Mental Health. I’m sure you have all heard of this term at least once (if not  more) by now. Mental health is vital at all stages of life. All the way from  childhood, adolescence and right through adulthood, yet it’s no secret there  is a social and cultural stigma behind this term. However, the real question is  why? Why is there a stigma? Why is this such a big issue to begin with? Why  are so many people speaking out about this issue?  

Let’s start simply.  

What is mental health and why is it so important to world right now?  

What is mental health and why is it important? 

Officially, the World Health Organization (WHO) defines it as “a state of well being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with  the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to  make a contribution to his or her community”. In other words it’s how you are  doing (your health) emotionally and psychologically. Mental health effects  how we think, feel, and act. All in all, it basically effects how we carry out  our day to day activities and responsibilities. This is exactly why the  maintenance of our mental health is super important. I can not stress this  enough. It’s like food, if you don’t eat properly and maintain your fitness and  health properly, you’re going to end up hurting yourself and you won’t even  realize it until it gets really bad. In the long term, mental health can effect  your mood, behavior, how you respond to issues etc.  

Around 1 in 4 humans will be diagnosed with a mental health issue in their  life time. Around 33% of students suffer from serious depression and 39% of  students struggle with at least one mental illness. A shocking minimum of 8 

million people die every single year due to mental illness. These statistics are  shocking, but there are ways we as children and as figures part of a narrow  minded society can change these for the better, reshape mindsets and how  society judges mental illness. Let’s talk about the stigma first. 

The Stigma  

Many people are shamed and disgraced for having a  mental health issue. There is a huge, unhealthy  stigma going around society regarding mental  health. This can be due to two reasons: 

1.They don’t fully understand, and are scared to truly understand  

2.They just don’t want to except it  

Let me say this first. It is okay to not be okay! It is  practically impossible to be happy and jumpy every single second of your life. We all have to fight our fair share of battles, but in the end that makes us who we are. It’s important to understand and accept what’s wrong, and fix it. We all need help at one point in our lives. We  shouldn’t be ashamed of it. However, that is exactly what this social and  cultural stigma is doing to people. They become scared to ask for help, and  in the end they’re going to destroy themselves inside out, and it becomes  very frustrating, even life threatening!  

What we need to really understand is that we need to do what’s best for us  at times like that and forget about what everyone else is thinking. We have to  be selfish to get our selves better. More importantly, it’s vital to get the  correct type of help and see someone who can really help you. You could  have the most supportive family/friends, you could be successful in school  and work, you could be reaching your goals, you could be physically healthy  and frequently exercising, but there’s a chance you’d still what to do  something reckless. Why? Everyone is different. Everyone is unique.  Everyone has different needs. What worked for you will not work for someone else. Don’t just assume,  

“Oh okay, I’m being supportive and  I’m there for them, he/she is looking okay, their fine.” They’re not.  People who have a mental illness  are not weak minded—they are sick. Understand this.  

Lets bring this into context now. Sri Lanka. There’s is a huge taboo regarding mental illness in Sri Lanka. Many children’s in rural areas suffer from mental illness because they  are constantly putting themselves under stress and pressure from a young  age as the competition to get good jobs is extremely high. As a result kids  mental health is extremely unsatisfactory. They are not educated on the issue  of ‘Mental Health’ sometimes they don’t even know something is wrong to 

begin with. We need to understand this could be life threatening.  

Then comes the culture. Kids are constantly  under pressure to do well. I’m sure as students we all can understand this. However this gets worse, when it does—it seems impossible to carry on with simple day to day activities like  getting out of bed. You don’t want to go to school and so on. It really isn’t a comfortable position to be in. So we decide to speak to our parents because at this age, that’s who we feel most comfortable to tell things to. This is where it gets worse. Kids are out down, shamed and called  ‘dramatic’ when they try to voice out their feelings and opinions to their  parents. It ends up breaking them down even more. The minute the child  shows signs of depression, the parent/guardian are more likely to suppress  those feelings than actually talk about it and try to find a solution, go to a  doctor and get some help. You should not be ashamed of having a mental  illness. It’s not like your shamed every single time you catch a cold right?  Get. The. Help. You. Need. Culture in Sri Lanka has to change. Now.  Otherwise we’ll be heading down a bottomless pit, and when we realize it, a  life will be lost or it’ll be too late. Just remember you are worth your life and  never contemplate about that because of what someone’s making you feel.  

COVID-19. During this pandemic that is still continuing around the world  claiming a countless amount lives we were all forced into quarantine. Now  for most of us it was fun to stay at home and not go to school, but that  wasn’t the case for all of us. It’s no secret that being locked in your house for  two and a half months—maybe more—was tiring and boring, with only your  family to interact with, but with people struggling and fighting their own  personal battles—it was ten times  harder. Not being able to communicate with anyone, being confined to one single space can heighten loneliness and can perhaps result in depression. Many people get there thoughts and feelings out by going out, talking to different people face to face and just getting out of the place that makes them feel alone helps them cope with the emotions their feeling. Bring stuck in a house with their thoughts is like being stuck in a cardboard box with no outlets. It was suffocating for them. 1 in 6 people experienced a common mental health problem such as depression or anxiety in the past week. That being said, it’s important that we acknowledge their efforts, and even if you know someone that is struggling like this—reach out, talk to them and give them the help they need. Remember “Pain strengthens and fear drives faith.” This quarantine has most definitely taken  a toll on everyone, so it’s important we remind ourselves of humanity and  hospitality and help each other out. This hasn’t been easy for any of us.  

We are the next generation that can make this change. We have the power to  break the stereotypes, stigmas, culture, taboo…whatever it is or whatever  you want to call it, to help each other, to get better. To help humanity get  better as a whole, and normalize ‘Mental Illness and Mental Health’. This will  benefit us to extents we can not even imagine.  

So what can you do?  

To start, let’s focus on three things:  

1. How to fight the stigma  
2. How to help someone with mental illness  
3. How to help yourself if you are going through a mental illness 

HOW TO FIGHT THE STIGMA!

• Talk openly about mental health and don’t be afraid of judgment
• Educate and Enlighten- educate your self and spread awareness  • Be cautious of what you say at  stay factually correct, and do not offend anyone

• Be honest about going for treatment and make people feel comfortable

• Choose empowerment over shame

• Support equality between  physical illness and mental illness

• Acknowledge and show compassion for those with mental illnesses  • Speak out against media if you realize they are stigmatizing 

How to help someone with mental illness

• When your with them, focus only on them—no distractions  • Let them share as much or as little as they want to— don’t push it  • Do not second guess their feelings  
• Listen carefully to what they tell you  
• Keep questions open ended  
• Talk about wellbeing  
• Offer them help on seeking professional help (make them feel comfortable  about it)  
• Know your limits (respect what they tell you and don’t push for more)  3. How to help yourself if you are going through a mental illness
• Talk, get it out, don’t bottle it up. Speak to someone you trust  • Stay active and eat well  
• Stay in touch with people and spend time doing things you enjoy and love  • Get professional help/advice  
• Take time for yourself and relax for a bit (depressed —> deep-rest 🙂 )  • Care for others and accept who you are  
• Don’t be afraid of opinions  

As kids, we are the future generation, we have the power to make a change  if we can be passionate about this issue. Use your voices for the better and  help create a positive change in society. Save lives.  

Challenge the taboo.  

Let’s break the stigma.

By Chathma Punchihewa