Why Mental Illness Is Still A Taboo
we ignore it very day, very second of our existence on fear
Mental Health is real and very much embedded in our society, yet we pretend it does not exist, we ignore it very day, very second of our existence because of fear, fear of being judged or misunderstood by our own people, our own community.
Such is the case in Pakistan, there are over 300,000 suicide cases in Pakistan that have been reported and that too is a very limited number, There has been an alarming rise of suicide in teens and it is not because of the fact that people now are facing mental issues now, it is the fact that it was considered forbidden to talk about it until now and has recently been come to light, the generation before us that includes are parents and our grandparents who were not given a right to understand there own internal issues and get help for it, believe Mental Illness to be a hoax and new system created by us as a means to runaway from our problems.
Even though we as a society have progressed in many aspects from our lifestyle, to our views on certain subjects we still lack in the understanding of what Mental Illness is and how do we overcome it in a more positive light. The stigma that surrounds Mental Health in South Asia is mainly due to misunderstandings of the fact that a person with mental health issues is considered stupid or mentally dumb which brings damage to the issue at hand. In South Asian societies the image of the family is considered more important than the lives of the family members, as the Izzat is considered as an important aspect of the family.
We should as a society be more vigilant of such issues and spread awareness rather than condemning them, We should be moving forward towards progress not backwards, so that we do not have another death of a beautiful individual at our hands. This is 2018, we have women and men working side by side, we have reached for the stars and moving towards other galaxies, understating each other might not be a difficult prospect to consider.
Presidential candidate from PTI Arif Alvi has called for a 24/7 helpline to address Mental Health illness, it may not be much but it is a step towards progress.