Do you think we talk about mental health enough?

[thegreenyogi]

[Lynx122]

I think and talk about it all the time lol. But before I was 25 I didn't even really know it existed. My mom was kind of prejudiced against people with mental health issues and even though she complained multiple about how my dad must have aspergers and was too stubborn to get therapy, she didn't think I her precious son could be affected by that. Even when I told her she didn't want to believe it at first. And my dad has recently started looking into mental health for the first time at age 66. So yeah the environment wasn't exactly helpful when it comes to mental health but it still became the biggest focus of my life. It just took a bit longer. And I'm making big strides but it is a grind. And then you discover new things to work on and it makes it feel so endless and, in bad times kind of bleak but I still just keep going. Most of the time I do feel good even during the difficult phases. If I want to have any kind of life I need to do this there's no other choice. I'm not someone who can just function and live a life while not dealing with their mental issues. I need to build everything from the ground up. Right now I'm starting to reach the point where I can be more flexible with some things so maybe it'll change, but it's still starting out.

[Zack-Bann]

An old man once said “we didn’t know we were supposed to be scared so we weren’t scared”


I think that applies well to mental health as well.


In a way we talk about it too much.


By constantly highlighting all the things that can cause sadness and depression we allow our minds to wonder there and get comfortable.


My company doctor explained to me recently why the company offers counseling for work related mental health issues.


She said that depression and burnout are contagious just like a cold.


You hang around depressed people and you will inevitably trigger your own depression.


So while it’s important to understand mental health I think it’s more productive to train people to protect their minds instead of constantly reminding them about all the horrible things in the world

[thegreenyogi]

I like your doctor. I reached the same conclusion on my own a long time ago.

[temu_shrek]

I’ve experienced this. The time I was most depressed in my life was when I started hanging out with someone who was also depressed. Our friendship ended (for other reasons) and I noticed I started feeling happier. That made me sad in a different way.

[jazzy34]

Unfortunately, anything mental health still carries a huge stigma. During my lowest low, my own mother looked at me and said: "we don't say that word (depression) in this house." So yeah, we still have a LONG way to go.

[Simslover92]

I don't think we do honestly. I think it's swept under the rug a lot of the time and this is why the suicide rate is increasing especially in men but also in women.

[BadApple69]

No we don’t. There used to be insane asylums, horrible places with very crazy people in them…. In some cases very dangerous people. Now those people are living on the streets. Insane asylums were not run properly, under funded and probably had the worst of the worst working there. IF they could be reopened, funded, inspected regularly I think they would help the mentally ill and society both.
Obviously when I talk mental health I am talking about serious mental illness. Not talking about the collage kid who failed a final and is feeling depressed.

[molonski2]

I have briefly read the comments this time , normally I don't , and I think it's Country dependent , think it's spoken a lot more about in the US , certainly not enough in Australia, and here in Thailand non existent frankly.

I'm from the school of thought that everyone needs a phycological, if I could I'd see one every month , but I don't prioritise it , and I should.

My addressing things openly the stigma is lost , I was talking to a Thai friend about this , an educated individual and she kinda looked me sideways.

But as other have said , the quest is some push it too far , and hence they are saying " we talk too much " so I get that view also , but so many life barriers are broken down with open discussion.

[HawkPerception]

I think mental health is important, but I also think people are indoctrinated to be soft nowadays. We need to practice stoicism and just deal with each scenario as they arise. I'm tired of everyone saying they have some kind of condition or syndrome. So many people feel like victims of the world because of the way society is and it's pathetic. People need to learn to develop a thicker skin.

[Anonymous]

Only when the media can politicize it.
This isn’t just me, but a lot of people would like us to treat those with mental health rather than 1) Not being able to afford the help they need 2) Not being able to afford proper medication or drugs 3) Get locked up a long long time for self medicating their mental health woes with marijuana or opium or heroin or whatever 4) Forbidden to own a gun to protect themselves or permitted to get a job because of their self medicating.

We see violence, thievery, and struggles when we don’t give the people an affordable way out of this crisis, a way to check into an asylum rather than a prison, and with the modern day horrors happening everyday this crisis gets worse like the male loneliness epidemic.
The fact of the matter is we have been talking about it and now is the time to do something about it.

[Opinion Owner]

We need to reopen the asylums, allow people a free education and easy avenue to become medical professionals even taking in more overseas medical professionals since we’re running low on that front.
Lower the price of drugs and treatment. Expand education on what you can do to help yourself and steps to improve your life. And dismantle the prison industrial complex.

[OneViewpoint]

I think the people who need to be talking about mental health are the people struggling with mental health and the professionals who treat those problems. Here in the USA we don't take mental health seriously at all. If you're not bleeding out from a sucking chest wound you're just a whining loser and you need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and stop being a weirdo. Welcome to MAGA land. If it's not happening to them, it's not real.

[sage2021]

One thing that I would like to say is that it seems like a lot of people believe they have gone to med school and become psychrist's and call people names like crazy, bi-polat, schizo, psycho and they don't know what the hell they are talking about and they shouldn't be calling anyone those names unless they have earned the degree to do so!

[genericname85]

i think we're talking about it too much. people stop taking accountability. they blame every shit on some pretend mental disease to keep acting like a victim while being the worst bully.

like therapy is a private thing. your mental conditions don't belong in public unless it's like tourettes where explaining yourself is inevitable.

[Still-alive]

i feel like its talked about a lot more than it used to be however we still don't treat it with the same seriousness like we do with other health problems which is messed up.

[Still-alive]

@bobalife since you work in this field. where do you stand? im curious.

[bobalife]

Mental health has been an exposure to create conversations we aren’t having or it’s still being limited as a taboo in certain cultures. There are still a great amount of discussion that exists with the sigma of mental health. In our time today, there has been progress of bringing more awareness with mental health being reframe in a more collective acceptable approach and how can we reshape our society to assist those who are struggling with mental health.

Are we discussing about our mental health enough? Or the real question is… are we reframing the narrative of mental health significantly to enhance a more positive outlook and engagement of it? 🧐🤓 this is me in my nerdy, professional hat talking as you requested.

[bobalife]

And of course, the need to make proposals to enhance services, programs, treatment care, fundings, and increase the awareness of it.

[Still-alive]

@bobalife yeah we definitely need to remove more of the stigma around mental health. I wish we could have like mental health leave or something. If your worker is dealing with something particularly taxing emotionally they should be allowed some paid time off to recover. Something like that anyway. We do this with physical injuries or pregnancies so why not mental illness too?

Anyway yeah i enjoyed reading your nerdy professional therapist side come out hehe thanks!

[darkcloud1945]

Not nearly enough. Just check the troubled children in NYC schools, they can't read or write, nor can they do math or form a coherent sentence, thanks to the No Child Left Behind Act. They were just dumb before; now they are stupid and run amok, knowing whether they pass any test or not, they will graduate from school knowing NOTHING !!!

[RavVid]

Maybe we talk about it too much with the consequence people will think about it and conclude they have mental health issues.

It becomes an excuse. I have mental health issues so you can't hold me accountable for the shit I do.

[Shiprex]

I think it is over egged at this point because it seems like we are all being told we are in poor mental health and that we all NEED to go to therapy just to get by. NO we don't we just need to stop being bombarded by negativity and bad news.

[NathanDavis]

I think that a bigger issue is "how we talk" about these things...

and, every other thing for that matter...

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

We’re overtherapized as a society, which is great for analyzing issues but terrible for emotional processing.

[exitseven]

Nobody here wants to admit how crazy they are

[Cidknee]

I will. I'm bat-shit crazy most all the time.

[BCRanger10]

If anything, I think we talk about it entirely too much.

[FreyaRed]

Too much talk about it. Everyone has a depression or OCD or borderline or bipolar disorder...

[katiesmuff]

No we don't and that is likely why it is so misunderstood.

[Maybe_Maybe_not]

Yes, we do, but mostly in a derogatory way lol?

[Cidknee]

Not sure, but we need to get mental institutions rolling and end all the street violence and assassinations. Or at least attempt to.

[IHaveRespawned]

We need to place more emphasis on mental health resources, because while not always the case, mental illness can become a public safety issue. Many want to blame the guns and the use of other weapons and violence, yet we don't acknowledge the underlying issues enough. The left wants gun control; the right supports 2A (and so do I). But neither side really wants to acknowledge mental illness or mental healthcare.

[Cidknee]

I hear a call for it from my acquaintances.

[dragoblack]

Nope. The usual advice is always "talk to a therapist"... not all therapists give good advice, or they pump a person full of antidepressants for financial gain

[Maybe_Maybe_not]

A therapist is a vague notion worldwide anyway, depending on location some are coaches focused on advice-giving, some others are focused on improving well-being. Some officially qualified, some not, some self-certified, some peer-certified...

[dragoblack]

Exactly. Also can't tell you how many times I've been given bad advice or insulted during a mental breakdown... finding an outlet is hard, especially when you're poor.

[andreasderjuengere]

"We" actually talk too much about it.
It's quite simple to be happy.

[whosnumber_1]

No I don't think so. People are ashamed of their mental health issues usually.

[Jen_oic]

@thegreenyogi

No, we should share our thoughts and feelings with each other

[AngryCarl3]

Yes but talk is cheap. We need to stop talking about it and start funding treatment.

[Snakeyes7]

Yes but I think the problem is we often think of ways to affirm it rather than actually targeting the underlying issue.

[noohair]

All the talk is negative where it counts. Regular people don't understand it so they fear it.

[RedInnocent69]

To the extent we’re starting to use it as a crutch

[ChadThunderCack]

We sure talk about female mental health way to much. As far as guys go we're lucky if the news mentions our suicide.

[MereAnarchy]

We talk too much. Counselling makes PTSD worse after trauma. Counselling makes depression worse in school classes.

[Nikki1989]

No, not even close.

[Alex-Snow]

Not really. Guys especially

[Mike_Hum]

Nope. Look at the lunatics on this site

[theskyrider]

No, usually not talked about

[karlaatsd]

to much there are lots of messed up people

[Anonymous]

Sure the times are changing

[Sammy098]

Nope. Behind the doors, yes. But openly, nope

[strateguy632]

we do.

[TonyMetal___86]

Nope

[AgentG111]

Too much

[Kingofkings1992]

No, we don't