MENTAL HEALTH

Mental Health

Eduardo Barros

Iowa Western Community College

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MENTAL HEALTH

Mental Health

The way we deal with these emotions is what determines the quality of our mental

health. Emotional imbalance facilitates the onset of mental illness. We can say that mental

health includes, among so many factors, our ability to feel well-being and harmony, our

ability to positively manage adversities and conflicts; recognition and respect for our limits

and deficiencies; our satisfaction with life; share and relate to others. Maintaining our mental

health, however, is not as simple as it sounds. There are many problems when dealing with

mental health issues. That is, despite the prejudice of many people, mental problems need to

be studied more carefully. As mental health is in the body and the environment around us, it

is often conceived as a subject's weakness, something that a person should be able to deal

with on his own. Most of society still has difficulty recognizing that it is a disease and

expanding the concept of health and illness. Because of this fact, I think that the government

could invest more in social programs that talk about the problem that mental health is and

mainly insert a mandatory class in schools that talk about mental health and all the issues that

come with it.

It is worth remembering that a large part of the population is depressed and anxious,

but is not hospitalized, as they are still able to submit to the functioning of society and attend

work, school and other places without making a noise. Don't close your eyes. Not seeking

help contributes to the worsening of the emotional state, which can lead to suicidal thoughts.

It is important to mention that “research published by Ibope Conecta in the last week of

August points out that only 47% of respondents defined depression as a mental disorder when

asked about the topic. The remaining 53%, among two thousand participants from six states,

considered that depression is a state of mind, a disease of the soul, among other definitions.”

(Fernandes, 2019). These numbers are worrying and with numbers like these, we should talk

more about these diseases. Creating mandatory classes in schools that make the society

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understand what mental health is and why we should talk about it would help to improve our

mental health and understand when we should see a doctor.

Depression is a serious illness that requires care and attention. That being said, what

special care do we have with this disease? Problems like alcoholism, addiction to substances

like drugs, nicotine or even gambling have social projects to talk specifically about your

problem. Why is it different with mental health and all the problems it involves such as

depression? We don't talk enough about depression and it causes doubts in people who suffer

from mental problems. Often, even after treatment and when they feel their symptoms have

improved, patients fear that depression will reoccur. Mental health cannot be disconnected

from the health of the body, because health is one. "Fortunately, there is a treatment for

depression at any stage. It may involve the use of medications, therapies - behavioral

motivation, cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy - and even physical

exercise." (Pires de Albuquerque, 2017). He says that some simple habits, which greatly

improve your quality of life, can help prevent depression, such as: sleeping well, exercising,

meditating, finding a passion (hobbies or activities of extreme pleasure help you to go

through difficult phases as they are motivating and provide personal fulfillment.) and control

sugar rates. (Body and mind are closely linked. Falls and rises in the body's sugar rate can

alter our mood. If this occurs repeatedly, it can lead to depression.) (Pires de Albuquerque,

2017). How many people know that simple acts like exercising and sleeping better can

prevent serious illness? Few. We don't talk about it enough. “It is a health condition that still

involves a lot of prejudice. So many people are ashamed to talk about it and assume that they

suffer from depression. It is exactly this behavior that experts advise to avoid. Talk openly

about the subject and seeking help is vital” (Pires de Albuquerque, 2017). It is important to

remember that depression is difficult to diagnose, and this makes it even more important to

create social projects or even a center specializing in diseases like this.

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How are you? How is your mental health? Have you ever stopped to think about it?

Have you ever wondered if your thoughts, ideas, and feelings are in harmony? Do you know

the difference between mental health and mental illness or disorder? In Brazil, a country

located on the South American subcontinent. The month of September was chosen to carry

out the awareness campaign for the prevention of suicide and depression, the 10th of this

month being World Suicide Prevention Day. This campaign, known as "Setembro Amarelo"

or "Yellow September" in English, was created to encourage people to talk about a taboo

subject, but it is through the information that many cases of suicide can be avoided, and

depression treated (Doutor Agora, 2019). The creation of this campaign in September is

innovative and necessary. In addition to this important campaign, many people still don’t

know, but in Brazil there is a very interesting initiative known as the Life Valuation Center

that offers emotional support and suicide prevention, providing free and voluntary assistance

to all people who want and need to speak, in total secrecy, by phone, email and chat 24 hours

a day. (Doutor Agora, 2019). Some countries must already realize the importance of social

projects and have already started to develop them. Therefore, we conclude that these

campaigns save lives and as was said in the last paragraph, in my opinion, the creation of

social projects like these all over the world are essential.

In low- and middle-income countries, treatment and support services for depression

are often absent or underdeveloped. An estimated 76–85% of people suffering from mental

disorders in these countries lack access to the treatment they need. (WHO). This statement by

the World Health Organization reinforces what I said about the creation of social projects or

centers specialized in mental health problems around the world. More countries must start

projects to reduce this disease that has been affecting the world considerably. "Depression is

a common mental disorder affecting more than 264 million people worldwide." (WHO).

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Despite everything that has been said about depression, open your browser now and

search for "depression is" on Google. The second most searched phrase is "depression is

freshness". Even today, depression is often seen as freshness, laziness or even lack of

character. Nor is it considered a “disease” by many (dos Santos, 2017). Most of society still

has difficulty recognizing that it is a disease and expanding the concept of health and illness.

In my opinion, this stipulates the need for a new high school class that talks about mental

health and the diseases that lack it involve. Testimonies like this show the lack of information

and the lack of importance that is given to this subject.

Depression was considered by the World Health Organization as the "disease of the

21st century". The disease is not restricted to an age group. On the contrary, it affects

children, adults and the elderly, but there is one whose data is impressive. "The prevalence of

depression in young people aged 18 to 29 years is three times higher than the prevalence in

individuals aged 60 or over" (Calcagno Reinhardt, 2019). These data are important to

reinforce the importance of what was said in the third paragraph. Young people from 18 to 29

years old are not exercising and sleeping to work or even playing games on the computer or

video games. Do they know how important these activities are to prevent depression? In my

opinion, they don't know and the creation of a class in high school to talk more about diseases

like depression would help to improve these numbers.

As stated earlier, " Depression is classified as a mood disorder. It may be described as

feelings of sadness, loss, or anger that interfere with a person’s everyday activities."

(Higuera, 2020). Nobody likes to lose a loved one, lose a job or even the end of a relationship

are considered difficult experiences for a person to endure. Therefore, it is normal for feelings

of sadness or grief to develop in response to such situations. Unfortunately, situations like

this happen and therefore being sad is not the same as having depression. There is a big

difference between sadness and depression. Do you know what this difference is? The

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sadness can occur triggered by some fact of the day, in which the person suffers until

assimilating what is happening and generally does not last more than fifteen to twenty days.

In turn, depression sets in and, if left untreated, can worsen. It is common for people to have

the question "how do I know if I have depression". That is why, in my opinion, the creation

of a mandatory class for high school students would be essential. A class like this would help

to solve simple doubts like this and break a paradigm that is to overcome prejudices about the

disease, which is far from being a passing sadness or a simple freshness.

People say that depression is not a disease because the disease corresponds to other

aspects of the human mind, such as sadness, discouragement, and moodiness. So, they treat

depression as if it were a freshness. In testimony to the blog Vita Alere, an unknown author

comments that some people say that "Depression is lack of God in the heart" and mentions

that: several times I have heard of people from the church I attend and, generally, religious

people when commenting on depression, that people like me should have more faith in God

and should pray more as if depression is purely a lack of faith. (Vita Alere, 2016). This is

absurd and shows the need to teach what is depression, what is a mental problem in schools.

A health problem is as serious as this cannot be related to religion due to lack of information.

Imagine if someone says that "you have cancer because there is a lack of God in your heart."

I believe that God can always help you in your life no matter what but that is my opinion and

cannot be related to a worldwide health problem.

Therefore, my opinion is that more efforts can be made to solve the problem that

mental health is for the world. As was mentioned in the text above, there are still those who

do not believe that there is an increase in depression, there is the belief that what changed was

the definition of the disease. These people claim that depression was mistaken for deep

sadness. This is a lack of information. There has never been much talk of mental health and

depression and because of that, it is important to quote again that "Depression is a common

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mental disorder affecting more than 264 million people worldwide." (WHO) and is

considered the "evil of the 21st century". Classes in High Schools and social projects would

bring more information and prevent millions of suicides committed due to people's mental

health.

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Works Cited:

Calcagno Reinhardt, Marcelo. “'Cuidados Pela Vida'.” Cuidados Pela Vida, 22 May 2019,
cuidadospelavida.com.br/saude-e-tratamento/depressao/existe-faixa-etaria-mais-
propensa-aparecimento-da-depressao.

dos Santos, Bruna. “Depressão é Frescura?” Universo Racionalista, 2 Sept. 2017,

Doutor Agora. Setembro Amarelo: Nós Precisamos Falar Sobre Depressão. 30 Sept. 2019,
www.doutoragora.com.br/blog/noticias/setembro-amarelo-precisamos-falar-depressao/.

Fernandes, Jane. “Depressão Não é Doença Para 53% Das Pessoas, Aponta Estudo.” Portal
A TARDE, 2019, atarde.uol.com.br/saude/noticias/2090821-depressao-nao-e-doenca-
para-53-das-pessoas-aponta-estudo.

Higuera, Valencia. “Everything You Want to Know About Depression.” Healthline,

Pires de Albuquerque, Rodolfo. “Depressão: Causas, Sintomas, Prevenção e Tratamentos.”

Vita Alere. “Sobre o SUICÍDIO: Para Os Que Dizem ‘Depressão é Falta De Deus No
Coração.’” Instituto Vita Alere De Prevenção e Posvenção Do Suicídio, Admin
Https://Vitaalere.com.br/Wp-Content/Uploads/2018/08/logo_vita_alere.Png, 28 July
2016, vitaalere.com.br/sobre-o-suicidio-para-os-que-dizem-depressao-e-falta-de-deus-
no-coracao/.

WHO. “Depression.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization,

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