Mental Health, The Silent Killer
- No Silence Just Action
- Jan 14, 2023
- 8 min read
When we watch the news, we see all these stories about people being murdered in shootings, during robberies and muggings, or because of some form of illness, right? We even call high blood pressure "the silent killer". Why? Because even though it is not symptomatic, it still puts you at an increased risk for life-threatening conditions like heart attack, stroke, and even more.
However, just like how high blood pressure is a silent killer, neglect of our mental health is also a silent killer. Because it's not symptomatic until it becomes problematic. We don't recognize whether our mental health is failing until we are neck deep in its conditions. If we're depressed, we don't realize it right off the bat, we'll just say we're sad and tired continuously until we're at our breaking points in life. We don't recognize that we're becoming depressed at the beginning, we just think it's just going to be that one day that we are sad. Then one day becomes two. Two days become 5. 5 days become 1 week. 1 week turns into 2. 2 weeks turn into a month. And it just keeps going and going until we're either crying ourselves to sleep every single night without any reason or we become so tired of life, that we turn suicidal. Before you know it, a person is fully depressed and we don't even recognize it until it becomes too late. Why? Because we've stigmatized talking about our own mental health so much that it feels like a taboo for even speaking up about it.
Mental Health has been stigmatized for so long because we as a society refused to acknowledge how affected a person can become when their mental health is falling apart. We think they're turning crazy or it's just temporary. We make hundreds of excuses to ignore it because we think it is not our problem to handle. As a result, we become ignorant in recognizing the effect neglected mental health can be on a person. What a person goes through in their head, the thoughts that come and go, and the kind of effect it has in the long term is something we need to start talking about. Otherwise, we will continue to lose more people before their time is here.
An estimated 703,000 people a year take their life around the world. For every suicide, there are likely 20 other people making a suicide attempt and many more have serious thoughts of suicide. Millions of people suffer intense grief or are otherwise profoundly impacted by suicidal behaviours. Each suicidal death is a public health concern with a profound impact on those around them. By raising awareness, reducing the stigma around suicide, and encouraging well-informed action, we can reduce instances of suicide around the world. (“World Suicide Prevention Day 2022”)
If you are feeling suicidal, talk to someone. Talk to your parents if you have that kind of relationship with them. If you can't talk to your parents, talk to your siblings. If you can't talk to your family, or even if you don't have siblings to talk to, then talk to your friends. If you can't talk about this with your friends, then talk to a professional. We live in an era where you can connect to therapists and psychiatrists online through chat and video calls.
If you think someone is suicidal and needs to be watched, there is a suicide hotline that you can call. If you live in the US, you can dial 988 for the suicide hotline. If you go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines, you can find a list of emergency suicide hotline numbers to call based on your location. There are multiple avenues to address mental health, but the issue is because of our ignorance and the stigma towards mental health, we choose to ignore it until it becomes too late.
Depression is not the only type of mental health out there. There is Anxiety, Anger issues, PTSD, Eating Disorders and so much more. What people fail to realize is that Mental Health AFFECTS Physical Health. If we are feeling sad or angry, would we still want to go to the gym and exercise? If we do not eat well, will we be able to main our stamina in the gym? No. Why? Because we are unable to force ourselves to take care of our physical health if our mental health is lagging.
The same can be said that physical health affects mental health. If we're stressed about multiple things and can't seem to focus on anything, exercising can be a great stress reliever. If you're not a heavy exerciser, you can also focus on a hobby that gives great stress relief. However, sometimes, if our mental health is even worse than we realize, then doing something physically can also help to a certain extent. The fact of the matter is that mental health affects physical health and physical health affects mental health. If we fail to take care of our mental health, our physical health will be affected in the long term as well.
Another reason why we should talk about mental health is that since we can be so ignorant about it, we don't realize we are judging people without even knowing the entire truth. Let's take the police for example. If you take a look at recent police shootings in Ohio in November 2022, you'll see the case of 29 Year Old Brian Hubbard. His mother, Mrs. Susan Hubbard, had called the Butler County Mobile Crisis Team for help in handling their son who was suffering an emotional disturbance. Police responded to assist the crisis team after Mrs. Hubbard had called them for the 6th time.
Brian had picked up a knife and a hammer and at one point exited his residence and started walking toward the police officers. The officers repeatedly warned him to drop the weapons otherwise they would shoot. The officers ended up shooting Brian more than 3 times, before subduing him and performing first aid. The question here arises is why did the officers resort to their guns as a first resort rather than a last resort. If his parents have previously stated that he has mental health issues and they've called the Crisis Team in the past for the same, then shouldn't this response have been handled more carefully? Rather than using guns, they could have just as easily used their tasers to subdue him. Brian's father had even requested the officers to tase him, not shoot him. The officers stated that using a taser is not a good idea as someone who is mentally ill will not respond properly to being tased. So then, how is shooting the person better than tasing him? If you would like to read more on this story, check out https://www.fox19.com/2022/11/05/fairfield-township-police-name-suspect-release-footage-officer-involved-shooting/.
I introduced this example to raise some questions and concerns. First off, the lack of grace in handling this case by the police is so evident. If the Crisis Team had handled this, according to the Hubbards, they would have sent someone who could have eased Brian and calmed him down, instead of escalating the situation the way the police officers had done. Again, I ask, why did the officers use their guns as a first resort rather than a last resort? Why were they unable to try other methods to address this case, to calm Brian down, or to de-escalate the situation? It is because of their ignorance in handling these kinds of cases. Now I am not blaming these officers, rather I blame the system that is training these officers. If we are to put our lives in the hands of the police, then we need to ensure that the police have the proper training to carry out their duties correctly.
Personally, I have different views about the police as a whole and would rather end the force entirely. However, since that is likely not going to happen, the next best thing would be to change the training that officers go under in the Police Academy. Instead of heavily focusing on the physical aspects of the position, the training should also have just as heavy a focus on proper psychological training. Police should be trained to act without bias but still be alert. They should be trained to not focus on skin color, but on a person's body language to determine if they are a threat. They need to be able to identify signs of mental distress or any other form of mental health issues to determine how to proceed. They need to not only be able to de-escalate a situation, but they need to learn how to properly handle delicate cases like mental health patients. I can keep going on, but essentially, what I am saying is the police need to be able to handle cases that involve those with any form of failing mental health, irrespective of whether they exhibit symptoms, more carefully and with grace.
I've brought this up before, but Depression is not the only mental health issue out there. When we talk about mental health, we automatically think of PTSD, Schizophrenia, OCD, or something extreme along those lines right? We associate mental health with someone behaving in a crazy manner. But that is not the truth. Mental Health can be a result of anything from long-term emotional and physical abuse, to full-blown OCD or PTSD. We just associate mental health with being crazy because, for the longest amount of time, that is what we considered to be mental health. If you look into history, you can see how poorly those who had horrid mental health issues were treated. They were thrown into asylums, prisons, and other institutions. Families wouldn't take the steps necessary to help these people, they would rather ignore it in fear of society.
Even today, there's still a hiccup when we try to start a conversation about mental health. Why? Because we are afraid to speak about it. We are afraid that if we reveal what our mental health is in reality, it'll make us appear weak to the environment we live in. I can keep going on about the development of mental health, but I want to focus on the main point of writing this article: We HAVE to STOP being afraid to speak up about mental health. If you are having anger issues, if you are not eating properly, if you feel suicidal, if you do NOT feel content with yourself and feel a certain way, that means you need to speak to someone about it.
Suppressing how you feel will cause problems in the long term. Humans are incapable of keeping their feelings to themselves forever, because if they do, they will eventually explode and are susceptible to taking a wrong step. If we want to prevent this, we need to be willing to share with someone what's going on. If you need to speak to a therapist but are unable to make the time to go in person, you can just as easily video call with your therapist. In 2023, we have www.talkspace.com and www.betterhelp.com as two examples of virtual therapy. Do not be afraid to use it, because this can help in the long term.
If you are having issues that you are unable to deal with, talk to someone. Don't take your mental health lightly. We need to stop putting a taboo on this conversation and start it instead. We need to stop considering those who open up about their mental health as weak, and instead applaud them for being brave enough to come forward. Yes, you can become vulnerable while dealing with mental health issues, but don't let the fear of being vulnerable stop you from getting help. Because letting yourself become vulnerable now, can make you stronger in the long term. Strong does not mean not showing any emotions or vulnerability, it means despite being emotional and vulnerable, you are willing to take the steps needed to help yourself.
You may have heard this before, but this is a fact: You can only help others AFTER you help yourself. I do not mean just physically or financially. I mean in all aspects, you need to help yourself first before being capable of helping others.
Kommentare