As a disclaimer: this article aims to touch on the universality aspect of mental health as it relates to all people in a general sense. My intention in doing so is not meant to undermine or belittle the severity of more specific mental health-related issues.
The captains of the Kenyon women’s track and field team organized a meeting with the KAC psychologist and NCAA representative to discuss issues regarding disordered eating, nutrition, and general aspects of mental and physical health. Upon hearing this plan, my inner self hesitated and spat out excuses on reasons not to attend—I would really rather use that time to get ahead on work, I told myself. But, aware of the altruistic effort taken by the captains to organize this meeting, I could not bring myself to decline. The meeting itself was as expected, and I wouldn’t say that I gained any new insight or knowledge on the related topics. However, it affected me nonetheless.
Throughout middle and high school, when I started to have intrusive thoughts—moderate, but still distracting—I came close to asking for professional guidance multiple times. However, I was of the mentality that my few thoughts were not serious enough to warrant help. I compared myself to others, friends and family around me, and came to the obvious conclusion that I had barely met the effects of mental health issues. My asking for help, in that context, seemed like a belittlement of others’ experiences.
Attending the talk broke my initial hesitation and the information presented convinced me further that anyone and everyone should feel free to talk with someone about these topics, no matter the range of effects. Within the discussion, the presenters both reached out to those suffering from disordered eating as well as those who want more direction with nutrition with regards to athletic performance. They approached other aspects of health, including sleep and stress, with this same range perspective.
Ultimately, I left the room with newfound self-direction to continue this dialogue that I had previously tried to keep silent. The same day, I signed up for a regular meeting with the psychologist in an attempt to adopt a new perspective on mental health that I am just recently beginning to understand. This is not my own idea, but rather a perspective that I was recently made aware of.
We artificially divide and categorize mental and physical health. As a result, our approaches to mental and physical health are drastically different. But should they be? Poor or good health, whether physical or mental, is an evaluation of our bodies. We are always told, by doctors, the media, others around us, that exercise and nutrition is the key to good physical health. People are told to raise their heart rate for a certain duration of time a specific number of times per week or day to decrease the chances of developing certain diseases later in life. But conversely, we solely seek professional psychological guidance after an issue has become apparent or in some ways incapacitating.
Perhaps our philosophy towards mental health should shift to mirror that of physical health by adopting the idea that there are ways in which we can work to maintain our mental health and prevent related issues. Just as it’s good to work on your physical health, it’s good to work on your mental health—so don’t be afraid to ask for help!