Mental Health

By -

     

       Unfortunately, I couldn't finish the book; I only read chunks of the beginning and middle, so I only know so much. So I took the option to read mental health websites instead, and here discuss them with the same focus.

       First, there's something we were talking about in class that is addressed in one article I read, something that I didn't put into this exact wording till now. I've known it in concept, but don't think of it often.

       Mental health encompasses more than actual diagnoses; if you have poor self-esteem, are consistently stressed, insecure, or anything like that, your mental health is suffering. I mean, obviously we know that it's terrible to feel insecure, stressed, self-conscious, but when it's not debilitating and directly hazardous to yours or others' health and safety, it's easy to overlook it, to not think of it as still suffering mentally--but it is.

      We know that everyone in this world has trouble with their emotional well-being every now and then--it'd be virtually impossible to find one person that is perfectly, completely happy and satisfied with their life. And it's actually even more prevalent nowadays, those negative thoughts and feelings. And despite things like stress and insecurity not being medically considered 'disorders,' or whatever you want to call them, they obviously still effect the way we think, which shapes the way we feel, which shapes the way we act, which shapes the way we function.

    It's hard enough to function in today's society, without people telling you your feelings are invalid, or not bothering to take them just as seriously and give you the help you need. We all need help, because we are all suffering, in some way or another. Regardless of the severity or duration, we all need help. No one should be shrugged aside or told to 'just deal with it'--that only makes it worse. And the education system at large really needs to sort out priorities, and teach students that good grades aren't the only type of success, and that success is not the most important thing in life by far, and that it's okay to fail sometimes (and actually inevitable) and that our failings don't have to be a negative thing, but rather a learning experience.

     I think it's important for leaders, and people in general, to be educated and aware of the distinctions in mental conditions, and emotional well-being, because of something we also talked about: everyone's symptoms and the type of help we need are different. Sure, some are the same, but with how many conditions exist, how many symptoms overlap and can be confused with other things, it's important for things like therapy, medicine and the like, to be way more accessible and attainable. If that requires extra funding, so be it; it is unequivocally something to invest in.

     It's also important for all of us to keep an open mind and a gracious spirit with each other. It's important for society to treat mental health as just as important as physical health; to make people feel safe to talk about it. We still have a ways to go, but as far as I can see, the world is finally starting to catch on to those things.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Growing Pains - The Symbolism of the Tree in Speak

By -
I have felt the paralyzing pain of internal disease. The kind of trauma that causes your mouth to curl in and swallow you whole. I, like so many other women, are walking the halls in Melinda’s shoes in “Speak.” I thought Laurie Anderson did a phenomenal job of twisting all of the tribulations a high school girl goes through, into the tree that Melinda is. Whether we’re as strong as an oak or weak as a bush, we have all gone through the disease that strikes Melinda from the inside out. Melinda is like a half-dead tree. Some parts of her strive to blossom and create beauty. Other parts are broken and diseased. Like a dead tree, Melinda needs to save herself and “cut off the damage, [so it] is possible for the tree to grow again” (187). The symbolism of a tree is significant in “Speak.” Trees reflect her growing process. In the beginning, Melinda is a sick and lifeless tree. Her view is negative and dark. She’s so far past repair, bursts of sunlight do her no good. Sunlight would be pe
Read more

How Starr Goes from Acting to Embracing in The Hate U Give

By -
In The Hate U Give, Starr Carter is caught between two worlds. She lives in a predominantly black neighborhood, but her father sends her and her brothers to a private school where she is surrounded by white people. She talks about acting differently depending on what group she is around, which can create some identity problems. She says on page 11, "Funny how it works with white kids though. It's dope to be black until it's hard to be black." When at Williamson, she sees white kids that think it's cool to engage in black culture, but she knows they don't understand what she goes through in her Garden Heights community. She witnessed her friend Natasha's death when she was 10 years old, and she sees gang activity in her community all the time. When she is among her black friends, like at the party, they tease her for hanging out with the white kids. This reminds me of a Drake song where he says, "I used to get teased for being black, and now I'm
Read more

Postmodernism in Curious Incident

By -
Before I start writing, I first want to acknowledge that I just really loved this book! It seemed like a lot of the class had trouble enjoying or appreciating the novel because it's so different stylistically, which is understandable, but all of those unique elements helped make the novel more authentic. The main topic I want to focus on (also what I'm writing my paper on) is how a lot of postmodernist elements were used in the novel to make Christopher come to life. While obviously not every postmodern novel is about an autistic kid, I think Haddon really used a lot of these elements to his advantage and they ended up working out really well to characterize Christopher. One of the major postmodern elements which helps this book really craft an authentic portrayal of autism is the fact that it's metafictive. Basically, this means it's a "story within a story." Readers would be extremely limited just reading the parts of the novel which are meant to be C
Read more