Mental Health & Mental Illness

When I was a kid growing up, mental health and mental illness were taboo subjects. There was a stigma attached to them. If you knew someone with any sort of mental health or mental illness issue, they were typically described as “disturbed” or “crazy” or “touched in the head” or any other disparaging variant that would isolate and marginalize that person as…not normal.

While the attitude toward mental health has improved, I believe there’s still a bit of a stigma attached to mental illness. That’s really a shame. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), more than 20 percent of US adults (18 or older) experienced mental illness in 2021. That’s 1 in 5 people. And I’d argue those numbers are low. How many people out there are suffering from mental health and mental illness issues that are too scared, ashamed, proud or embarrassed to seek any support or help?

Based on current definitions, I have a mental illness. I take medication for anxiety and panic attacks (I would have severe anxiety driving on a highway or over a bridge to the point it was debilitating). Seeking help and finding the right approach for me – both pharmaceutical and lifestyle – has been completely liberating. I can live my best life free of freaking out about freaking out.

Stress, strain, anxiety, mental health challenges and mental illnesses are all part of our human journey. And it’s all normal. I have yet to meet a person that doesn’t have some sort of mental health issue or challenge – even if it’s only temporary.

Life and work come at us awfully fast (and it feels like it’s only getting more complex every day). Pretending we have it all together and constantly putting on a brave face is a surefire way to guarantee burnout and…well…mental health challenges. It’s ok to feel stressed. It’s ok to feel anxious. It’s ok to feel overwhelmed. Hell, it’s ok to be human.

For me personally, I’ve found talking about mental health and mental illness normalizes it, brings it into the light of day, keeps it from being a dark secret tucked in a corner we hope no one discovers.  It wasn’t easy. No one wants to say: “Yea, I have a mental illness.” But doing so was the best thing I could have done for myself.

October 10 is World Mental Health Day. While the focus is on mental health at work, everything touched on in their resources can apply to our personal lives as well.

Take a moment to embrace being human – especially as it relates to mental health and mental illness.

Until next week.

Cheers,

Andy

(All written content created the old-fashioned way.)