In today’s world, we’re taught one of two things: prioritize your emotions and feelings, consequences be damned; or, bottle up your problems and get back to work.
There are both logic and drawbacks to both schools of thought; however, proper applications are entirely subjective.
The bottom line is: your mental health is perhaps the most important tenet of your health you can maintain. Failing to prioritize your mental health is akin to ensuring a tree grows shallow roots, just to be split in the first storm that blows through town.
We here at The Messenger appreciate a good “awareness” day or month just as much as the next guy, but we feel that overt fanfare for a predetermined period of time can sometimes lead to fatigue in the period of recognition, and complete absence in the mind of the world for the other eleven months. Something as important as good mental health should be a regular advertisement. This isn’t to say awareness campaigns are inherently bad or counterproductive, but as June is Men’s Mental Health Month, we feel it’s imperative to call balls and strikes in terms of year-round significance.
Men stereotypically subscribe to the latter school of thought: bottling up emotions and problems, often to a fault. It’s almost the “manly” creed to retain expression and work hard for forty-to-fifty years and die of a heart attack. Not only is it not honorable, it’s not necessary.
Mental health concerns do not discriminate based on gender, and neither does The Messenger. We open these words of advice to anyone who believes they need more help than meets the eye.
The first step in solving a problem is recognizing the existence of one. Unfortunately, many people find that admitting a problem of poor mental health, mental illnesses, substance abuse, etc. are signs of weakness and capitulation in the larger breadth of life. We couldn’t disagree more vehemently, as recognizing a problem is often one of the most difficult parts.
There are plenty of online portals for finding licensed mental health counselors, tailored specifically to your particular areas of struggle. ZocDoc, Better Help, and Psychology Today are just a few websites you could use to find a therapist right for you. Talk therapy can easily work wonders, as simply expressing emotions can alleviate them, and voicing irrational thoughts or paranoia can make them seem as ridiculous as they might be.
However, some people need a more potent cocktail than just talk therapy, and there’s no shame in admitting that either. Some drugs known to treat anxiety, depression, ADHD, and a host of other mental health problems, such as Xanax, can have unintended and even addictive consequences on patients. Xanax is also being studied as a possible cause of early onset dementia.
Some professionals recommend one of several selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). These medications essentially fill in the blanks in your brain to get it back in shape. Zoloft, Prozac, and Lexapro are a couple of the mainstay SSRIs. Not each drug will affect the same person – or people – differently, so it’s important to consult with a medication manager to find the best drug and dosage for you.
Furthermore, admitting the need of help is no surrender; far from it. Voicing a need for help is perhaps the best victory you could give yourself. A surrender now means dozens of surrenders later down the line.
Finally, suffering is inevitable, but better to suffer in the company of good people, knowledgeable professionals, and supportive friends and family through it. For all you know, someone in your circle might recommend a medication that changes your life, or refer you to a therapist who helps you see clearly.
And if you suffer alone, there will be so many people who could likely say that they could have easily helped you years ago.
Don’t let the secular humanist world get to you. Don’t let the constant negativity of a “world about to end” run by people who can’t find any happiness in life rob you of yours. Finding a therapist is important, but the world’s way is simply not the way to go. Is it any wonder that a society that has deliberately moved farther from God is more confused, more depressed, and more hopeless than ever?
Be your own best friend and prioritize your mental health. You owe it to yourself to not live rent-free in your own brain and to enjoy the short time that you, like all of us, have on Earth.
