Normalising therapy: An important step towards change

???Mental health??? is a topic hardly taken seriously by our society. It is often quoted as an imaginary, or attention-seeking issue and the stigma surrounding this topic is no secret.

Whenever ???therapy???, or anything even remotely related to it is brought up, it is instantly perceived as a shameful or derogatory situation. Thus, leading to avoiding, neglecting, denial of the importance, or even existence of psychological struggles. But just because these issues are not tangible does not mean they are not real, they are very much real, and just like we go to the clinic to get our regular physical check-ups done, similarly we visit a therapist to make sure we are in a healthy mental space as well. Being mentally healthy affects our physical, social and general health.

Psychotherapy, talk therapy or just therapy, is a method of treatment used to relieve people of their emotional and mental distress and help deal with issues in daily life and stressful situations, relationship issues and even trauma. Most of us find it difficult to cope with the fast-paced life we lead today. And this results in extreme steps, like suicide.

• Globally 8,00,000 people die by suicide every year. That is 1 person every 40 secs.

• It is the leading cause of death in the world.

Why do people avoid therapy?

• Mainly the stigma around the whole topic plays a huge factor in people denying therapy.

• To avoid being considered a ???mad??? person.

• Not believing in the existence of ???mental issues???.

• The highly charged sessions.

• Not much or enough awareness of mental health issues.

Benefits of therapy

• Through therapy, people get an emotional outlet. They get someone to talk to.

• Therapy helps people to understand, manage and deal with their emotions.

• Once, the person is able to introspect (observe their emotions), they will become better at expressing themselves.

• This in turn will also help them to nurture their relationships, and get the much needed social sanction.

• Therapy will help one grow and become a better version of themselves, surround themselves with positivity and find mental peace.

Especially, in the recent times of Covid-19, when so much has changed worldwide, it is extremely important for everyone to visit a therapist. And for that to happen normalising talking about it first is very important. Once we start having open conversations about therapy, starting from our family itself, things will start to change.

Lately, a lot of movements are taking place, and a lot of platforms have opened up to spread awareness on various issues, from feminism to the lgbtq+ community to mental health. So many people right from well-known celebrities to high school students, everyone is speaking up about their struggles with mental health issues, so why can???t we?

• If you are a student, talk to your peers, talk to your parents and people at home, spread the word, and inform them, educate them.

• If you are a parent, start talking about it at your workplace, friend circle and most importantly home, make it a dinner table conversation topic. This will also help your kids to open up to you.

• If you are a teacher, speak to your students, as a teacher you can support them in various ways.

• Just casually bringing up the topic during a conversation might also change someone???s views for the better.

Change, regarding anything, will take time. The first step to normalising therapy has already started with all this awareness around us, so let???s take the next steps together and build a world for the better.

References

• https://www.femina.in/wellness/mental-health/why-it-is-necessary-to-normalise-therapy-173978-1.html

• https://dailytitan.com/lifestyle/normalizing-therapy-in-abnormal-times/article_cc7657d2-067c-11eb-a11a-7f3c67d0d494.html

• https://dailymom.com/nurture/why-normalizing-benefits-of-therapy-important/

• https://ourworldindata.org/suicide#:~:text=Globally%20800%2C000%20people%20die%20from,is%20as%20high%20as%205%25.