PUTTING OUR HURDLES TO GOOD USE

Is Mental the New Normal?
As I previously shared on my ANTIDEPRESSANTS VS. PLACEBO: And The Winner Is... article (please see under References):
 
“According to NAMI - National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. (which corresponds to 43.8 million or 18.5%) experiences mental illness in a given year; and approximately 1 in 25 adults in the U.S. (corresponding to 10 million or 4.2%) experiences a serious mental illness in a given year that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities (for more numbers, please see link under References). That means a staggering amount of people with some level of mental health challenge. Considering that a whole lot of people don’t seek help and go undiagnosed, the real numbers are likely to be even scarier.
 
No wonder words like OCD, OCPD, bipolar, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, chronic depression, etc, have become commonplace. Look around yourself. How many friends or family members display behavior that has been qualified as (or suggested to be) a mental health disorder of some kind? Or look in the mirror. When was the last time you’ve felt emotionally, mentally and physically (not to mention spiritually) healthy and balanced? Have you or someone you know been diagnosed with a mental health challenge, or do you suspect you or someone you know might have such a challenge?
 
One thing is certain: when a system says that a big chunk of the population has some type of mental health issue that requires medication, maybe it’s time to change a lot of things in that system. Mere common sense dictates that something is seriously wrong with that picture.”
 
Whichever the sources of such a dismal state are, the main question is: What do we do with this knowledge? Do we hide? Do we numb ourselves with soft and hard addictions? Do we convince ourselves that we’ll never be good enough to follow our dreams or achieve anything in life? Or do we make the decision to become comfortable with who we are in this phase of our lives, seek wholesome solutions and put our issues to good use?
 
What We Can Do:
- We can use mindfulness tools and holistic therapies such as Hypnotherapy.
 
- We can explore brain stimulation and biofeedback therapies such as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation or Neurofeedback (please see the articles under References).
 
- We can share our story and help inspire others to deal with their own mental issues.
 
- We can empower ourselves and choose to put our hurdles to good use! What we often consider to be our flaws or issues can be used in positive ways to help ourselves and others, by simply learning how to redirect these shadow aspects of ourselves and channel that energy towards accomplishing our goals and dreams!
 
What’s something about yourself that may have a negative side, but can also be used in positive ways?
 
© Gisele Marasca-Vargas; 05/18/23
thefunctionalperfectionist.com
 
Photo by Sydney Sims on Unsplash
 
References:
ANTIDEPRESSANTS VS. PLACEBO: And The Winner Is...
https://www.theragicenter.com/giseles-blog/antidepressants-vs-placebo-and-the-winner-is
 
NAMI
https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers
 
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/transcranial-magnetic-stimulation/about/pac-20384625
 
Neurofeedback: A Comprehensive Review on System Design, Methodology and Clinical Applications
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4892319/