Dear, Gentle Reader!
Welcome! An Adorable Nursing Officer is featured in today’s post. I’d like you to do me a huge favor. Allow yourself to unwind and enjoy this great piece.
It seems like the individual is always blamed when it comes to the need to talk about our mental health. Yes, reading minds is not possible. People can’t expect scientific help unless it’s been requested. Mental health issues can make it difficult to speak up and ask for help.
Our common obligation to look out for one other – to provide safe spaces to talk, listen, and respond compassionately must be paired with our shared responsibility to reach out for help.
I’ve learned a lot through my mother’s death and a friend’s experience, which I’d want to share with you. I’ll start with my mother’s and then move on to my friend’s.
For someone so full of life, my mother’s death was shockingly sudden. This made me realize how the death of a parent or a loved one could cause anyone’s mind to fall off the tracks.
The death of my mom made me understand the mental trauma many people go through when they lose a loved one. People should free time to check on their friends and loved ones even when they claim to be okay.
My friend’s experience with suicide taught me about the difficulty of living with unwanted and distressing thoughts. When she was suicidal, she noted, “Having to seek treatment felt like an onerous chore when I was already struggling to survive. I felt quite humiliated by the thoughts I was having. At times, talking to anyone felt more difficult than dealing with the suicide ideas themselves.”
Elaine had good reasons to be wary about disclosing her suicidal thoughts. She had experienced instances of feeling entirely disregarded and unsupported when she was in distress.
Whenever she felt unwell to report to the office, she was just regarded as a lazy staff. Doctors also told her she was losing weight to attract attention. This hindered her resolve to seek medical assistance.
It took her four years to get the help she sorely needed from a therapist. By then, her eating disorder had swallowed up most of her life. It wasn’t until she tried to kill herself that she was noticed by professionals. Elaine had to struggle for support at times when she was battling for her life.
It’s not just therapists who are failing to care for those in distress. We need to improve our social skills in both offering and giving help. In addition, asking for help when we need it.
We all have a personal responsibility to take care of our health to the best of our abilities. And also to seek help when we can’t manage on our own. My role when it comes to my mental health is to surround myself with people I can trust, open up to, and lean on for support.
As a society, we must be responsible for putting our fears aside when others express distress, allow them to talk and facilitate those in pain to share their load.
