Mental VS Physical
'Anxiety is all in your head' a (ex) friend once told me. 'You're only doing this to disrupt the class' said my year 8 Maths teacher when I was in the middle of an anxiety attack. 'We knew you had anxiety but we didn't think it was going to be this bad!' a boss at a job I lasted only 2 days at exclaimed the day after an anxiety attack (which caused me to later go see a psych). The above are all comments I endured because I had anxiety. I didn't choose to have anxiety, it has made my life hell at times and getting those comments only made the tough times worse. Considering 2 of them were from adults as well is just crazy you would think adults would know that anxiety (and mental illness in general) is something that even with treatment can't always be helped. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean its not there.
If someone has a physical illness people understand that. Its ok if you tell people that you are going to the dentist because of sore tooth or you are seeing a physio due to a bad back but the moment you tell people you are seeing a psychologist they tell you that they are sorry or look at you as though you will fall into a million pieces right in from of them. It shouldn't be a big deal, mental illness is no different than a physical one just that you can't see it. The brain controls everything and if that's not healthy then rest of the body begins to suffer, so in reality shouldn't it be ok to talk about mental illness more than physical illness?!
Its ok to ask for help when you have broken a bone or need support doing tasks due to not being physically able and its ok to ask for help when you feel as though you are falling apart and don't know why, either ways its ok to ask for help when you need it.
This video by Buzzfeed is a real eye opener and well worth a watch.
If someone has a physical illness people understand that. Its ok if you tell people that you are going to the dentist because of sore tooth or you are seeing a physio due to a bad back but the moment you tell people you are seeing a psychologist they tell you that they are sorry or look at you as though you will fall into a million pieces right in from of them. It shouldn't be a big deal, mental illness is no different than a physical one just that you can't see it. The brain controls everything and if that's not healthy then rest of the body begins to suffer, so in reality shouldn't it be ok to talk about mental illness more than physical illness?!
Its ok to ask for help when you have broken a bone or need support doing tasks due to not being physically able and its ok to ask for help when you feel as though you are falling apart and don't know why, either ways its ok to ask for help when you need it.
This video by Buzzfeed is a real eye opener and well worth a watch.
Comments