Today I am in the mood for an epic post rant (don’t ask, bad day). If like me you go around reading lots of different mental health blogs you will soon come across one or two that will get your back up and trigger you like a bullet from a gun. Well, today I want to put some myths to bed as I tell you ten things that almost no-one else will tell you about mental health…
WARNING: Just a quick note before this post starts, as I was in the middle writing this post I realised some of the things you are about to read below are brutally honest and might not be what you want to hear. Like Morpheus tells Neo in the film The Matrix ‘All I’m offering is the truth, nothing more’.
Mental Health MYTH: You Can Cure Mental Health
You Can Cure Mental Health
Let’s start with a real doozy. Even if you are one of the lucky people who does learn to live with a mental health issue it will sadly always be a part of you. Once your mind breaks there really isn’t much anyone can do about it. Its never going to be cured and fixed, but you might learn to deal with the problems through therapy and of course medication. It doesn’t mean your life is over, it just means you might need to change it in order to live with your issues.
Mental Health MYTH: Every Therapist is The Right Therapist
Every Therapist is The Right Therapist
I’m sure most therapists will try and tell you that this is true, but sadly it isn’t. Even if you find a therapist you really like to be with they might not be the right person for the job. Sure, you might be relaxed in their company and feel like you can tell them anything, but if after a while you feel you are not getting anywhere it might be time to try a different therapist. But then again you might just get lucky and find the right one first time.
Mental Health MYTH: Self Harm Means You Are Suicidal
Self Harm Means You Are Suicidal
I have read this in countless posts that performing self-harm is a form of attempted suicide. This is simply not true and I will willing to go so far as to tell you it can even be a way to help yourself feel better! I know this is not what parents of kids doing it want to hear but it is the truth. Sure, in most cases self-harm is a cry for help, but it can also be a way to feel more grounded…more human even in the darkest of flashbacks and depression dips. But it doesn’t necessarily mean you want to commit suicide.
Mental Health MYTH: Mental Health Treatment is 50% You, 50% Profesional help
Mental Health Treatment is 50% You, 50% Profesional help
While some therapists might tell you it’s 50% I don’t believe that for one second. I believe the number is much closer to 95% you and the rest from professional help. Unless you are ready to get help, unless you are ready to fight your own mind, unless you are ready to tell someone you need help NOTHING will get done and nothing will make you feel better. Sadly it is mostly down to you and while pills and therapy will help even with all that help it is up to you to take those pills regularly and go to therapy regularly and open your soul to the therapist.
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Mental Health MYTH: The Younger You Are The More Likely You Are To Develop Mental Health Issues
The Younger You Are The More Likely You Are To Develop Mental Health Issues
It doesn’t matter what age you are you can develop just about any form of mental health issues. From children as young as 3 to adults as old as 103 there is nothing anyone can do to prevent it and this is especially true when it comes to BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) as most people think it happens in younger adults when studies prove people of all ages can get it.
Mental Health MYTH: Losing Weight Helps Mental Health Issues
Losing Weight Helps Mental Health Issues
Now we are getting into some very controversial ground. The key thing with losing weight to help your mental health is to make you feel better about yourself and combat mental health issues like depression and anxiety. The truth is anything that makes you feel better inside is a good thing not just losing weight! The mind and the body are connected, but a happy mind doesn’t necessarily mean a happy body. It’s way more important to love yourself no matter how you look. If you look after the mind you will soon feel strong enough to look after the body, this doesn’t nessasarly work the other way around.
Mental Health MYTH: People With Mental Health Problems Are Nutters
People With Mental Health Problems Are Nutters
(Word forms: plural nutters. countable noun. If you refer to someone as a nutter, you mean that they are mad or that their behaviour is very strange. [British, informal, disapproval])
Studies have shown that 1 in 10 adults located all over the world will have some form of mental health issue. Unlike someone with a visible illness, you can walk straight past someone with a mental health problem and never know. We don’t look any different to anyone else, but in our minds, we feel different to everyone else on the planet. Some of us have families, some have jobs and some of us might be working right next to you and you’ll never know.
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Mental Health MYTH: People With Mental Health Issues Are Unlovable
People With Mental Health Issues Are Unlovable
This is what has fired me up to write this whole post. Reading a post about someone who lived with a partner with BPD they believed that person was unlovable due to them constantly pushing them away and saying all the wrong things at the wrong times and then getting too emotional when it comes to a head. While I am willing to go as far as say people with mental health are difficult to be in a relationship with we can also be the most loving and devoted people on the planet. It’s just a tough fight to get us into that position in the first place. If you are not willing to take the time to understand your partner’s mental health issues then you shouldn’t be with them in the first place, especially if they develop/reveal it after a period of commitment.
Mental Health MYTH: People With Mental Health Issues Are Attention Seekers
People With Mental Health Issues Are Attention Seekers
If I have read this once I have read it a hundred times. This is often said about people who self-harm, its a way of getting attention only and as soon as they get that attention they will do it more because they see attention as a reward for self-harming. While I would like to believe people would never self-harm for attention I guess it is possible that some people do, but if that is the case it is a very small majority of mental health suffers. Even then, if you are doing it for attention you are suffering from mental health issues anyway, so anyone who self-harms needs attention and care, even if they are doing it for the wrong reasons.
Mental Health MYTH: Past Trauma Is How You Develop a Mental Health Problem
Past Trauma Is How You Develop a Mental Health Problem
From CPTSD (Complex post-traumatic stress disorder) to PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) most people believe you need some sort of trauma in your life before you can develop a mental health issue. While I am willing to guess that is true for a lot of people suffering from mental health issues it most certainly isn’t true for everyone. Things as simple as stress and physical illness can cause it as well. Just because you have been lucky enough to have had a “good life” doesn’t mean you won’t ever develop mental health issues in the future.
Well, that is my rant over. If you know of any other mental health myths of just want to talk about anything you have just read do let me know the comments below.