Mental Health Awareness Week took place last week in UL and it got me thinking. We shouldn’t need to dedicate a week to ‘being aware’ that mental health exists and is a continuously growing issue. It should just be ‘the norm’. Why can we openly discuss other illnesses or diseases but shy away from the subject of mental health? A subject that has, unfortunately, claimed the lives of so many and continues to be a dominating force in many others.
Maybe it’s because the power of the human mind can be scary. The power of the human mind can be terrifying. It can cause a person to feel so worthless, to lose their sense of self and to feel as if they’re alone in the world even when they’re surrounded by a crowd of people. The human mind can do a lot of positive things too, not to be forgotten of course, but when a person becomes submersed in their own mind, they become completely estranged from all of the positive things.
Every day is a mountain to be climbed. Putting on a brave façade can be exhausting but what other options are there? You don’t want family or friends to worry because this is your problem, your mess. They’ll feel just as helpless as you do and you don’t want that because you know what it’s like. You know too well what it’s like, helplessness.
“Will they think I’m crazy? Will they think I’m weak? What will they think? I don’t want to cause a fuss.” A million thoughts in circulation but none that speak sense. None that map a way out of this mess.
“Burdens aren’t placed on shoulders that can’t carry them,” I was once told. I still believe that but what if maybe sometimes the burden can be too heavy a burden to carry alone? What if the only way to overcome this is to share it with someone else? It’s okay to have problems and it’s okay to feel overwhelmed by them. It’s also okay to confide in someone and ask for help. The only thing that is not okay is to do nothing. It’s not okay to let it suck you in and take over.
It may seem tough and trying at first. Healing is a process and it can be a slow one at times. Just as physical, external scars take time to heal, so do the internal ones. It’s about stepping stones and taking things day by day. If we can begin to talk about mental health in a way that normalises the topic of conversation and doesn’t make it seem like such a heavy subject to discuss, people who suffer with their mental health will feel more comfortable confiding in someone. We as a society need to break the stigma surrounding mental health and therefore, discard the fear attached to the idea of it. That is our first stepping stone.
If you find yourself feeling stressed, overwhelmed or a bit anxious, just remember that it’s okay to talk and it’s okay to feel these kind of feelings. The key thing is that you don’t allow these feelings to consume you. Mental health doesn’t have to be as daunting as it may seem. As a well-known, forgetful fish once said, “just keep swimming.”
Useful Contacts:
UL Counselling Service
Office Times: 11:00-12:00 and 3:00-4:00
Location: CM073, Main Building
UL Chaplaincy Service
Location: CM071, Main Building
UL Health Centre
Telephone: 061 202 534
Location: CM061, Main Building
Pieta House
Telephone: 01 623 5606
Samaritans
Telephone: 116 123
Aware- www.aware.ie
Telephone: 1800 80 48 48