COVID-19 has been a period despised by everyone yet at the same time, has been a kickstart to a few. Lockdown, as disrupting as it may sound, was again a breathable time for some. The pandemic lately has become a hype, a word of fashion, which doesn’t hold that deep a fear in our hearts. You go out on roads, you see people with less or no safety measures and consequently, notice the virus spreading alarmingly. Well, of course the virus has got its own ego.It perhaps cannot survive in ignorance and requires constant attention, way more than the moodiest of people - makes sense as to why the virus is multiplying itself and bringing about a fourth wave of its spread while the masses watch in growing fear, it craves the attention the human kind can never give it enough of. However, this thirst for attention makes up for only a part of the Pandemic problem. The bigger piece of chilli in this sweet, sweet catastrophe is the war that is growing inside - mental illnesses. Everyone has heard of it, with nobody caring enough to deal with it. One prefers to preach openly of the issue yet never finds the courage to show their truth.
Covid-19 is perhaps the one time when everyone got hit with it, where the alien concept made its presence known to the humankind, even though it has existed since forever.
Mental health issues have always been there knocking at every door, at least once.
During the last three to four decades, especially, psychology has expanded worldwide and assumed a global presence. Stevens and Gielen (2007) and some others have estimated that there are over one million psychologists.
But to burst your bubble, depression has increased with double the speed. According to an estimation every third person is depressed and more than 80% of the depressed people are not even seeking any treatment.
Doesn’t twist your mind yet? Perhaps this will.
I remember talking to a cousin of mine, about my friend’s mental health. Her nose turned bigger, her mouth into a big ‘O’, and she gasped more than she had when she heard about a close relative being arrested for theft;it seems the New ‘Exaggerated’ Normal. Returning to normalcy, her mouth twisted into words I hadn’t imagined, “discontinue your friendship with her”
You know how toxic it can be to help a person heal when a mere mention of their state brings bigger gasps than ever before. It is highly contagious so there’s no point trying to help people recover because in the end everyone is going to end up depressed anyway, isn’t it? It is often believed that the youth is more prone to depression. I wonder then, what about those old age homes which are filled with silent cries in every corner? What about the parents who are treated like nothing and are left forgotten by their own children?
Nevermind. How does it matter anyway? There is no necessity to think of others till the fire doesn’t give us blisters. After all, it is easier to be selfish - Humankind’s motto 2020
Talk about all the campaigns and counselling and do nothing because it doesn’t matter. To stray a little, I personally liked the show 13 Reasons Why. Even though I’m not allowed to, because it is “toxic” for mental health. But I just cannot help it since in the millennia, there exists one rule: you got to do what you’re told not to.
Back to the issue, I believe the show was not simply a call for help or a reassuring voice to the suffering ones, but an enlightening vision to the world. But again, who cares? There are a lot of helpline numbers online and all these prevention campaigns, they may be barely effective but they are still there, right?
What if, for once, we let the lion of our minds free & open up about our own mental conditions instead of constantly being the ‘advice guru’, to others? I don’t see what is there to be embarrassed about. “I feel sad, it’s embarrassing.”, it’s shameful that people have to be embarrassed about their own hormones.
Isn’t it all the work of hormones? What we feel, when we feel it etc. then why are we still not able to accept the fact that people are depressed and they can be loved back to life? We’re all ready to share all our complaints, from congestion to headaches, to unknown faces with a white coat and a machine strangling their necks at all times, but cannot speak to the ones we trust, so, do we really trust anyone? And if we do then why are all of our mind palace rooms filled with anxiety?
Perhaps, we are still toddlers as a society, as a being, awaiting to reach maturity.
How long until we can clearly state our issues without having to feel embarrassed and/or pathetic? How are we as a society still so pathetic regarding one’s mental ailments?. How many more lives are to end until we give it a thought? It is a matter of shame that one cannot openly speak without being judged. Infinite such essays and calls for help have gone in vain since we are too rigid to even care. But it is said where there is life, there is hope; I'll stick to the very thought and “hope” everyone else does too.
Written by Tanishka Singhal
Editor, Redstockings Chronicle
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