Breaking the Silence
By Sarah Laila Ali
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Senior Category: 2) Write a speech highlighting what you think is the most challenging issue facing the world today, and how Commonwealth values can be used to solve it.
The most challenging issue that the world is facing today is mental health. People do not usually see it as it’s more of an internal condition rather than a physical condition. As happy and cheerful as someone can seem on the outside, they are struggling on the inside. Some people can get help, yet some people struggle with even talking about it. A difficult issue, mental health is not a very nice thing to talk about but should be accepted among people. It is more common now due to everyone’s stress and workload piling up more and more as they age, be it school or job assignments.
In my perspective, community engagement is the best way to tackle the issue. Noting how the Commonwealth values emphasize on the importance of community and social cohesion, I believe that people in the community should reach out to their loved ones or friends. This helps to ensure a supportive environment for those who are having a battle in their minds. It helps reduce social isolation, encouraging more and more people to seek help when they need it the most.
I have had trouble talking about my own issues. Yet, when I spoke to my trusted peers about it, I was able to get some pressure of my chest. It felt as if I was not carrying so much weight on my back anymore, as if I could finally speak and not just repress all the things in my mind that wreck me. I strongly believe that sharing your troubles with people you trust can really help with your struggles. Speaking from experience, I would say that it is not a pleasant thing to see others go through their own mental hardship.
Bi-Polar Disorder
To me, mental illness is like a cancer, a disease inside someone’s head that can hardly be cured. As it grows more and more without treatment, it kills the individual, quietly infiltrating the deepest recesses of their mind, spreading its tendrils, clinging onto their brain, and wreaking havoc on their emotional landscape. It is almost identical to cancer cells multiplying uncontrollably. Mental illness: it will consume your thoughts and feelings, swallowing you whole like a famished monstrous demon. Just like how cancer can grow and affect various organs, mental illness can manifest in a lot of forms, from anxiety and depression to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Some people face disorders that disrupt their daily life and activities.
Schizophrenia
However, just as cancer patients find hope in treatment and support, individuals grappling with mental illness can find solace in therapy, medication, and the unwavering support of loved ones. With understanding, empathy, and effective intervention, the grip of mental illness can be loosened, allowing for healing and recovery to take root, much like the remission and triumph over cancer. Mental health is laughed upon when discussed with some people who are unaware of what these people are struggling with. They see it as an act. However, it is serious. People need to be more educated on helping others with mental disorders and issues because of how dangerous or hurtful it is to the person suffering. Do reach out to those you know who are suffering and be more understanding to them. Listen to what they are feeling instead of ignoring them most of the time.
We should emphasize the significance of mental health as one of the most pressing issues of the world today. We can start by discussing it with individuals across cultures, ages and socioeconomic backgrounds, explaining why it demands urgent attention. Find out the barriers to addressing mental health around those who are affected. These may include stigma, lack of awareness, limited access to resources, and societal misconceptions about mental illness.
For me, I would not wish it upon even my worst enemy as I really have struggled even doing the simplest of activities, such as waking up, brushing my teeth and even eating. For days, I have laid in bed without showering, without even contacting people I love or care deeply about. It was so insidious yet invisible to people around me. The smallest things could change my mood drastically. From smiling to feeling sorrowful to feeling enraged. One text, and I am happy. The next few minutes of silence come and I overthink. There I am, getting devoured again, by the monstrous thing inside of my head that swallows me and purges me out again. How complex it is to explain those feelings, yet I spill out everything that happened to just complete an essay.
I hate how mental illness has affected me. This is why I hate seeing other people suffer with the same conditions and disorders. People should not taunt others because of it. Instead, they should tolerate, respect and understand how difficult it is to suffer such a dreadful thing. People need to know; they need to know what it should feel like to feel like this, yet they should not. It is horrible, yet they make fun of it. Perhaps it is their way of projecting whatever they are suffering. Perhaps everyone is suffering slowly in silence too. As if the cancer is contagious.
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Has there been a difficult period for you? How do you cope with difficult emotions?
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