Mental Health is Health

It’s mental health awareness month, and if there is one thing about mental illness I could get the world (including those who struggle with mental health themselves) to understand, it is that reality has nothing to do with it.

There is an episode of Chicago Med when the psychiatrist, Dr Charles, is talking to a man who had been masking depression for years until he couldn’t do it anymore and tried to commit suicide. When Dr. Charles confronted him with this diagnosis, the man reacted defensively. It was a learned reaction since society viewed him as having everything, therefore having no reason to be depressed. (And, being a man, the stigma is much worse than for women. This needs to change, too!). Eventually, he cracked and admitted how long he’d been struggling. The Doctor commented, “You don’t need to have a reason. You’re human”.    

The second thought about this is a real-world one. It is the only celebrity death that has affected me emotionally and still does: Robin Williams. Williams was not just a great, extremely diverse actor and comedian; he was also a good human. Whenever I hear something new about him, it’s always something kind he’s done. If reality should be kind to anyone, it would be (should be) someone like Williams. Yet, he took his own life because of depression. That someone so kind and good, who brought so much happiness to others in so many ways, should feel hopeless will always be the ultimate unfairness. Again, this is a man, and the stigma against males and depression is extra strong and, therefore, even more harmful.

I understand how opening up and being vulnerable can be; I have been there. But it is too heavy a burden to bear alone. Get help, meditate, take medication…do whatever it is you need to do to get better. Like Dr. Charles said, “You don’t need a reason. You are human.”