NORMALISING CONVERSATIONS ON MENTAL HEALTH

-Prisha Poddar We’ve all been there. On the brink of an emotional breakdown, negative emotions fuelling up, feeling like you’ll immediately burst . You can’t focus on school, lash out at loved ones, and maybe even disconnect yourselves from them completely. Trust me when I say this, you are not alone. As teens we’ve all sprained an ankle or broken a bone before right? We’ve even gone to the doctor to get ourselves fixed. Why is it that we don’t see our mental health in that same light? Why do we believe that mental illnesses are something to be ashamed of? Having a mental illness doesn’t make you inferior, or less than. It doesn’t indicate emotional weakness and most often such illnesses are flaws of biology, not of character. The stigmatization of mental illness has veiled the overarching presence of mental health struggles amongst our age demographic. We’ve romanticized and ridiculed the topic to such an extent that mental illnesses are only used as derogatory insults. How many of us have heard,or even said, something like – “She looks anorexic” , or “I’m like really OCD.” The first step towards solving a problem is recognizing it in the first place. So, let’s get this conversation going. Start talking about these issues more. Let’s not ignore our mental health. Our struggles are valid and should be treated as such. We can be the force that changes society’s perception of mental health.