May is mental health awareness month. A discussion about it is long overdue, and not just because I'm posting this so late in the month. (I didn't want to bombard you all with too many posts in the first two weeks.) The unfortunate reality is, we as a global society are only recently starting to realize the importance of mental health.
I am very grateful to be working with people who understand the importance of mental health. My boss’s wife has practically ordered me to prioritize rest on my days off, and we've engaged with many conversations about the mental health of the children here. But there are still many people who don't prioritize it, and even some who still don't think mental health is real.
What is really helping is that people with mental health problems or neurodivergence are talking openly about it and spreading awareness, especially on TikTok and YouTube. What is not helping is self-diagnosed people using these problems as an excuse for their behavior. I'm not saying self-diagnosing is wrong—all I have for my issues is self-diagnosis—but there is a difference between “I have depression, so I need to take extra steps to make sure I function” and “I have depression, so I don't need to apologize for sleeping in and missing work.” As quickly as information spreads, so does misinformation, and many people are self-diagnosing who actually just have a problem with their ethics.
All that to say, the most helpful thing you can do in this area is to do some research and figure out what a condition actually entails, especially if you think you have it. And, if it is getting in the way of daily life, seek help for it. Personally, I have been able to find workarounds to my problems, which is why I have not sought diagnoses. But some people have more extreme versions of the same conditions, and medical help may be the only thing that actually works. If you're at that point, please talk to a doctor about it. And if you know someone else with a mental health issue, please be patient with them.
Mental Health for the Kids
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