Overcoming Stigma, Seeking Help

Fact: Having a non-judgmental and confidential ear of a trained mental health professional helps you get clarity on issues. They will explore with you reasons why you feel like you do. Then look at how to equip you to come up with solutions and guide you as you go along this process.

Fact: In family and marital relationships, it is imperative to seek timely help so that broken relationships can be mended. Families and marriages are designed by God to be fruitful for God and to those around us, not to grin and suffer through them.

Fact: Counseling/Therapy can be beneficial to all. An unbiased, confidential listening is something we all can benefit from. Therapy helps in developing self-awareness, explores reasons why we react and behave the way we do and in turn helps us understand areas that need correction. This awareness enables us to make better choices, handle challenges, regulate our emotions better and in turn be more fruitful to those around.

Fact: Counseling is a collaborative and professional relationship between a Counselor and Counselee. It empowers individuals, groups and families to work on issues and make needed changes in thinking, feeling and behaving in goal oriented session. For mental illnesses, Mental Health professionals usually recommend a combination of psychotherapy and medications or just therapy alone. Most opt for just therapy. Medications are prescribed only when required.

Fact: The relationship between Counselor and Counselee/ Therapist and Client is a collaborative one. It is an active process. Counselors and Therapists are like Mirrors. A mirror shows you areas of improvement. The mirror will not comb your hair for you. The client/ counselee has to take efforts to make necessary changes and implement steps discussed in the consulting room. If this implementation is not done, not much progress is achieved.

Fact: Family and friends are always there to have supportive conversations and to confide in. They will listen to you and give you their perspectives. Many times this is not sufficient and there is a need for trained help. Mental Health professionals are trained to be empathetic listeners, non-judgmental and to maintain confidentiality. They do not tell you what to do but explore options, come up with thinking strategies, monitor and guide the implementation processes.

Fact: Mental illnesses and disorders need to be treated are just like physical ailments. If someone had a fracture, we would not tell them that the fracture would heal by thinking positively. A person cannot recover from anxiety by staying calm or cannot recover from depression by just staying positive or you cannot recover from anorexia nervosa by eating more. If mental illnesses were that simple, so many would not be struggling in the first place. Mental and Physical health both have an impact on each other. If mental ailments are neglected and allowed to progress, it can lead to detrimental consequences for the person suffering and for those around them.