2018 is almost over, but is it really?

Hello, I am Saniya, and I live in India.

Here, being mentally unhealthy is equivalent to being"pagal"( extremely mad in Hindi),nobody takes this seriously. Why? I ask. 

Is being mentally ill a sin? Does being depressed turn us into an alien? Are mentally-challenged people monsters? Why are we scared of them? Is abnormal not accepted in society? 

I was watching a game show wherein a contestant was describing her profession, she was the founder of an NGO (non-government organisation), which worked for mentally-challenged and displaced people. The moment I heard that these people ran away from there houses, I was very shocked. The contestant also gave many examples of her patients who ran away,lived and were going through treatment. She was in strong favour of mental health treatment and wanted people to be aware about it.

After that, I say that being mentally ill is as normal as catching cold or cough.

In India, if we are physically unwell, either we have typhoid or diabetes or malaria, it is considered very normal, nobody is ashamed of it, each and every family member knows about it and also sends good wishes or "get well soon" messages. They can scream out loud that they are sick because of typhoid (no they can't scream if they are sick;but anyway)but what if they have a mental problem?

No! They don't talk about it.Everyone in the family is ashamed of it. Everybody criticizes the family, blames them, and assume that everything is wrong and now the "victim" has no life to live.Why?

"It is never the end of the world."

 Why is mental illness considered so bad?
It can be treated.
It can be talked about.
It can be taught among the masses..
It can be normalized.
It can be solved.

Dear Society,

It's a 2017 thing to talk about politics, feminism and equality. Talk about mental health! When is the day going to come up where mental illness are taken into consideration and people know about this? When is the day going to come up where every person who has suffered from mental illnesses is considered as normal as a person who has suffered from diarrhoea ? Let's change world, really let's do!Let us generate equality between physical illnesses and mental disorders. Show compassion and let's change,my friend! Let's end this as we end the year 2018. Enter 2019 with a feeling awareness for mental health issues.

Yours sincerely

this youth

With this little thought I just wanted generate some little awareness on mental health and what the society believes to be true.

                                                                          By Saniya Sethi