Kweku’s Cypher: Just a Piece of Some PEACE…. Is Not Enough!

May kicks off Mental Health Month. And we do the same old stale song and dance we do with Black History Month. We talk a little about anxiety, depression, trauma, and suicide. Then we sprinkle in some wellness tips to help raise our feel-good chemical neurotransmitters. However, the statistics remain the same every year. We are not destigmatizing mental health. Yes, we are making it more comfortable to talk about mental health, but we are not taking the measures to allow people to walk daily in their mental health without the silent whispers and the blind stares.

As a result, people cannot find PEACE, so they settle for a piece of it. Let’s not just be different for this month in recognition of Mental Health; let us be different in how we move forward. There is no panacea for this problem, but there are viable solutions that go beyond catchy slogans and sexy seminars that make us feel good in the moment. What we can do:

PEOPLE

There are people doing the work to destroy stigma and educate people. Connect with them and support them; financially, mentally, and physically. Show up to their events. Spread the word about their event, especially after it is over. And most importantly, do not discredit or ridicule their work.

EDUCATION

There are a plethora of people and organizations who are well educated and willing to teach on this topic. The usual subjects are Mental Health of America, National Alliance on Mental Illness, and National Institute of Mental Health. There are certifications from Mental Health First Aid. And you can go back to school and get a degree in this area, or get an informal degree from the University of YouTube, Web MD, and the World Health Organization. Education is the first step. Arm yourself with data from reputable sources, individuals with lived experiences, and books and journal articles.

ACTION

After you are armed with this knowledge, make a commitment to do something. Ask yourself, what is within my comfort zone to break the stigma for a friend or relative? The best place we can start is in the home. Someone you love has been made to feel belittled and ostracized because of their struggles. Make it your mission to make them feel like a full person who is more than their diagnosis.

CONGRESS

Mental Health is a bipartisan issue. So why does it not have parity with physical health, when they are one in the same? Who is the elected official who champions this cause? They need help, go help them! Those who do not champion this cause put pressure on them to put federal, state, county, and municipal dollars behind programs that support mental wellness and illness.

EVOLVE

Antiquated, barbaric, and old-fashioned thinking keeps us stuck in neutral for real movement. Mental Health has been declared a public health crisis in words only. The old saying is “if you don’t evolve, you will become extinct.” Let us not be content with a little piece of PEACE. If we continue to play with this issue of mental health, we do it at our own peril.