Talking About Mental Health is Healthy!

As much as we hear that the stigma towards mental health is decreasing, it can still be really scary talking about your mental health, or even asking others about theirs. It was only until very recently that I felt nervous starting and having those conversations with the people I care about too, and sometimes, I still find myself struggling! It’s totally okay to find those kinds of conversations daunting. 

A professor of mine made an interesting point once when she asked everyone in the class who would be comfortable answering a question like “have you gone to the doctor recently?” Nearly everyone raised their hands. Then, she followed up by asking us to raise our hands if we would feel comfortable answering the question: “have you talked to a therapist recently?” to which very few people raised their hands, and that was in a class full of students studying the topic! Though the stigma towards mental health is decreasing, it hasn’t disappeared, if it had, everyone would feel okay talking about it. It is still something that is very prevalent, however, it shouldn’t be.

Talking about mental health is something that is super healthy and can be helpful even just mentioning. Talking about mental health helps reduce the stigma surrounding the topic, can lead to individuals who would not usually get mental health help getting help, can help everyone better understand each other, and, of course, help people lead happier and healthier lives. But how exactly are you supposed to start those kinds of conversations?

The topic of mental health should not be something that is avoided in conversation, as it can make people feel isolated and help increase stigma surrounding mental health and mental health conditions. Asking someone about their mental health should, ideally, be as simple and painless as asking someone how a class is going, how work is going, or how their latest hobby is going. It is important to bring up these topics without it seeming like the topic is something that covers a taboo subject, especially since it’s not; everyone has mental health! If you need examples of how to approach the topic for specific situations and help in figuring out what you might be able to do in order to feel more comfortable initiating those conversations, take a look at the first link in the resource list below.

Whether you have specific conversations that you have in mind that you want to bring up, or if you are wanting to start having more of these types of conversations in general, it is important to note that the more open you are thinking about and talking about mental health, the more those conversations will happen naturally. It’s never too late to start having those conversations, and this includes conversations with yourself!

Ayanna Schubert

Birch Psychology

Resources

https://www.samhsa.gov/mental-health/how-to-talk

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/why-is-it-important-to-talk-about-mental-health

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/a-z-topics/talking-about-mental-health