"Therapy is for crazy people. I must be crazy"

*this is lengthy, but please bear with me* :-)

The state of well-being or the definition of healthy does not lie solely on physical health. The state of well-being in my opinion is when the mind, body and soul are balanced and in equilibrium. The mind is sane, the body is healthy and the soul is spiritual. Too often, we concentrate on the well-being of our bodies and our physical appearance, neglecting our mind and soul, which are much more important. We cut down calories, exercise and go on crazy diets to conform to the standards of beauty and health as defined by Hollywood. Sometimes we get so lost in making our bodies look good that our mind's health deteriorates without realization.

Over the years, mental health has been seen as something that is taboo. We only speak about mental health when referring to the schizophrenics, bipolars and other clinically diagnosed conditions. We fail to realize that there is a wide range of mental health issues which we all deal with at a point in our life. Whether you want to admit it or not, you have probably gone through an ordeal which forced you to change the way you view the world or change the way you interact with people. I had a conversation with a friend and it got me thinking about the topic at hand. There are many different MHI(mental health issues) we come across. I will start by listing some that you may not think are mental health issues:
-A student who breaks down on the first day of school because they are overwhelmed to the point where they can't take it.
-Lindsey lohan losing her mind.
-A man/woman who has a fear of committing or cannot find it in themselves to stay in a committed relationship OR someone who just avoids romantic involvements
-a person who is abused (physically, mentally, verbally, sexually, emotionally) and has trouble forming life long relationships or interacting with people
-a woman who gets so angry at her significant other for cheating(allegedly) that she slashes his tires
-a man who is so traumatized by the angry women (above) that he either vows never to date any woman of that race or develops trust issue where he has trouble trusting anyone
-a person who takes on so many responsibilities that they break down when they aren't busy -someone who eats/drinks after an event in their life
- dealing with a death in the family
-A person who constantly wants attention from other people
-A person who lies so much that it becomes their reality
-a woman/man who is ready and willing to spread their legs for whoever, wherever.
The list can go on...

Growing up in the black community, we are often told to "man up" about our problems and just deal with it on our own. Males are especially targeted because from when they are born, they have all this pressure from home, society and school to be tough and be a man and not show emotion and deal with conflict the way a man would. Women are seen as too emotional and "bitchy" and bla bla bla. Many times, we don't know how to deal with our emotions. Over the years, these unresolved feelings build up and are manifested in a negative way. We wonder why rachel slashed those tires, why Ms Smith has 9 cats and lives by herself, why mary sleeps with so many guys and why john can't be in a relationship at all. Maybe rachel was physically abused as a child and developed anger issues, Ms Smith lost her husband to cancer and is still trying to get over her grief, mary grew up in a single parent home where her mother was never there and john just can't love again for fear of a second heartbreak.

The difference between black people and white people is that white people have outlets such as therapy where they learn how to channel their emotions in a positive direction. They learn to talk about how they feel and how these occurrences have changed their life. Black folk don't even believe in therapy. They belittle its effects and think of it as a waste of money. Anyone who even thinks about therapy or talking to a shrink is thought of as just plain crazy. I grew up in an African household and i am overwhelmingly proud of my heritage but I am guilty of believing that therapy is a bunch of bullshit and that these people only want my money but i have learned otherwise. I was raised to think that therapeutic methods of healing are pretty much a waste of time (anyone with a cultural background can testify to this) and shouldn't be considered. We need to do better as a community to dispel the mental health myth that therapy is only for crazy people. We should be more accepting/embracing to therapy and shrinks because like it or not, the shit works and we NEED it! The black community as a whole NEEDS it. I think everyone should sit on "the chair" at least once in their life. Granted, there are other issues such as affordability and the unavailability of these resources in black communities but that is another topic in itself. I just think we need to change the way we view mental health.

peace&love