Awareness of mental health has grown significantly over the years but is it taken as seriously, or urgent as physical health is? I believe that there has always and still frankly is a stigma around mental health that makes people's treatment not as necessary or crucial when dealing with someone’s mental health whereas with physical health there is never even a debate about being treated or not. A comic I found while reading more about this topic shows the juxtaposition of how people treat others with mental or physical illnesses.
Yes, physical health is more concrete, can be seen much more clearly, and most of the time needs immediate treatment but the seriousness of how people take it is much more extreme than physical health. Until you really see the effects mental illness can have on a person or how extreme the harms can be I feel that people take it lightly. Mental illnesses are also often not as commonly discussed, diagnosed, and treated as much as physical illnesses are. For example, even a visit to my doctor there is a lack of evaluation of my mental health compared to my physical. All that was asked was a quick and blatant questionnaire in regard to depression and anxiety. I understand that our physician’s job is not to take care of or treat our mental health but I believe that there should be more attention to it. The questions asked about my physical health were much more in-depth and critical than the ones about my mental health, leading me to think that there does not need to be such a priority towards my mental health.
It should not have to reach the extremes of self-harm or other actions that someone’s mental illness is treated. Mental health can be treated just as you go in for a check-up on your body it is important to have checkups on where you are at mentally. Mental Illness Policy Org estimated that close to half of all Americans with mental illness are not getting treatment (Ellis, 2019). Poor mental health is also closely connected to physical health, substance abuse issues, social well-being, poor relationships with others, and many other negative effects on one’s everyday life. It seems that it is not treated until someone’s mental illness becomes very severe and hits extremes.
If people began to bring awareness at a low level of mental illness they could seek treatment and not have to deal with such extremely negative effects of mental illness. People should not wait until someone’s mental illness is so bad that they need extreme treatment. People should take mental health just as seriously as physical health because it frankly is just as important and can help people live better lives. There should also be more accessibility and options to all ages for treatment, care, and understanding of the topic. I believe that there has been much more attention brought to mental health in the younger generations but older generations do not have as great of an idea of how seriously it should be taken. Overall, I believe there should be more attention and acknowledgment of mental health awareness in schools, workplaces, and all arenas because it is something that is just as important as physical health.
Work Cited
Blake, Meredith. “Who's Laughing Now? Rethinking 'Infamous' Women-Monica Lewinsky, Lorena Bobbitt and Our Cultural Mea Culpa.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Dec. 2018, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-monica-lewinsky-punchline-20181208-story.html.
Ellis, Mary Ellen. “The Real Cost of Untreated Mental Illness in America.” Constellation Behavioral Health, Constellation Behavioral Health, 27 Mar. 2019, https://www.constellationbehavioralhealth.com/blog/the-real-cost-of-untreated-mental-illness-in-america/#:~:text=Mental%20Illness%20Policy%20Org%20estimates,a%20one%2Dyear%20study%20period.
Team, Choices Psychotherapy. “Why Don't We Treat Mental Illness like We Do Physical Illness?” Choices Psychotherapy, 16 Nov. 2020, https://choicespsychotherapy.net/treat-mental-illness-like-physical-illness/.
I think that if as kid schools taught more about mental health and people weren't embarrassed to talk about stuff like this, we would live in a much better place. If like P.E., we had time during the day to really find and create health habits to deal with mental health issues, many people would still be here today. If the benefits of mental health were exaggerated in schools just as physical fitness was, there would be an overall content society.
You make a really good point in this article, and it is a serious problem in society that people do not take mental health as seriously as physical health. The part of this article that talks about check ups at the doctor is really interesting, and made me wonder if yearly check ups with psychiatrists could ever be as feasible and integrated into society as yearly physicals, because I feel like those visits might be able to address smaller mental health issues before they get bigger. Also, in order to put mental and physical health on the same level of treatment, I think there needs to be more health insurance coverage for therapy before diagnosis of an illness, as well…
It is interesting to note that physical health can be tracked as you can view yourself, weight yourself, and track your heart beats, etc. You can actually keep track of how your body is doing physically. Whereas while mental health affects your consciousness and emotions on a much grander scale, you cannot really track it. Mental health is the biggest challenge humanity faces in my opinion, as all our other collateral damages stem from the individual struggles every member of society has. When mental health affects your physical health; in forms of self harm, starvations, and more, is when it is usually recognized. Just as you pointed out, that is such an extreme scenario and it is appalling that in…