My name is Manvi, I am 18 years old right now, and this is my mental health story. In the previous lockdown, I started to feel very anxious, often I would cry and wouldn’t even know the reason why I was crying. I couldn’t attend classes and my teachers would call me and complain about it. At a certain time, I even had a death wish. I lost the will to live. When I was little, I remembered accompanying my mom to the therapist. The therapist helped with her OCD and depression. I was little, so I didn’t even know what a mental illness felt like. I had no idea that at 17, I will be sitting in the same room with the same people, seeking help for myself. I felt my life was ruined and was such a sad story (I didn’t know that this would be the most important experience of my life so far).
I told my parents that I want to opt for therapy. My parents have always been aware of mental health issues because my mom has had OCD and depression. They agreed and supported me. I went to the therapist, the same therapist who treated my mom. I told her about my issue and the required treatment began in September 2020. She suggested that I go to a psychiatrist too because she felt I needed more than just therapy. I got the required treatment and the required support. By January 2021, I began to heal and I feel stronger. Instead of victimising myself and my struggle with anxiety, I felt like a badass for smiling, talking, studying, and doing the same things that any other person would do, even with the turmoil in my head. I began to share my story on social media platforms because I knew that there is a lot of stigma surrounding mental health even today.
When my first article got published, I received over 20 DMs on Instagram. Out of those 20 DMs, most of them told me that they had been coping with anxiety too and asked me for advice. What I could do at most was to be there as a listener when they were in pain and just provide emotional support. I knew I couldn’t help them cure their anxiety, after all, I am not a professional and I could only share my experience. I suggested that they go for therapy and get professional help. Some of the replies that I got really saddened me. Some said professional help is not an option for them because their family does not believe in mental health issues or they were too afraid to tell their loved ones because they thought that would really worry them as mental health issues are considered such a big deal in their societies. Some said that they are way too young to take professional help on their own while some said therapy or any kind of professional help regarding mental health, is way too expensive for them. Listening to the plight of all of these anxiety survivors, I think professional help regarding mental health is still a privilege/luxury. Most people refused professional help for anxiety because of two reasons. The first reason is the stigma surrounding mental health issues and the second reason is the lack of affordable mental health aid resources. There is also this mindset that mental health issues do not require professional help.
We need to understand that our mind is a part of our body. If we seek help for typhoid fever, we can similarly seek help for mental health issues. This is the most important reason I decided to talk about my story because I look forward to a time where we can normalise these conversations. We can talk about anxiety and mental health illnesses just like we talk about any other disease or discomfort. Our mind is a part of our body. If the body needs help at times, then so does the mind. The time has come for us to normalise mental health, break the stigma surrounding it and make therapy a little more accessible and affordable for all. Therapy should no more be a privilege or a luxury. I’ve been hearing “destigmatise mental health and therapy” for a while now, it is about time to get radical about it! We need to move from awareness to action.
I think established psychiatrists and therapists can take out one day a week to provide mental health aid for free to people who can’t afford it. Here I am, an anxiety survivor, still striving to get better while talking about my entire journey and my wish is this article should reach as many people as possible. People need to realise that they need to stop worrying about how their family would react or what their friends would think and seek the required help. Also, therapy should be seen as a way of discovering yourself rather than just a way to recover from a mental illness. Even a person without a mental health issue can opt for therapy if they’re tensed about a certain phase of their life.
To end this, I will say, having an illness, whether physical or mental, and yet going on with your daily life is such a badass thing to do! I wish I could make my past self realise this. But I know there are a million others out there who need to hear these words.
Love,
Manvi.