Mental illness. Therapy. Depression, anxiety. Self-harm. Suicide.

Most of us shut our ears and squirm to these words. In many societies, these words are either forbidden or frowned upon with judgment. But the question is, why? People don’t hold off on sharing their physical ailments and there is certainly no hush-hush in going to the doctor for a broken bone or headache. Neither do people hide their ibuprofen prescription and nor do they hide the pain they are going through. But when it comes to matters of our mind, the rules are different.

The goal for most people is to lead a happy and comfortable life, and that honestly, starts with your head. How many of us have heard things like “it's all in your head”, “you think too much” or “you are just too sensitive, you need to be strong? And now, imagine someone came up to you and opened up the table to have a conversation to understand what you are feeling and why. What if your mind didn't have to fight that constant battle of discomfort and fear of judgment before sharing how you felt? What if you could simply reach out for help?

Society has repeatedly made people feel like there is something wrong with them. There is a stigma attached to matters of the mind and this is exactly why we need to end the stigma. There is no shame in having a mental illness or talking about it. There is no shame in seeking therapy and there is no shame in taking medication.

You’d be surprised to know how we are more alike than different. We go through so many similar experiences but, maybe react differently. To those of you reading this who are currently struggling through a mental illness, I want to tell you four simple words: You are not alone. There are many people fighting an internal battle that the outside world isn’t aware of.  We are afraid to tell our loved ones or reach out for support. We fear we may come off as a sign of ‘weakness’, we wonder what others may think of us and this is what needs to change.

We need to bring it up more & more. At the Mental Health Story, we realise the importance of ‘normalising’ the conversations around mental health & hope to inspire people to get through their difficult times. We aspire to build a community for individuals to pen down their story, express themselves, read about experiences & spread love & kindness. Stories of those who have gone through mental health struggles themselves or have seen their others go through it help us spread more acceptance, awareness & kindness in the society.

Let's begin stirring conversations around the mind. One story at a time.

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