Your Mental HEALTH – Mine or theirs?

Your Mental HEALTH – Mine or theirs?

My mental health, what exactly is that? Ask yourself this question and sit for two secs.

Okay, so what did you come up with? Oh wait a minute, I just asked you to think to yourself for a couple of seconds and that triggered you to have a little mental conversation with yourself and this means what? You are now in need of therapy because you are talking to yourself and your thoughts were on mental health and this brings about insecurity and now your mental health is in jeopardy. Right?

Feck all that for a minute folks.

What is it about the topic of mental health that can spin us out of control and bring about a “judgement call” attitude?

Do we exercise our bodies for our health and talk about it like it is nothing?

Do we eat well and diet for our physical health and talk about? We even share all over social media about what we ate for lunch?

Do we post on social media about our mental health?

Why is this? Where is all the judgement coming from? What are our fears when it comes to open discussion about mental health?

The way we talk about it, perhaps, yes? I have never heard of a conversation where somebody mentioned another and said “oh they suffer terrible with their physical health”. Though many people do suffer daily from physical ailments and issues, it is simply not frowned upon and or discussed in the same likeness as is “Mental Health”.

SO, WHY THE FKUC NOT?

I do not know is my genuine answer to my own question. I do not know why the fear of discussion exists. Allow a moment or two to think of why.

Back, back in the day a family member with any kind of anti social behavioural traits or disillusionment was seen by a local doctor and carted off to a mental asylum, sanatorium or the lock up ward of some off the beaten track institution. Back a little further and any kinds of physical and mental disorders combined type people were hidden away and perhaps taken in by the nuns in a place where nobody ever heard of them again. Men and women of today can find out about their siblings who they never even knew. Halloween is approaching and being Irish and descendant of the pagans who started the celebration brings me to a thought for history as learned from my British neighbours. A witch or those considered to be witches were held under water for some stupid amount of time like 10 hours or something and if they survived then they were a witch. Or burned on a bonfire, if they lived they were true to being a witch and then must be killed. MAD, BIZZARE, CRAZY, BULLSHIT when we dissect it a little.

So that tells me from way back in the day this idea within society of being scared of society and their ways began an element of “say nothing” about it. Do not share your inner thoughts with others or you may be considered a witch or a druid or whatever.

Though this post is not a Halloween post, there are similarities we can draw upon from those times to begin to see how long this “do not talk about it” element has been introduced.

And, why?

Nobody wants to be ostracized because of their thoughts. Nobody wants to be alienated. Look at the word in the everyday language “alienated”, like an alien. Where do aliens come from? Somewhere out there, not of our planet. Who wants to be considered from another planet? So hundreds upon hundreds of years the civilised society have been telling you to keep your mouth shut about mental health. All the way back in history. The Romans, the Greeks and so on, the monarchs of the world have been hiding family members in dungeons because they were a little off the chart or incapacitated and the shame on the family would never be spoken of. All because they were different!

So now what?

We have been evolving and becoming more open with each other, a little more tolerant of each other (oh, ever so slightly mind you). We see in our society all kinds of diversity and we are to be accepting of all, yup all! We can see in our everyday life those who wish to be expressive about their individuality and their “differences”. We are being thought to see beyond race and religious belief; we are being thought to become accepting of others based upon their own desire to alter sexual preferences and identities. We see more and more the dyed hair, pierced bodies, tattooed faces, alterations to teeth, noses, faces, boobs, asses and so on. Makes for great viewing and monthly subscriptions to TV services yet not okay to openly discuss MENTAL HEALTH.

It has all been deeply rooted in our history and a change I perhaps will not see in my lifetime.

Did you know that mental health is as important as your visit to the doctor for a heart check up for your physical health? We will post photos and wish me well posts on our social media about a visit to the hospital for a health check up. How come I never see posts of people smiling or asking for prayers while they sit in their psychologist waiting room or a smiley face snapshot beside the door that says psychiatrist?

Because it is “best not to discuss it”.

Best for whom? Best for a society that wishes to continue forward on some delusional path of all is okay here and holds its head up high? The world community? Come on man!

Ahh, so if one has thoughts of their own, they might be a little weird and is best categorized as “suffering from mental health issues”? Is this what it has all come to? So what or why has this keep it all quiet narrative survived since medieval times? How come it is that stretching people and cutting them in half to investigate their insides seems to have subsided yet keeping quiet about mental health has carried through from ancient times?

You will perhaps argue with me that we have come a long way and that our society of today is much more open about such items as mental health. I hear ya and will concur that there have been massive steps in as recent as the past five to ten years. Although the suicide rates are massively high and the loneliness rates are massively high and the shunned and piss poor attitude surrounding mental health is still rampant. It has been going on for centuries. One considers themselves evolved and open minded right?

Then consider what it is that needs doing to not have to encourage people to “talk about it”, “talk about your feelings”, “this is a safe place”. Where is all this still coming from?

A fear perhaps? A fear of openly speaking about ourselves? A fear of admitting to mental health issues?  A fear of being burned alive for having thoughts? Why do we need a safe place to do so?

Of course I understand the necessity to encourage others and to be part of an overall change.

A fear of a “label” perhaps or a fear of being labelled.

I will finish on this for your weekend blog post.

Who exactly places the labels? It is never the person that is in it or going through it. Think about it.

This blog is titled random thoughts (oooooops!) appreciate your like, share & comment.

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