A person’s overall well-being is not solely concerned with the physical body. There is a spiritual part and a mental element. Yes, three components of a single concept we refer to as health.
The easiest to wrap our heads around is the physical. Our shared physical senses can detect variances in physical conditions and seek solutions. The same is not true for our minds and spirits. They’re invisible, except for the person who has them and specially gifted and trained people who can detect when something non-physical is unhealthy.
It’s okay for the body to be slightly unwell because there’s a huge likelihood that it can be repaired. We regularly test it every which way. Our annual visits to the doctor and the dentist are scheduled in advance and it’s common to add another visit when something seems amiss. The annual checkup is sacrosanct and nobody feels uneasy about going to the doctor more often.
Traditionally we have spent the vast majority of our resources on the physical aspects of the human body, probably because we can see it and know when it’s broken and unwell. Physical ailments can usually be fixed. There are medicines, vision correction devices, hearing aids, canes, surgeries, and mobility devices to help us stay as close to physically normal as possible. Even missing limbs can be replaced with prosthetics. The same cannot be said about mental and spiritual health.
For the moment let’s put spiritual health to the side while holding on to the understanding that there is untapped power in that realm of our Being. The focus here is on mental health, as if it’s something totally separate from the physical health of the body.
Jennifer Margulis, Ph.D., posted on Facebook (12/14/2020); “[S] left a note. He was lonely and isolated and in despair. His dad said he was having trouble coping with how much life has changed over the past several months. They canceled the sports program at his school. In our town, they’ve taken down the basketball hoops so teens can’t play ball. This isn’t okay.” [S] felt there was no longer value in living.
There’s a reason we have feelings. They are indicators of the state of our mental well-being.
Suicide rates are up and still climbing, which reflects that something serious about how humans are handling the physical disasters of living – without the necessary and familiar value of contact with other humans. The solid pieces of existence are both the cause of mental distress and the outcomes of emotional unrest, sometimes referred to as poor mental health. Experts study the unseen and have created whole sciences of mental wellness, but for most of us, that part of our health is something to which we don’t pay much attention. We keep it hidden because we don’t want to be confronted with the fact that we can be damaged or broken in ways that aren’t visible, and are not readily repairable.
There’s a stigma attached to mental well-being that isn’t usually linked with physical health. There are mental health departments, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and programs that are loosely connected with overall health, but we need to do more.
The stigma of mental unrest is strong and it’s a duty to confront it and do everything possible to defeat it.
A Chicago-based non-profit is facing the issues of mental health, suicide, and the stigma head-on. Hope for the Day has taken on the task of putting away the stigma and their success is our success. If you, or anyone you know, seem to be suffering because of that stigma, please direct them to this organization. It can be found online at HFTD.org.
They can help, and when we work together, we ultimately will destroy this stigma.
Larry Frieders is a pharmacist in Aurora who had a book published, The Undruggist: Book One, A Tale of Modern Apothecary and Wellness. He can be reached at thecompounder.com/ask-larry or www.facebook.com/thecompounder.