Bring Mental Health Out of the Closet
For nearly 15 years, I’ve been talking and writing more and more openly about mental health; how it affects you, your family, your friends, and the entire world. Most of all, I’ve written about how not talking about it openly, honestly, and compassionately negatively impacts all of the above. Not only has it been, and continues to be an integral part of my own healing process, it’s allowed me to connect with others who are dealing with things we were taught weren’t meant to be discussed in polite company.
The biggest fallacy in the social rules taught for countless generations is following them led to the things we weren’t supposed to talk about; suicide, physical and mental abuse, antisocial behavior, and more recently mass shootings. If you ask me, most, if not all of them could have been prevented had it not been taboo to discuss them, much less, ask for help.
I’ve seen some of those restrictions starting to ease in the last few years, with organizations like GiveAnHour.org, and Alliance for Hope helping open the door for those conversations to begin. But it’s only a start. As long as men, women, and children are prematurely ending their lives; as long as people are acting out their anger, confusion, and neglect by abusing or murdering others; as long as just one person feels unheard, those conversations need to be elevated.
Above all, mental health must receive the same attention and concern given to physical health because despite what you’ve been taught; what you’ve heard; what you’ve read—it’s all connected.
Honoring the Entire Human Being
Humans are physical, emotional, mental, energetic Beings. No part of our makeup operates in a vacuum. If there’s a “disturbance in the force”, so to speak, it affects us at all levels. Think about something like stress. If you’re struggling at work, feeling unheard and unappreciated, and maybe failing to get the training you need to progress, what happens to the rest of your life? Do you come home, and turn it all off when you walk through the door, greet your family, and feel like you don’t have a care in the world?
Probably not. In fact, if the stress at work goes on for very long, it starts to affect your attitude, as well as your physical, and emotional health and well-being. Ulcers, migraines, and other assorted stress-related maladies don’t come about because your health is simply “delicate”, or because you’re genetically predisposed. The more you pack all the disappointment, frustration, anger, and misery down inside, and fail to find a way to release the pressure, the more it starts to affect you physically. You need to talk about it, but with who?
Not only is mental health taken less seriously than physical health, admitting you need help has been known to negatively impact careers, relationships, and life in general. What too many people fail to realize is, by the time you’re actually physically ill, your mental state is probably in tatters. It’s easier to treat what you can see, right?
Exposing the Cause
The physical ailment is the symptom, not the cause. So you can throw pills, tinctures, and other tangible therapies at it all you want. Until you recognize, and address the root cause, the physical illness will remain, and likely grow worse as the root cause grows more toxic, and the physical body grows weaker, and less resilient. Even a bag of manure has a limited capacity before it bursts.
Recently, I read an article about a teacher who had a unique way of assessing the mental health of her students so she could subtly address things like bullying, kids who struggled to make friends, and a host of other challenges faced, not only by children, but by every, single one of us. It might not be something every teacher can, or even should do, but it’s something we all need.
It isn’t only children who die a little inside every day. It isn’t just children who don’t know how to successfully interact with others. And it isn’t only children who are subjected to, or instigate bullying, or other toxic behavior. We all learn from an early age how to keep such feelings to ourselves when what we all need throughout our lives is someone we can talk to about those deep, dark, ugly, painful feelings. We all need to know there isn’t something wrong with us that a little compassion, and guidance couldn’t, if not cure, at least improve upon so we’re not stuck with those coping mechanisms which make things worse more often than they make them better.
As long as parents continue to teach their children to neither trust, nor be trusted; that power lies in showing no fear, pain, or weakness; that vulnerability makes you a target for abuse; mental health will continue to be negatively impacted on a global basis.
Overwhelmed by Power Madness
There will always be people who seek to quell the frightened child within by claiming more and more power; by getting away with more and more heinous deeds, and crimes against humanity. Those are not indications of a mentally healthy human being. All too often you’ll see an analysis by one noted psychiatrist or another pointing out indications of psychosis, paranoia, or maniacal tendencies; all symptoms of impaired mental health, in someone who’s quest for power is out of control.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned in nearly a decade and a half of writing therapy is none of us is alone. There are countless others who have, or still are experiencing the kind of pain, anger, confusion, and frustration you are. Unfortunately, far too many are holding it deep inside because they, too were taught to hide their feelings, and never, ever admit to having trouble coping. Sadly, what each and every person who is struggling, feeling adrift, excluded, frightened, and a host of other emotions needs is to be able to share those feelings with someone who will:
- Listen, but not try to fix anything
- Understand, but not judge
- Accept without reservations
- Hear without inflicting their own beliefs or experiences on the storyteller
Stop the Madness; Embrace the Child Within
Because the lesson of self-containment was inflicted upon so many at a tender age, the lack of trust, and fear of exposure are the biggest deterrents to dragging all the toxic, festering, putrid, baseless feelings out into the light of day, examining them dispassionately, and seeing them for the imaginary monsters beneath the bed they truly are. And Big Pharma couldn’t be happier.
As long as people use chemicals to mask the pain, or maintain a false sense of normalcy (and what is normal anyway?), there will be no healing. There will be no progress made in making discussions about mental health safe enough to become as commonplace as an annual physical. Worst of all, there will continue to be people grasping desperately for control: of themselves: of other people: of a bigger piece of the pie.
Worse, much worse than that, there will continue to be suicides, mass murders, road rage, child abuse, domestic abuse, and untold numbers of mentally ill people who could be helped, if only they didn’t have to hide their problems. If you ask me, too many husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, and children have already lost someone in one way or another because talking about mental health is discouraged beginning in early childhood.
We need to, quite literally, stop the madness. The solution begins with you and me, speaking out, admitting to our imperfections, asking for help, and becoming an advocate, not only for ourselves, but for every, other human being who was never meant to be perfect; was never meant to face all of life’s challenges alone.
About the Author
Sheri Conaway is a Holistic Ghostwriter, and an advocate for cats and mental health. 
Sheri believes in the Laws of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful and help entrepreneurs touch the souls of their readers and clients so they can increase their impact and their income.
If you’d like to have her write for you, please visit her Hire Me page for more information. You can also find her on Facebook Sheri Levenstein-Conaway Author.
Be sure to watch this space for news of the upcoming releases of ” Rebuilding After Suicide” and “Sasha’s Journey”.
