Why Mental Health Is Important

​By: Praguni Kumar

​1 in 5 people suffer from a mental condition in their lives and yet being depressed is said to "just be in your mind."

1 in 5 people suffer from a mental condition and yet we are too shy to speak about your mental health publicly

1 in 5 people suffer from a mental condition and yet society frowns upon those who suffer from it.

The world faces an epidemic of mental health problems that cuts across borders, economies, and cultures and carries a stigma that leaves people suffering alone, living in a void.

We live in a world where:

• Most emergency departments are ill-equipped to meet the needs of patients in the midst of mental health crises.
• Most insurance plans view mental illness and addiction as exceptions to standard care, not part of it.
• Despite an overall cultural shift towards compassion, our society still tends to view the mentally ill and those with addiction as morally broken rather than as ill.

So for how long are we going to let individuals suffer from serious mental health issues when they actually have the greatest need of care? For how long are we going to push away mental health issues by saying it gets better ? Even today, the underlying mechanisms behind some of the most powerful and effective psychiatric treatments are still poorly understood. The stigma will end only when we consider mental health to be as essential to us as physical health.