In this phase of major COVID-19 Outbreak, we are currently witnessing the disturbance of society; we all are talking about our physical health, we are so conscious about it, we all know what to eat, how to take care of our bodies but when it is about MENTAL HEALTH, we are simply ignore that. This pandemic situation is badly affecting our lives in both the ways physically as well as mentally but still why we are only concerned about our physical health, right now no one is talking about the lifestyle, mindset and the most important “THE MENTAL HEATH” ? Approximately 1 in 5 adults in U.S. (46.6 million) experiences mental illness in a given year. A report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that 7.5 per cent of the Indian population suffers from some form of mental disorder. Mental illnesses constitute one-sixth of all health-related disorders and India accounted for nearly 15% of the global mental, neurological and substance abuse disorder burden. Nearly 1 million people commit suicide every year. A study conducted by the World Health Organization in 2015 shows that one in five Indians suffer from depression in their lifetime, equivalent to 200 million people. Isn’t this the most upsetting thing to know, but you know what is more horrible is due to the stigma associated with mental illness, a lack of awareness, and limited access to professional help, only 10-12% of these sufferers will seek help.
SOCIAL STIGMA INVOLVES
This admission of the general public to their feelings towards people with mental illness again indicates the prevalent stigma in society. The statistic given below (image 12345) will surprise you and will make you think that how the society has became, we can only show sympathy, annoyance, and disgust toward them but will do nothing to protect them.
Moreover no one wants to believe that they might be the sufferer of such illness, you know why?? Because we all relate mental illness to insanity but this is not true. According to WHO Mental health is “a state of well-being whereby individuals recognize their abilities, are able to cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, and make a contribution to their communities”. A lot of parameters contribute mental illness such as Anxiety disorders, Behavioral and emotional disorders in children, Bipolar affective disorder, Depression Dissociation and dissociative disorders, Eating disorders, Obsessive compulsive disorder, Paranoia Post-traumatic stress disorder, Psychosis, Schizophrenia.
| Disorder | Share of global population with disorder (2017)
[difference across countries] |
Number of people with the disorder (2017) | Share of males:females with disorder (2017) |
| Any mental health disorder | 10.7% | 792 million | 9.3% males 11.9% females |
| Depression | 3.4%
[2-6%] |
264 million | 2.7% males
4.1% females |
| Anxiety disorders | 3.8%
[2.5-7%] |
284 million | 2.8% males
4.7% females |
| Bipolar disorder | 0.6%
[0.3-1.2%] |
46 million | 0.55% males
0.65% females |
| Eating disorders | 0.2%
[0.1-1%] |
16 million | 0.13% males
0.29% females |
| Schizophrenia | 0.3%
[0.2-0.4%] |
20 million | 0.26% males
0.25% females |
| Any mental or substance use disorder | 13%
[11-18%] |
970 million | 12.6% males
13.3% females |
| Alcohol use disorder | 1.4%
[0.5-5%] |
107 million | 2% males
0.8% females |
| Drug use disorder (excluding alcohol) | 0.9%
[0.4-3.5%] |
71 million | 1.3% males
0.6% females |
And yes this is truth, which we all have to realize one day or another that it is not insanity. It is more than that. Now you’ll say at least this mental illness won’t take the life as physical illness does but lemme correct you here as well. About 17% of all people will self-harm during their lifetime. Close to 800,000 people die due to suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds. Scary…… isn’t it??????
I would like to share a note from diary of person who was suffering from emotional distress and causing self harm to himself:
“I feel relieved and less anxious after I cut. The emotional pain slowly slips away into the physical pain.”
“It’s a way to have control over my body because I can’t control anything else in my life.”
“It expresses emotional pain or feelings that I’m unable to put into words.”
“I usually feel like I have a black hole in the pit of my stomach. At least if I feel pain it’s better than nothing.”
Experts say self-injury is often an emotional response, not a suicidal one, though suicide among self-injurers is a concern. The Canadian Mental Health Association describes it this way: “Usually they are not trying to end all feeling; they are trying to feel better. They feel pain on the outside, not the inside.”
Dr. Whitlock, director of the Cornell Research Program on Self-Injurious Behaviour in Adolescents and Young Adults, said in an interview that self-injury mainly seemed to function to “self-regulate feelings and help people cope with overwhelming negative emotions they have no other way to dispel.”[1]
Imagine the state of mind; one could have at that time. Imagine the emotional turmoil; such people have been going through and not for one day but every day. When it comes to the need to talk about our mental health, we seem to put all of the responsibility in the court of the person who is already struggling. Sure, nobody can read minds, and people can’t expect specific help without asking for it. But mental health problems can make it harder to talk and ask for help in the first place. The responsibility of reaching out for help has to be matched with our shared responsibility to look out for each other – to provide safe spaces to talk, to listen, and to offer caring responses.
I think the best way to deal with it is one should talk about it openly, one should discuss it, Rather than showing sympathy, Get yourself into their shoes, you’ll feel how much it is difficult to cope up with such situation, it should be given the same importance and treated in a way that physical health treated.
And on the top of that love yourself, boost your self- esteem and believe that nothing is impossible , “IF YOU DESIRE IT, YOU’LL GET IT” . Trust your instincts, Believe on the power of positivity
Make your mental health priority and make the world better place to live in.
#MUMKIN_HAI
[1] Paradigm Malibu, The Growing Wave of Teenage Self-Injury, February,2013, Thrusday
