Disclaimer: This writer is not a mental health expert. This article is not intended as medical advice.
Over the past few years and especially during September, National Suicide Prevention Month, we’ve heard so much conversation surrounding mental health awareness. These discussions can include a variety of information and opinions but largely attempt to normalize and destigmatize mental illness. While much of this mindset shift has been beneficial, I have found it to be largely disappointing.
While mental health awareness as a movement prioritizes destigmatization, in reality, this normalization has appeared to stop at depression and anxiety. Even within the aforementioned illnesses, awareness and support are lacking.
Anxiety and depression have been “normalized” to the point that people understand their existence – barely – but those struggling are still largely without any resources or support. Further, “awareness” seems to have inadvertently brought with it a romanticization of these illnesses.
The aestheticization of anxiety and depression has worked to reverse the process of destigmatization. By glamorizing the idea of these illnesses, the other symptoms have been disregarded. When someone mentions mental illness in passing, they’re respected and admired for their strength. But when that same individual can’t get out of bed, has to cancel plans, or begins to suffer physical consequences of their illness, all of that “support” disappears. Suddenly, that person is “crazy,” “beyond help,” and left with even less support than they had to begin with.
This lack of adequate support extends to other mental illnesses. As stigmatized as depression and anxiety are, I feel they have been granted a bit more understanding as opposed to other illnesses. Obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and so many others are completely disregarded, with little understanding or support for those who experience them. The extreme stigmatization of these illnesses can lead to feelings of isolation and inadequacy.
Aside from the lack of understanding surrounding mental illnesses themselves, there is also a lack of support and resources. Over the past few years, schools and workplaces have placed “Mental Health Matters” posters on the walls but often stop their advocacy there. My high school created a “wellness center” to promote mental health, but when I was having an OCD episode, I was told I could not use the room as it was only for students going through a “crisis”. As a result, the room went unused while I was left to deal with my symptoms on my own. When individuals come looking for support, they are met with misunderstanding and poor resources at best, and hostility at worst.
The most commonly-suggested resources we have available today fall short. People are constantly advised to reach out to friends or helplines, spend time outside, exercise, drink more water, and so many other activities that don’t ultimately help.
When I contacted the Crisis Text Line, it took them around 10 minutes to respond to me. When they did, it was evident they had a very specific script to follow, and simply gave me the most generic mental health advice that is available anywhere. I didn’t even end up talking about what I was having a crisis about because it felt like I was talking to a robot. I don’t place blame on the employees, who are often just people who care about mental health but struggle within a strict job. I place blame on a society that pretends to support mental health advocacy but lacks any real support for those struggling.
I want to make it clear that I’m not condemning all helplines. I know several people who have had very beneficial and necessary experiences with helplines. But I also know many others who have had the same experiences as me: reaching out for help only to be left with none.
I believe that the failures of mental health awareness are largely due to the commodification of mental illness. So many organizations and programs in the U.S. prioritize money over individual safety and well-being. As a result, healthcare providers are quick to prescribe expensive medication upon any report of mental illness. In fact, the majority of antidepressants are prescribed not by a psychiatrist, but by primary care physicians. Outside of antidepressants, there has been a rise in products promising to heal mental illness. From whitewashed yoga classes to overpriced essential oils and serums pretending to cure all your issues, people are spending real time and money on “solutions” that only truly help the sellers.
I don’t know the answer to adequate mental support. But I know that the first step is to create better awareness – awareness that is both more expansive and relays the complexities of mental illness. This doesn’t mean everyone has to become a psychologist; rather, it just means that it’s not “awareness” if it only surrounds two of the most common mental illnesses. Further, we need to provide better resources for research and effective mental illness support. Until we understand that mental illness does not have a one-size-fits-all “cure,” we cannot have actual mental health support.