Mental Health

Mental health as a topic of conversation isn’t as taboo as it once was, thankfully. Every single adult has felt a range of emotions and experienced a plethora of thoughts that aren’t always rainbows, unicorns, and butterflies.

We go through things. We feel. Deeply. The happiest people have felt the saddest. There are always two sides to a coin. And we have all had traumas, though that may look very different from one person to the next.

Certain cultures and genders are especially judgmental when it comes to mental health. It can be seen as a “weakness” to admit to anxiety, depression, etc. Even worse, it can be seen as an extreme weakness to seek counseling.

Why are we so judgmental when it comes to mental health? Even if we perceive someone else’s issues to be something we’ve dealt with or much “less” than what we have encountered, what gives us the right to judge their circumstances?

Honestly, we typically know very little about others, even if they talk a lot. For example, I am an over-sharer. So there are people that think they know a lot about my life, my circumstances, and what I go through. In reality, even though I share a lot and am an open book, there’s so much more that I don’t share.

No one knows everything I’ve been through. I tend to talk the most about the “easy” stuff for me. It’s not a secret that I’ve been messed with as a child by a family member or raped at 14. While those topics suck and shouldn’t happen to anyone, they are easier for me to talk about than other things. Unfortunately, those are common occurrences that several people understand and have also experienced.

Those things don’t make me weak. Talking about those things or going through counseling for those things don’t make me weak. In fact, I think those things have made me incredibly resilient and strong in ways I wouldn’t be had I not had those experiences. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t wish those things on anyone.

Scott Benson, the lead character in The Rideshare Chronicles series, has some mental health issues, though he doesn’t realize it. He really thinks he has a grasp on what he’s supposed to do and who he’s supposed to be.

He doesn’t realize that the traumas he experienced as a child have altered him in a way that would take extensive acknowledgment and counseling to sort through. But he’s a “man” so he will deal with it himself.

This story is a figment of my imagination mixed with some real life circumstances myself or those I know have experienced. I have heard too many of my friends say that they don’t need counseling because they are not weak.

Please reach out. Counseling is not a sign of weakness, but of growth and strength. It shows that you are actively searching for how to heal your heart, break generational curses/habits, and most importantly grow to be a healthier individual.

When we each take one tiny step forward to being healthier people, we take huge leaps forward for mankind. I believe that we are all connected. Every single human emotion can (and likely has been) felt by all of us to different degrees. We are united, whether we want to be or not. That doesn’t mean you have to like everyone, but you also don’t have to be unkind. You never know what someone else is going through or how close to the edge they are.