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The most important thing humans have is health. There are different types of health, however, the one type often neglected is mental health. Mental health deals with our cognition, self-esteem, how we see the world, how well or poorly our brains function etc. In recent years it has been more accepting to discuss mental health and likewise, medicinal breakthroughs have been made. Unfortunately, society as a whole has this “independent obsession”. The obsession with not needing help or relying on anybody else and the thought that doing so is weak.
Psychology states that humans need other humans to survive. The most independent person needs love, compassion, and care received from other people in order to grow happily and healthily as a person. However, when it comes to mental health issues, the type of care matters greatly. This may suck to hear but your parents, friends, teachers can’t cure or fix your mental health issues and problems. Having their support is important, however, at the end of the day, what helps cure or fix these issues are certified professionals.
This is what I’ve learned from mental health: that it needs a specific kind of care. Your parents, friends, etc. may mean well, but their biases, lack of proper medical knowledge, medical, and therapeutic training is going to hinder you from getting the help that will actually work to make your mental health issues better. This is no way not being grateful that your family and friends want to help you. In fact, support from family and friends does play a role in bettering mental health, psychologically speaking. However, at the end of the day, they are laypeople or people without expertise. Even if your parents are psychologists or doctors, etc., that doesn’t stop human psychology from affecting them such as biases, which is why objectivity (which is what trained professionals use) is crucial. Your family and friends love you, but when it comes to health, especially mental health, leave it to the professionals for the diagnosing and curing. The job of your friends and family is for support, and their support can NOT be a substitute for professional, objective advice. Their love (and possible denial) may blind them from seeing the truth that their child/friend can suffer from mental health issues, which is okay. Your brain is an organ, arguably the most important organ you have and yes, it gets sick.
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If the brain can’t do something, chances are you can’t either. It is not just a matter of willpower. Mental health issues are deeper, complex, and require extensive medical knowledge just to crack the surface, so those “think positive thoughts” coming from your family will not fix it, and that’s the reality. What is beneficial for those struggling with mental health issues is seeking professional advice, and those who are their loved ones to do their own research, ask the doctor questions and get in their heads that it is an issue of the brain, which controls ALL that we do. Similar to how if you are paralyzed in your legs you can’t walk, if you have certain areas of the brain that are malfunctioning, it will result in a mental health issue. Much like your family and friends cannot cure or directly “fix” your heart issues, your family and friends can not directly cure your mental health issues. However, their support of the medical and professional advice is important and will always be more helpful than denial and them trying to impose their own advice on you on how you “should” be treated. Not saying that parents can’t speak their mind if they have a concern about the doctor or professional. However, if the professional is helping the child, and the parent doesn’t like the treatment because of denial or other issues do to with the stigma of mental health, then the parents’ beliefs should not hinder their child from proper treatment. I mean examples such as “Think more positive thoughts.Suck it up!”
What I’ve learned from mental health: when treating mental health issues, objective professionals should be considered primary because as much as those in your life love you, care about you and want to see you get better, they can only be supportive, not treat the mental health issue itself. Often, their love blinds them and makes them deny the reality that their child or friend suffers from mental illness and health issues.