Mental Health Awareness Week
6 – 12 October 2019
There are months, weeks, days that are dedicated to raising awareness on various issues. For some occasions, it is all about hashtags on social media while for others, the definition of what the awareness truly stands for is lost. When it comes to serious issues such as Mental Health Awareness Week, the true definition runs way deeper for those with mental health issues on a daily basis and those who have lost their lives because of them.
For those who have not experienced depression before, it is very easy to judge other people and make various assumptions. If you break your leg, you visit the doctor as they cast it up, and the next thing you know, you are on your journey towards recovery. When there is an epidemic, we take pre-emptive measures to getting better. If we seek medication ASAP when we get sick, why is are we not doing the same for mental health? Why do we make it difficult to access such care? Why is there a stigma behind something that a greater population suffers from?
It is indeed disheartening to see how the stigma associates primarily among the marginalised communities, and to think of how there are people who are struggling and/or contemplating suicide at this very moment. It is not a secret that close to 800,000 deaths are caused by suicide each year, which is equivalent to one person in every 40 seconds worldwide.
The significance of Mental Health Awareness Week is more than just a hashtag. Months, weeks, and days dedicated to certain issues hold deeper meaning than just an advertisement. Too many issues have been sensationalised and glossed over by the media while the public at large continue to scroll on to the next news updates.
As not every one of us have the privilege of not experiencing mental health issues, one may say that the meaning behind Mental Health Awareness Week or Day may not hold much value to them, unlike for those who have had such experience. But the fact is, everybody knows at least someone who suffers from mental illness. Therefore, I am here to say that there is absolutely no shame in talking about it. You may have a parent, an aunt, a brother, a sister, or a friend who has struggled, or is struggling with mental health, or has lost their lives because of it.
Our mental health matters more than your career.
Our mental health matters more than your reputation.
Our mental health matters more than your schedule.
Our mental health matter more than your money.
Our mental health matters more than your relationship.
Our mental health matters more than your pride.
Because we matter, we are worthy of love, capable of amazing things, allowed to express ourselves and able to attend to our needs.
Let us all treat mental health awareness week/day for what it really is and dissect its truth.