How to talk to someone about your mental health.

Talking to someone about your own mental health issues can be quite a scary thing to do and there might be a lot of reasons about why a person wouldn't want to talk to someone. For example, they may get dismissed as being silly and told that their problems are not that "big of a deal". They may fear that they will be judged and treated differently or they may think that they're weak in some way. These are just some of the reasons why people may not want to talk, but in reality there can be a lot of reasons.

Now, imagine being Asian and having to try and talk about mental health issues. In Asian culture talking about mental health is, well, it just isn't discussed. The topic of mental health is still seen as a taboo subject. How is it in 2020 that mental health in Asian society is seen as a taboo subject? In other cultures, great strides have been taken in talking about mental health but in the Asian culture we seem to have gone backwards.

There are a number of challenges Asians face in talking about their mental health. One challenge is that if you talk about it or get help in some way you're bringing shame upon your family and that you're ungrateful and that you may be seen in a very negative light.

In 2018 the Live Laugh Love Foundation (TLLLF) commissioned a report to see how Indians perceive mental health. A number of derogatory terms were used to describe people with a mental illness such as "retard" and "crazy". The survey also asked about people about their attitudes towards mental illness and 68% reported that people with mental health illnesses should not be given any responsibility while 60% said that one of the main causes of mental illness is the lack of self - discipline and willpower. The full study can be viewed here. This is also true of other Asian cultures as well, for example in Pakistan suicide is illegal and people with mental illness are thought to be aggressive and violent.

It's easy to see why people from Asian backgrounds may struggle to open up about having a mental health issue. If they are going to be ridiculed and treated like a criminal it's understandable that they might not feel confident in talking about it. These attitudes have to be eradicated though and the only way to do this is by talking.

If you've never talked about mental health with your family, you don't have to do it all at once. Start small and keep it simple and hopefully others will be encouraged to open up. For example you can comment on an article on mental health you may have read or seen on the news and use that as an opportunity to start a conversation. For example you may ask your family something like "What do you think about this?" or "What are your experiences on this topic?". There are also television series that talk about mental health and watching these shows can also be a good way to bring up the topic of mental health.

It can be quite an emotionally draining process trying to tell your family that you have a mental health issue and as we've discussed,this stems from a lack of knowledge and attitudes surrounding mental health. Knowledge is power though. Arm yourself with information about your situation and talk to your family about it. If they are aware and have knowledge about the issue then their attitude might change. They might not be able to help, but at least they are informed and might feel comfortable talking about it. Knowledge can also help to dispel the stigma and attitudes surrounding mental health.

It's vitally important for Asian families to start talking about mental health. We need to end the stigma associated with mental health. By having conversations we can begin to end it. It doesn't have to be conversation that lasts long to begin with, Asian families may not be comfortable talking about these things and that's OK. Just small, baby steps are OK to begin with, but we have to start a conversation at some point.

Stay safe.

"Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all." - Bill Clinton