Guess what? Depression, just like many other health issues don’t care about your age, your social or economic standing, your colour, your gender, your past or anything else about you. Problems are one of the few fully equal opportunity factors of life, everyone has them at one time or another,
I’ve never understood why it is that we as a society, seem to think that mental health issues only happen to certain factions of the human race. Perhaps it is part of the “It’ll never happen to me.” mentality? Maybe it’s a form of protection by believing that you have to be a certain type of person to have these sorts of issues? The most common type of person that apparently has mental health issues are those that others consider to be weak. So does a lack of mental “strength” mean you are unworthy and no use to society?
My own experience with depression started when I was young and I encountered the few times I tried to reach out the attitude that I was too young to have a problem. I was told that I had nothing to have issues about as I was only a child. Yeah, right. So does that mean that children do not have feelings, get stressed, worry about things or have thoughts that concern them? Do we only get feelings when we turn 18?
No? I didn’t think so and yet we are so quick to dismiss the feelings of children. Surley, what we should be doing is listening to their concerns etc. and helping them even if that is just by listening. That may be all that they need. I know that sometimes when I have something running in circles in my head, a listening ear is all I need to start to make sense of it.
Now, I do not mean that every time that a child comes to an adult (parent or otherwise) that they need to assume that there is a mental health issue present, we all have things we struggle with in life but they do not necessarily indicate a bigger issue. However, if a child feels listened to and supported, they are more likely to open up about the bigger, potentially more damaging things. Also if you deal with something when it is small, the potential for it to become a bigger issues decreases.
Please never underestimate how important listening to someone is. Be it adults or children we all have things we need to air. In my experience and that of others who I’ve spoken to who have had mental health issues, fear, shame and stigma have been the main things that have delayed them getting help. They have often also reached out before and been dismissed or ridiculed for their struggles. When they finally found someone who was willing to listen, it made the other steps towards getting the help and support they needed less daunting.
If we keep fostering these negative perceptions and assumptions toward people who need help and support, we are only going to see more lives damaged and in some cases, lost.
Written By Lorna Smart
Blogger @Poemstellium
Instagram @lornasmartwordcrafter
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