Mariano's Musings

To start, I am not a medical professional or have a degree in the space. The things I express are mine alone and built from what I’ve read, or spoken to individuals, or personal experience. With that disclaimer aside…

In my opinion, navigating the mental health sphere is not easy. It wasn’t until the mid 1950s that mental health started being viewed as more technical field or discipline of science. For much of history, and even today, there has been a large social stigma around mental health. Although this worldview is changing rapidly, and partially thanks to the pandemic (take the wins where you can), there continues to be challenges in prompting and building awareness. For the purposes of this discussion, I’m going to largely stick to what I’ve seen in the United States.

According to various sources, it is said that roughly one in five Americas deal with some form of mental issue. That’s over 50 million Americans! Now mental issues comes in all sorts and intensity. Sometimes it’s minor, like a headache equivalent of sorts. But other times, it can be a big and extensive situation as if dealing with cancer. To be specific, mental illness can be categorized as anxiety, depression, bipolar, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, behavioral disorders (excess gambling, drugs, sex, and/or eating), and neurological disorders. The intensity and duration of any of these issues vary significantly from person to person.

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How do you go about treating a mental illness? Unfortunately, and like much to life, there isn’t a single solution and it’s complicated. The first step is awareness. Do you think you’re struggling? Do others think you’re struggling? And do you care to do something about it?

You can start by speaking to a mental health professional: primary care physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, licensed therapist/counselor.