A conversation on mental health
The phrase “mental health” is a word that seems to be bandied about wherever I turn these days. It’s become a topic du jour amongst every walk of life, but especially among schools as administrators and teachers attempt to create the perfect environment to educate.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic I heard mental health discussed at length, and how hard it was for people, especially young minds like students, to cope with a world that found itself at a standstill. People were cut-off from family and from one another.
Humans are social beings, and we crave contact and socialization. It’s no wonder solitary confinement is considered one of the more brutal punishments in our prisons.
Physical harm can be treated, but a wound of the spirit, an ache or injury that can’t be seen, is far harder to diagnose and to cure. For years, if someone had anxiety or stress, they were told “Don’t be a wuss, just deal with it.”
As children we are taught that “sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me.”
Years later, people are finally starting to say the opposite, to acknowledge that words can hurt, and an insult or slight from a loved one can have a long-lasting effect. I’m sure more than a few of us replay conversations from years ago that hurt or offended us.
I know I lie awake some nights thinking about things that were said to me, how I should have responded and what I should do in the wake of something that hurt my feelings.
For years, especially if you were a man, if you talked about your feelings, or expressed worry or anxiety or doubt, you were considered less of a man, made to feel guilty and ashamed of those feelings. Now, we are finally acknowledging that mental health is just as important, perhaps moreso, than physical health.
Kids today are being told it’s OK to talk openly about their feelings. I’m glad, because as I have learned, mental health is something we should not take for granted, and recently I have seen this topic take center stage in the tennis world as the world’s best female tennis player, Naomi Osaka, has withdrawn from the French Open, citing her anxiety and stress and a need to protect her mental health.
She was a favorite to win the tournament, and collect several million dollars, but she bypassed that in order to avoid interviews with the press. As a result of this decision, she has earned supporters and de- tractors alike. As a member of the press myself, I value being able to interview someone after a game or match, and I am not sure what I would do if I could not conduct an interview.
But, as a human being, I also realize how fragile one’s emotions and mental well-being can be. Seeing how Osaka has handled the situation reminds me that we could all enjoy a little more compassion in this world rather than more judgements and harsh critiques.
M USINGS AND G RUMBLINGS
ROSS PATTERMANN REPORTER
