we are, to feel what we feel, and ask for help if we need it. It may be just to speak to someone whom we trust. Reaching out and asking for help is not a shame. It is not.
Let’s become more aware of our own state of being, be empathetic to self not only when we are pressured but as a part of our own ‘art of living’. The perfect life and people without problems do not exist.