Mental Health vs Physical Health

Mental health is something that has been stigmatized for a very long time. What I don’t understand is why? Why is a person’s mental well-being any less important than their physical well-being? Or their emotional well-being?

A person who is bleeding or has a broken limb is far more likely to receive assistance from passersby, or their friends and family than someone who is struggling with depression, anxiety, or stress. Someone who is having an emotional breakdown is often taken away from others (or feels the need to isolate themselves) to avoid attracting attention.

I think the most important reason for this discrepancy is that we don’t like to face our own emotions, much less deal with anyone else’s. We also might not know how to deal with them (our own or others). We are more likely to learn first aid for physical injuries but where are the first aid classes for mental/emotional health?

We need to start making mental and emotional health as important as the physical because the truth is, they are all connected. More on that next week….