In the last few years, there’s been a slow, yet strong and steady positive shift in how the topic of mental health is approached. People no longer feel the need to hide their experiences about panic attacks, depressive episodes and body dysmorphia. Instead, they’re exhibiting their realities and experiences through art works, films, poetry, social media posts to articles. These days in the Western world, the topic of mental health comes up in conversation almost as naturally as the weather does – but that hasn’t always been the case.
Growing up I had noticed that I tended to overthink, plan and worry about everything. However, I simply put this down to my character. My friends would often make fun of how worried I was about everything all the time – whether that came to needing a concrete plan when going somewhere, to thinking of all the possible bad outcomes or things that could go wrong in any given situation – I was a worrier. It wasn’t until I was around fifteen years old, that my mother and I realised that I wasn’t some uptight, no-fun, boring teenage girl who worried about everything – I had anxiety. I remember having a morning coffee with my mum telling her about how I was worrying about a maths test I had later that week, and I started getting all hot and bothered, my heart was beating so fast and feeling dizzy. I was so nervous about this maths test and failing it that I was sending myself into a serious state of panic. I’ll never forget the way my mum looked at me with an expression of concern, relief and hurt across her face like a detailed mask.
It was then she told me that my reaction wasn’t me “overthinking”. It was anxiety, and I had been consistently anxious my entire life – just like her.
After discovering that I suffered with anxiety, a lot of my behaviours and actions from when I was younger had made far more sense now than they did before. But there was a part of me that was angry – upset, even – with the fact that my mother had never talked to me about mental health. Although, if my mother had never been educated about mental health when she was younger by her parents’ generation, then how in the world would she have been able to know how educate her own daughter?
However, me being angry or upset at my mother was nothing short of self-obsessed, ludicrous and selfish on my part, because she has been my biggest supporter and my rock my entire life. My mental health reached an all-time low this year and my mother was always there to discuss how I was feeling despite how busy, stressed or tired she was. She’d pick me up when I felt low, reminding me to look after myself, but also constantly remind me how strong I was and how proud of me she was. She also wasn’t afraid to give me tough love when I needed it, reminding me of the strong woman that I am.
Over the last few times that my mother and I have been together, we had a discussion about mental health and how far it’s come in terms of its history of being taboo. “When I was younger, mental health wasn’t taken seriously – your generation has changed so much of that.” My mother reflects on how in her time, mental health was viewed as a mere fluke, or in some cases, an exaggeration in order to get out of certain situations. No one was open about how depressed they felt, or how seriously they were struggling with their mental health. “What your generation is doing is extremely admirable – and I wish it had been considered less frowned upon when my generation was young. I think it would have helped us (her generation) a lot more now.”
Despite the fact that this generation “spends too much time on their phones”, or “don’t leave their houses to explore the world as much as before”, or “pass most of the time by taking selfies”, no one can dispute the truth that they have done a wonderful thing for mental health: talk about it openly. The transformation in how mental health is perceived and talked about is nothing short of admirable. Regardless of the cons technology and social media bring, they’ve also become an outlet to those who want to speak about mental health. From body positivity blogs and YouTube channels, to poetry and art Instagram accounts retelling their stories with depression and anxiety, the relationship between social media and mental health is a double-edged sword. But it’s thanks to this generation that social media is being used to not only show off about your latest holiday or to gain “likes” on a selfie, but it’s being used as a vessel to hold conversations about serious issues.
Mental health issues are hard to pinpoint, and I do think that sometimes people who are uneducated about mental health, will often equate anxiety to simply being a little nervous in a situation, when there is valid reason to feel nervous. For me, anxiety is often being worried for absolutely no reason – it can stem from one thing to nothing. There is a potential danger when it comes to discussing mental health, and that is people using it as an excuse to make allowances for their inappropriate actions or behaviours. However, I believe that with the leaps and bounds this generation is making, mental health will soon be taught in schools. Topics such as the different types of illnesses, the potential signs, how to seek help – all of these issues should, in my opinion, be considered as important as teaching children about the quadratic formula – which by the way, I’ve not used since I left school. I think a class that would have taught me about the signs of a panic attacks or a depressive episode would have proven far more useful to me than trying to figure out how many apples Johnny can buy with one pound.
Overall, this generation has sparked and created a culture where not only integral topics like mental health are discussed, but subjects such as sexual identity, gender norms, feminism… the list is endless. So yes, this generation is perhaps too attached to their phones, maybe takes too many pictures of themselves and spend too much time online. But they’re also the ones who have given mental health the time, energy and place it truly deserves.
Photo: katieg93