Mental Health

Mental health has been under-acknowledged and under-funded for a long time—and we are not talking about the past century. We are talking about this decade.

Just as maintaining our physical health is important, taking care of our mental health is equally crucial for our overall wellbeing. However, physical problems always seem to take precedence, landing mental challenges in the back seat. Most of the time, there is total denial regarding the presence of a mental challenge. This could be due to cultural beliefs that our mental wellness is a private matter and our own responsibility. It goes like this—if something doesn't feel good, change it, make it work, and move on. For curing physical ailments, we have accepted the fact that we need assistance from medical professionals. We know that we are not qualified to work on our bodies. Why do we believe that we are fully qualified to work on our minds?

Mental Health Awareness

The biggest challenge associated with mental health problems is early detection. Oftentimes, the impacted individual, as well as their family and friends, do not know about its existence. As a result, the problem remains untreated for a long time. Sometimes, we find out about it after it is too late. The challenge with detection stems from the dynamic nature of our minds, where nothing remains constant. Emotions—happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, surprise—are in a constant churn. Therefore, identifying if the problem exists and where the problem lies becomes challenging. To make things worse, our mind is not a closed, isolated system. It is constantly receiving stimuli from the outside world, as well as input from our own body, at a rapid pace. Most of the time, we do not have control over what, how, and when anything can get triggered in our minds. The first step in treating mental illness is to recognize its existence. We have made that a priority for our impact work.

To spread mental health awareness, we have partnered with Mental Health America, a non-profit organization. Among the plethora of resources that they offer, one of the most valuable tools is a set of free, anonymous mental health screening tests. These online tests are the quickest and easiest way to determine if someone is experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition. These tests help with the early detection of various conditions, such as depression, postpartum depression, anxiety, eating disorder, bipolar, PTSD, etc. If you feel that someone could benefit from taking any of these tests, please share the link with them.

Impact Work

We believe that bringing about mental health awareness is a community effort. Each one of us is a change agent in our community. Therefore, if each one of us brings about a small change, it adds up to create a massive impact on our entire society.

With our impact work, we have a very simple objective. Through our efforts, if we can save just one life—one friend, one family member, or one co-worker—we have achieved our objective.

How can you help

By investing your time in reading this and increasing your awareness, you are already helping. Look for someone in your surroundings who may need help and let them know you care. Encourage them to take this simple test.

Thank you for joining the conversation.