shan wrote: ↑Sun Apr 25, 2021 1:07 am
In my experience, sexual health is something people in my peer group seem much more comfortable talking about in comparison to mental health. I've tried to explain the feeling of not being able to leave the house even just to have dinner with close friends before to two of my best friends and they had absolutely no frame of reference to understand it. It just made no sense to them and they acknowledged that.
This also leads me to the question; in you guys' experience does the notion that everyone around 30 or younger have a firm grasp on the concepts of mental health actually hold true? It's been thrown around a few times in the last couple of pages that Dan's book is ultimately useless to this demographic but, thinking on my close friendship group alone (all late 20's), this really isn't my experience at all. I would say half of them are very knowledgeable on the topic of mental health, all of which have also had experiences with depression and/or anxiety, and half have very little if any.
I'm finding it really interesting reading about the different types of stigma as well. One of my best friends from uni had a very severe period of low-functioning depression and her Macedonian mother used every emotional manipulation tactic in the book to try and stop her from filling a script for anti-depressants that she desperately needed. I can't even imagine how difficult it would be if you actually lived in one of those countries. Luckily for me, my mum has always been a supporter of therapy and got me to the GP/psychologist/psychiatrist and ultimately on the antidepressants I needed when things started going wrong for me at 16. A huge yes to the internalised stigma as well. Nothing like being a depressed 16 yo when everyone else is having the time of their lives to realise that people don't really want to be around a Debbie Downer. Years and years of issues not being able to talk about feelings right there.
I really appreciate you bringing this up, because while I agree with everyone saying younger generations are more familiar of mental health topics and more accepting to a degree, I've noticed that unless they've struggled with their mental health or seen a therapist or something of the sort, even young people seem to only have a basic understanding of depression/anxiety/etc. at least from what I've noticed as a 24 year old.
re: stigma, while I think the stigma regarding mental health has lessened on the whole in recent years, I think it's more nuanced than that. like, talking about the general idea of something is easier, such as telling someone you've got anxiety, is very different than talking about or exhibiting symptoms. For sure people are more okay with the
idea of someone being depressed, but actually talking about how you feel being depressed is still taboo for a lot of people in a lot of places regardless of age.
for a small example, I rarely talk about my mental health irl except for my OCD since I've got a few quirks anyone around me long enough will notice, and everyone's super chill and supportive when I tell them, but if I actually talk about details or show signs of it ppl are either judgmental, dismissive, or try to give me garbage advice regardless of age or if they're friends or classmates or whatever. and my only thing that actually effects other people (unfortunately one of my most intense obsessions) is that if I see a wrapper no longer holding food I
need it to be thrown it away (like, granola bar or candy wrappers for example). I'm okay enough now with touching them as long as I have a napkin or something to pick it up with, so I'll always ask if I can throw someone else's wrapper away if I see it; I always stay casual/joke about it, but my body (especially my hands) noticeably shake, and if someone points it out I just say it's my ocd since by then I can't focus on anything else. usually people just act weird around me for a few days but sometimes ppl legit my age will say stuff like "just don't look at it" or "have you tried exposure therapy" or try to touch me with it or something.