I remember how we used to cringe in our childhood days when some peers used to sing this "shame" song standing around us, in those rare occasions of certain "slipping" from our side. And we would have been part of that singing band at some point to bestow the shamefulness on some poor soul around us.
Have we ever let go of this habit?
While it may seem like from outside.. unfortunately as "educated" and "civilized" grown up adults, we still carry this song and sing it. Well..in our head!
As a practitioner of psychotherapy, I get to hear this "song in the head" of others more often.
In our society, while we may treat every "body related illness" from fever to cancer as it is, why do we struggle to acknowledge the illness called mental illness as it is?
Is it due to the lack of education around what causes mental illness?
No.
It is our lack of readiness to get educated.
It is the immovable stigma that we attach to this illness.
It is absolutely possible for someone's brain or mind to get wounded the way our hands and legs get hurt!
Unfortunately, the societies "illness" called stigma, causes more damage to the affected person and the people around.
Remember, no ones wants to live with depression. Everyone wants to have a happy and successful life and they deserve it.
Hence, we could make this place a much better place to live for our fellow human beings, if we could remember:
- Mental illness is not the "person's" fault (they don't want it either!)
- People who have mental illness are not "weak" in character
- They definitely deserve unconditional love and support.
- Hiding their illness from the society is not the "solution" to cure it.
- All those people who approach counselors and therapists need not be branded as "mentally ill"
- Judging the people with mental illness without proper knowledge about the illness is the worst damage that can happen to them.
In the current era of over-flowing information, let us make use of the technology and human network to increase our awareness about what we don't know...especially related to mental illness!
How about starting this awareness by getting rid of the "song in our head"??
Shame, shame, puppy shame...
Have we ever let go of this habit?
While it may seem like from outside.. unfortunately as "educated" and "civilized" grown up adults, we still carry this song and sing it. Well..in our head!
As a practitioner of psychotherapy, I get to hear this "song in the head" of others more often.
In our society, while we may treat every "body related illness" from fever to cancer as it is, why do we struggle to acknowledge the illness called mental illness as it is?
Is it due to the lack of education around what causes mental illness?
No.
It is our lack of readiness to get educated.
It is the immovable stigma that we attach to this illness.
It is absolutely possible for someone's brain or mind to get wounded the way our hands and legs get hurt!
Unfortunately, the societies "illness" called stigma, causes more damage to the affected person and the people around.
Remember, no ones wants to live with depression. Everyone wants to have a happy and successful life and they deserve it.
Hence, we could make this place a much better place to live for our fellow human beings, if we could remember:
- Mental illness is not the "person's" fault (they don't want it either!)
- People who have mental illness are not "weak" in character
- They definitely deserve unconditional love and support.
- Hiding their illness from the society is not the "solution" to cure it.
- All those people who approach counselors and therapists need not be branded as "mentally ill"
- Judging the people with mental illness without proper knowledge about the illness is the worst damage that can happen to them.
In the current era of over-flowing information, let us make use of the technology and human network to increase our awareness about what we don't know...especially related to mental illness!
How about starting this awareness by getting rid of the "song in our head"??
Shame, shame, puppy shame...
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