What is Mental Health?

In this day in age, mental health is viewed as a “taboo” and people who don’t really have the knowledge on what mental health illness really is automatically think that there is something physically wrong with the person. There are many different conditions of mental health such as; depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, PTSD and so many more. According to  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ , It has been reported and estimated that 25 percent of the worldwide population is affected by a mental or behavioral disorder at some time during their lives. Whether you are properly diagnosed by a doctor to have a specific mental health issue or not, we may experience it as some point in our lives due to situations or problems we may be facing. Due to mental health illness being viewed as something negative, many who are dealing with this type of illness often get discriminated easily and their lives are negatively impacted by this. According to http://www.cambridge.org/ people with mental illness face stigma and discrimination in a variety of settings which can have an economic impact. So this “taboo” that many people feel on mental health illness or issues, can negatively affect the lives of those dealing with this illness because it causes a lot of negative discrimination from others which can cause the person who is going through this to feel much worse because there is no support from the outside. This can also cause those dealing with this illness to avoid getting the treatment that is needed to help them get through this, because they may be scared of what others will think of them. There are so many ways to turn these negative stigmas around to positive ones, by educating yourself and those around you on it. Something I believe is also helpful is, if you or anyone knows of someone dealing with any type of mental health issue let them know that you are there for them and keep an open mind on what it is that this person(s) is going through. Educating yourself on what goes into mental health is very important, and with that comes so many ways to get through the mental health issue/illness. Therapy is probably one of my favorite ways to cope with any struggles that I am dealing with, and many people are often scared to voice that they would like to seek therapy or are going to therapy because of what others will think. There are so many different sources to help with overcoming this illness and a few of them are; therapy, psychiatrist, meditating, yoga and more. Therapy and meditating go hand in hand, being able to sit down with someone who is an expert but also wants to listen to what it is that you are going through is very refreshing and helpful. Meditation will help with sleep and can help cope with mental health disorders while it can also help focus on your breathing. Sometimes all you need is to take a step back when feeling overwhelmed and take deep breaths to help sooth you.