Change the stigma
We found out after Tyler’s passing that he knew that he was having mental issues. He told his roommates that he didn’t want to get help because he didn’t want the stigma attached to mental illness to follow him for the rest of his life. Without treatment this illness eventually drove Tyler to take his own life.
We have to change the narrative on mental health. There is a negative stigma that is attached to metal health. Most often mental health issues are caused by an imbalance of hormones, for example serotonin. Low Serotonin levels are often attributed to anxiety, depression, panic attacks, insomnia, obesity, fibromyalgia, eating disorders, chronic pain, migraines, and alcohol abuse. Negative thoughts, low self-esteem, obsessive thoughts and behaviors, PMS, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome are all symptoms. Diabetes is often the result of low production of insulin or the body’s inability to use insulin. This is just an imbalance in hormone levels which could lead to death if not treated properly. Yet, there is no negative stigma associated with having diabetes. If you, your child or a family member had diabetes you wouldn’t feel ashamed. Why is mental illness looked at differently?
We joke about people being crazy. We joke about ourselves and others being crazy, or so OCD, etc.. By doing this we add to the negative stigma. We make it harder for people, who need help, to get the help they need. My dog takes anti-anxiety medication everyday. I would joke and ask if Little Man got his “crazy pills” today. I think about this all of the time. I made a joke out an illness that needs treatment. Could my “joking” have added to the reasons that Tyler didn’t get the help he needed? Of course it could have. I suffer with this guilt every day.
If we have the thinking that mental illness was just an illness like any other we would be more willing to get treated. If you know that there is a history of mental illness in your family, talk about it. If you know that there is a history of diabetes or breast cancer in your family you pass that information along. We do this to prepare our lived ones for what may be a reality for them. If you never talk about mental illness with your family and it happens to one of them they can be blindsided by the illness a less able to deal with it. By knowing that it may be a possibility, if illness strikes, people will have a better understanding of what is happening and how to deal with it.
Let’s change the narrative and change the stigma.
