What Mental Health Means To Me - Cura

To me, mental health means caring for your mind and emotional wellbeing. It is another facet of our overall health that shapes our ability to engage and thrive in our daily lives.

Though, while I hold that perspective now, when I was growing up in my family, mental health wasn't really viewed or prioritized in that way. I was well educated about physical health. I knew that if I got physically hurt or sick, I had to go to the doctor to get better; but I didn't know what to do when things felt wrong emotionally. As a young child, I started struggling with various mental health issues and didn't know what they were or how to talk about them. This made me feel very confused and alone. I hadn't been exposed to what anxiety or depression looked like, and my family wasn't very open about expressing our feelings which made it hard to bring up what I was experiencing.

Eventually, mostly through books, media exposure, and hearing celebrities open up about their struggles, I realized that the collection of symptoms I had been experiencing were due to a mental health condition. Listening to others' mental health stories helped me name my years of confusing feelings and manifestations, making me feel less alone. It also made it easier to discuss my experiences with a medical professional and my parents, leading me on a path to feel better. That is why I am so passionate about deconstructing the stigma surrounding mental health conversations. Normalizing conversations about mental health is important because it breaks down isolation, deconstructs fear and shame, and encourages early help-seeking. If we treated mental health the same way we treat physical health, people would be much more open to seeking mental health care and getting the help they need. Good mental health is just as important as prioritizing good physical health and both coexist to help us live healthy lives.