The Dignity In Seeking Help!

When the will is left with negligible esteem to lean on, it retreats into a downward spiraling free fall called “Depression”.

Also famously referred to as the common cold of psychopathology, depression is just one of the many other widespread mental illnesses.

You must have seen people preoccupied with the concept of perfection. Obsessed to such an extent that perfection becomes the greatest obstruction in living. This is one simplified description of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

There are some children who seem as bright and resplendent as any other, but perform lowly on tests or formal assessments. They get labeled and they feel insulted and dejected. Some of them get coagulated with time into spoilt brats and others hide deep inside a self-inflicted cocoon of passivity and introversion. The beginning here was as ‘learning disability’ and the climax culminated into a ‘temperamental disorder’ (antecedent to possible future personality disorder).

Many couples, sometimes, find it tough maintaining a healthy marital coexistence. They try finding a reason for the same in the other and often end up seeing no point in living together. All that required was just a ‘glimpse into the self’ as a stepping stone into the other, but due to patriarchy ridden beliefs and random external interventions, they totally end up losing each other. Marital discord is one of the significant primary influences that lower the productivity and wellbeing of our young nation.

All of the above mentioned and many more, are examples of debilitating conditions and habits of mind, that when unintervened can expand into disturbing dysfunctions. It leads to loss of satisfaction in life, a rupture in relationships, clouding of perception, faulty decision making and overall shrinkage in quality of Life.

Like any other disorders, mental disorders (better addressed as mental challenges) require expert intervention and help. In spite of adequate awareness many times, people choose to restrain themselves from seeking help, mainly owing to the stigma associated with such “help-seeking behavior”.

This is largely resultant of the dichotomous view existing in the society about the concept of mental illnesses. It’s surprising to find that in spite of this era of postmodernism, such dichotomous view on “illnesses-wellness” exists in the minds of even the educationally enlightened.

I still vividly remember the visage of a client who wanted a complete psychological evaluation of the prospective spouse in order to rule out any possible post-marriage hiccups.

Such misguided trends can readily be attributed to the aggressive marketing strategy adopted by psychopharmacological companies and mental health professionals too, who many a time are tempted to place selfish interests above service.

The truth is that the state of mental illness is just a point, on a continuum connecting mental illness to mental wellness. At a given point in time, a person’s placement on this continuum is dependent on ’n’ number of factors.

Broadly speaking, this can be any combination of the following:

1. Psychological/cognitive make-up, of the individual ( childhood experiences, learning from the environment, parenting, attachment pattern, object relations, own exploration and consequences, kind of influence gathered from interactions, idiosyncratic experiences, individualized traits etc.).

2. Social aspects (society, culture, rules & regulations, taboos, do’s and don’ts and the desirables, political environment etc.).

3. Biological & genetic aspects (hormonal imbalance, neurotransmitters, neurobiological dysfunctions etc.).

Together these factors are called the “Bio-Psycho-Social” factors.

It is the dynamic interaction involving unpredictable permutations and combinations of the above mentioned predominant factors that result in the cross-sectional disposition of any given individual at any particular point in time.

If you analyze with a scientific attitude to enquire, we find that most of the factors that lead to either illnesses or wellness are outside the preview of conscious manipulation by the individual.

Another interesting fact is that many a time the vulnerability for a mental breakdown (technically called ‘predisposition’ in clinical psychology) is expressed mostly in an environment favorable for its appearance. In a lighter vein; for example, many never know they have the capacity to get physically aggressive until they marry. ( Of course, this is no ground for an excuse, and people deservingly get booked for domestic violence).

The point I want to make is, anyone who takes inordinate pride in being mentally resilient should keep in mind that, it might just be a matter of the appropriate circumstance not arriving, that your vulnerability still remains unexposed.

Hence the issue is not whether one has a vulnerability or not. The takeaway point is that having vulnerability is natural. It's a proof; that you are not a robot and you are a human being who can feel, get stuck between the wheels of emotions and can break down at times.

The good news is that every break down can still be a resilience-building exercise, contributing not only in making a person immune, but also capable of being sensitive to such vulnerabilities in others and supporting them in ‘seeking help’.

Let’s have this holistic understanding of mental illnesses. Let’s start seeing it as a natural sign of being human. Let’s also seek help, assist in seeking help and dispel all myths and stigma associated with “mental illnesses’ and “help-seeking behavior”. At finally, let’s appreciate the courage involved in it, and promote the dignity of “help-seeking behavior”.