• Question: do you find mental health an emotional subject? And does it affect you?

    Asked by anon-286295 on 5 Mar 2021.
    • Photo: Harry Piper

      Harry Piper answered on 5 Mar 2021:

      Mental health can be a tough subject to talk about, and that is one of the reasons you should! It also depends on which side of the conversation you are on though! For me, I find talking to someone else about their mental health, much easier than talking about my own! The important thing is, if someone is discussing their mental health with you, it is really important to be supportive, caring and respectful. Like I said, it can be really tough, so you don’t want to put the person off from talking about it again in the future! If you are struggling, it’s really important to talk to someone about it, whether it is a friend, family member, a professional or someone else!

    • Photo: Dennis Relojo-Howell

      Dennis Relojo-Howell answered on 5 Mar 2021: last edited 9 Mar 2021 9:35 am

      First, you might find my answer a bit distressing. If you need help, please seek the help of a mental health professional. Due to my lived experience, mental health a subject that I don’t take lightly. I self-harmed as a teenager. My grandmother suffered from dementia before she passed away, and my friend had schizophrenia. I also lost a friend to suicide. I also have done self-harming as a teenager. In my line of work, I publish a lot of mental health articles (at least three in a day and I’ve been doing this job for seven years now). When it comes to mental health empathy and compassion is important. However, over the years, I’ve learned some coping skills to avoid compassion fatigue. For instance, because my husband works in a different field, we talk about something else. We certainly don’t talk about those mental health articles that I publish. And lastly, as Harry has said, if you (or someone you know) is struggling with mental health issues, seek the help of a mental health professional.

    • Photo: Alex Baxendale

      Alex Baxendale answered on 5 Mar 2021:

      Mental health is definitely a sensitive topic; everyone should be encouraged to express themselves and their thoughts and feelings, but it is also important to remember that we should be responding positively toward people for expressing themselves (if someone is upset, we should be encouraging and supporting them to seek help, and to express themselves, not telling them off for it!). Professional help is always the best way, those of us who aren’t trained to deal with mental health might think we are saying the right thing, but we could be doing damage by accident! I find it quite hard to deal with very upset people, and it’s pretty natural to feel that way, humans are quite empathetic; we have an ability to ‘feel’ what other people are going through (to some degree), so it’s very difficult to remove your own emotions from the situation. Even professional therapists that deal with people with mental illness every day have their own therapists, it’s almost impossible to not let it effect you too

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 5 Mar 2021: last edited 6 Mar 2021 11:08 am

      Hi Olivia C,
      I very much agree with the above scientists, but to add in a different perspective, I find it personally affects me as a subject from personal experience.
      In my first year at university I started developing some mental health problems. I think knowing about mental health and actually experiencing it are two very different things.
      So when researching about mental health as part of my PhD, or working with young people it can affect me quite a lot as I resinate with some of their experiences and worries. It is ok to show some emotion in such scenarios, the ability to empathise is very important as psychologists (and humans too!) and it motivates me even more in my research and career path to help alleviate mental health issues in young people.

    • Photo: Lisa Orchard

      Lisa Orchard answered on 8 Mar 2021:

      Hi Olivia. Mental health is a very emotional subject, but I think it is important that it is talked about and recognised. I have personally suffered from anxiety and depression, and I am very conscious that I need to look after my mental health. I am very lucky to have a supportive network around me, and I make sure to schedule time for self care where I only need to focus on me. I think it’s really positive that we are becoming more open about talking about our mental health.

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