Oh great, Another blog. In other words, you’ve probably seen about fifty-eleven of these since the pandemic. Well here’s mine and spoiler alert it’s about Mental Heath – The Black Sheep of Medicine. (Insert eerie music here)
From Whappy kill Phillup, mental health has been a taboo topic that many people avoid talking about. It’s sad that we still treat people who have experienced mental illness as less than human. So, we’ve denied people (and ourselves) the care they need because WE are uncomfortable with THEIR struggle.
In other parts of the world, it appears that this doesn’t happen as often as it used to. However, in the Caribbean, it often seems as if time has stood still in regard to these matters.
Mental Health is sort of like that weird uncle you reluctantly invite to the family cookout, who no one really talks to. But, once you sit down and get to know him a bit more, you discover he’s tons of fun and was just misunderstood. PS. Normal is Overrated
One of the biggest aspects of this misunderstanding is that we do not know how to talk about mental wellness. It’s time to retire our tired old vocabulary. When we use labels such as crazy, psycho, or insane to describe mental health issues, we only contribute to people’s shame and stigma, which makes it harder for them to seek help.
In the Caribbean, mental health myths are also being perpetuated because it’s viewed as a “white” issue. We often turn our noses up when it comes to dealing with our own personal struggles. Despite studies proving that we are among the most vulnerable due to the effect of socio-economic issues such as poverty, income inequality, unemployment, etc.
Mental Wellness should be EVERYONE’S priority.
This means the biggest task ahead of us is to undo generations’ worth of misconceptions and misunderstandings about mental health.
This is a new era. As a generation, it is our mission to start new conversations about things that have gone ignored for centuries. We’re being honest about the pain that millions of people have been hiding/ignoring for years, even those right in our own homes. And changing those conversations takes time, patience, and creativity.
Dopamine On The Rocks is a new blog dedicated to opening up real and authentic conversations about mental health. By starting these conversations, we can build a healthier attitude toward mental health. We can take better care of ourselves and treat ourselves the way we deserve. And that starts by acknowledging the misconceptions around mental health that many of us – myself included – have had for years.
Are there any “mental health myths” you’ve learned on your mental health journey? Maybe I’ll break them down in a future post! Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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