Mentioned about a wk ago we were building a resource center for those to find out abt many of the various MH disorders that exist on the continuum. Didn’t feel right not adding the orange button/page for: The Human Condition (you can find it on the Continuum tab in the nav bar).
Unlike most places where you find out abt disorder through a list of symptoms you check off, we built a profile for various individuals whose life stories we tell, much like the #SameHere Hero stories, for each disorder. Amongst them, we profiled one person who was “just” dealing w everyday “life.”
Divorce of parents, bullying target in school, sickness of a fam member, major fall out with a friend, not making a team, employment troubles, etc. You know – the shit that EVERY single person deals w at least a piece of, at some point in their life.
We could have kept it w just the disorder examples alone. But if we did, we’d be speaking to that “1 in 5 people who have xyz” category, only.
That is such a narrow & myopic way of looking at this epidemic. What abt the other 4 in 5? The ones who don’t recognize signs? The ones who don’t want to acknowledge signs? The ones susceptible to disorder but to whom the message hasn’t resonated? I was in that category so I can speak to it. I wish I’d known how we all hold onto things we’ve experienced…they don’t just go away.
Until we acknowledge those 4 in 5 & speak to them, inclusively, we can’t expect to see the negative trends reverse. 80% of ppl out there think this topic doesn’t apply to them bc of how it’s been addressed in the past.
Life is beautiful in so many ways – kids & grandkids, weddings & parties, promotions & trips. But it also comes with its challenges that allow us to appreciate the things above that much more. Let’s get away from only talking abt: 1 in 5. There’s a whole world of people we are neglecting by focusing messages on the 20% alone. We all deserve to thrive, & we all deserve to be resilient enough to handle the next event that we don’t have control over. 5 in 5 is the more accurate # when it comes to whose mental health is affected in some way.
