“Buddy, He is mental” “Why? What happened?” “Yesterday I saw him going to a psychological clinic”
I am sure many of you have heard such conversations where you randomly classify people into normal and abnormal. And unfortunately, it goes to so-called jokes when somebody argues about the judgements and it all goes to “it's just a joke, take it, easy man”
Well, it's really important to understand the “fun” factor and we have to improve our jokes as well. The whole world is behind Malayali, so we have to grow each day.
The rich cultural value of Kerala has always been a treat to the whole globe, our rhythm of Thrissur pooram, the agony of theyyam, jingling sounds of kalarippayattu, melodious ballard of vadakkan patt, etc...are our pride in being a Keralite. More than being Indian, Malayalees always identify them as Keralite and we specify our nature of motherland in every possible way. “Proudly a Malayali” is almost every Keralites social media bio these days.
But what you don't know about Kerala is our mind is not that rich anymore. Malayali minds go through a serious worry and the statistics show a necessity of attention or need to pamper our minds. Recently young Malayalees found ceiling fan more fun than their 4 pm soccer match, Causing a serious concern for the state, the suicide rate among children below 18 years has shown a spurt in 2020. As per the statistics available with the police, 173 children found dead by suicide till September 30, 2020, while the figure for the whole of last year was 142. Around 9% of people in Kerala, belonging to different age groups, are suffering from mental depression, according to surveys. It also found that one in every eight persons required psychiatric intervention. In 2019, Kerala’s suicide rate is 24.3 as per the “Accident Deaths and Suicides in India in 2019” of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
So Buddy, It's not a joke anymore, Your mind matters!
Imagine a situation where you severely feel pain in the chest, and when you talk about it everybody is making fun of you and the people who love you ask you to shut your mouth and say it's a shame to talk about. Its really idiotic, right? That would be really fun to watch in movies only where Srinivasan can portray that character well.
But this is exactly what’s going on with mentally stressed people, they need care, their mind seeks the attention of a professional and there the drama begins. Do you know depression is considered as cancerous, and when a person says that he has depression and needs help, he will find a bunch of experts saying depression is very normal and your suicidal ideation is just a drama to seek attention? How?
Aunties will be like “Oh god, don't talk about these louder, what will others say”. And the “others” gonna make us caged in darkness and we cannot even talk about it.
Why can't we grow ourselves from the stereotypes?
Seeking help is the nature of a strong man and health is Malayalees major concern. We always see a doctor's plate in every street and we know how much health concerns us. But why don't mental health fall for it?
Psychological help is not just dealing with behaviour disorders, and not for violent psychic behaviours. Mental health is being healthy in mind, being able to balance the stress in life, being able to make effective decisions, being able to handle situations with a well functioning environment, and so on.
So the bottom line is mental health matters, and the one who realizes the cancerous cell growth in their mind is the smartest person in the land, so don't be the one who labels people crazy, just grow yourself to realize invisible pain. Be a warrior of health than an antagonist holding stigmas tightly.
Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. If you or someone you care about is struggling, Koott offers confidential online counseling with experienced Malayali psychologists. Take the first step toward healing and a healthier mind—reach out today.
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