Mental health is a growing problem and yet there are a lot of people who choose not to acknowledge it. Mental health is an important part of life from childhood, adolescence and till adulthood and if you experience mental health problems. it affects your emotional, psychological and social well being which can furthermore affect you behaviour and mood towards others. If you're suffering from mental health or someone you know is, the most important thing is to be aware of it and acknowledge rather than brushing it off which will worsen your health.
Your state of mind is really important and it is just as important to maintain your state of mind and be positive rather than being negative. Being mentally healthy will help you cope with adversity and effects your productivity in your daily life. Mental health impacts how we feel, how we think and how we behave which is why it's important to be mentally healthy for yourself and others around you. Mental health can be helped by doing small things such as taking time for yourself, taking a break from stress and even getting a good night's sleep.
The stigma around mental health has increased immensely and has started to impact mental health more than ever. Stigma is when you see yourself or someone else sees you in a negative way due to a certain characteristic you have, when you or other people define you by that characteristic or illness rather than who you are as a person.
There are two types of mental health associated stigmas: social stigma and self-perceived stigma. Social stigma is when people disapprove of a person based on their social attributes or illnesses. Self-perceived involves an internalized stigma the person with mental illness suffers from, both are equally harmful. In the olden days, there were brutal and harsh treatments to "treat" mental illnesses and people were branded with foolish names and since then treatment has developed through the field of psychology. Stigma is usually caused by lack of knowledge on the topic of mental illness and ignorance. Social stigma has harmful effects such as a lack of understanding towards others and worsened symptoms. Self-perceived stigma often leads people towards isolation and prevention of treatment which can be harmful for them. It also causes self-doubt within the person and often leads to lack of social interaction.
"Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all."