Mental Health awareness week: Breaking Down the Stigma
The Importance of Understanding Mental Health and Mental Illness
We often might think of the terms “mental health” and “mental illness” as interchangeable but they are not.
Mental health IS an everyone thing. It’s a component of our overall wellbeing. We all can do things to improve our mental and emotional health and wellbeing.
Reducing stigma around mental health can help people recognize its importance similar to physical health, without implying a mental illness.
So what is mental illness?
Mental illness is defined as a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder. It can vary in impact, ranging from no impairment to mild, moderate, and even severe impairment.
Mental illnesses can occur over a short period of time or be episodic. This means that the mental illness comes and goes with discrete beginnings and ends. Mental illness can also be ongoing or long-lasting.
“Although the terms are often used interchangeably, poor mental health and mental illness are not the same. A person can experience poor mental health and not be diagnosed with a mental illness. Likewise, a person diagnosed with a mental illness can experience periods of good mental health.” (from cdc.gov/mentalhealth)
My personal journey: In college, I really noticed I was struggling with my mental health. The pressures of college, maintaining high academic performance, choosing the “right” career path, the death of my cousin, all added up to increased anxiousness and soon panic attacks. Was my mental health poor? Yes. Was I diagnosed with a mental illness? No. Could I have met criteria for an ‘anxiety’ diagnosis. Maybe. So here’s the thing…. Just because I didn’t have an anxiety diagnosis, doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have benefited from “anxiety management” treatment or tools, and vice versa, and just because I was experiencing symptoms of situational anxiety - doesn’t mean I needed to start formal treatment.
But personally herein lies the problem. Especially as college students you’re often not seeing a primary care physician who knows you or your background. I saw someone at a walk in clinic because the panic attacks were impacting my ability to fall asleep on a regular basis. They meant well, but aside from saying I was having panic attacks, I wasn’t given any other resources on management. I wasn’t given an anxiety screener. I was asked about my history/background around anxiety and I have a feeling the provider just assumed I was a stressed/anxious college student and chalked it up to more of a situation incident. Looking back, an opportunity was missed here where because I wasn’t formally diagnosed, and given the medical system at the time - I then didn’t have access to resources to help manage my anxiety. It wasn’t until 2015 years later in my occupational therapy career that I obtained a certification as an anxiety management specialist that I realized all the tools I could use in my life and what I’d been missing!
Takeaways for busy on the go professionals –If you suspect you do have a mental illness that is beginning to interfere with your wellbeing, set up an appointment with your primary care provider of find a mental health therapist or center that can help get you to a diagnosis.
That said, you don’t need to wait around to be diagnosed with a mental illness to gain tools, and options to start improving your mental health! If you’re looking for ideas on where to start - head to: www.mariaserbus.com/stressmanagement for ideas!
You’ll find many holistic providers such as myself, chiropractic care, energy healing, etc. will be great components to support your mental health!
XOXO
Maria Serbus
If you'd like to see a certain topic covered or you have questions, email me or connect with me on social media below!
As a mom and self-proclaimed high-achieving entrepreneur herself, Maria Serbus is a mindfulness coach, stress management consultant, and keynote speaker in southeastern Minnesota.
To learn more, check out the Awaken with Maria Serbus podcast.
