It's Only Your Mental Health

Human beings are a very interesting species; we’ve built a society from the ground up, evolved into civilized beings that are self-helping and intelligent, yet we are the weakest mammals to roam earth, psychologically speaking, of course. Man is intelligent enough to learn how to control an automatic vehicle, manipulate it in ways that help him drive to his destination faster or slower, and yet, his whole disposition changes and his day goes from great to horrible when his coworkers ignore him at the water cooler? It seems irrational, unnecessary, and mostly idiotic. The thought that such clever beings are hurt by the tiniest situations.

A dog, for example, must survive the way humans survive, they find food, water, shelter, and then they find happiness too. Because every living creature does not want to simply survive, they want to thrive. But how come when a dog is insulted that you refuse to play catch with it for that moment, it sulks away, but forgets the whole ordeal by dinner time? How come the dog doesn’t shrug into a deep depression the way humans do when they don’t receive everything they want? Humans have the intelligence to know we are top of the pyramid, but if we aren’t given some very basic psychological needs, we refuse to stand tall with our knowledge. We shrink down to the qualities of a slug, lose all self-worth, and only search for the means to simply survive.

This is known as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This is a psychological theory, that states humans cannot strive for success or many life fulfilling goals if they do not receive the basic emotional needs on the bottom of the pyramid first, such as love, belonging, and acceptance. Unfortunately, it is more common than we realize for people in our society to not accomplish some of the very basic emotional needs. And yet, these people are still expected to have careers, attend school, and lead a decent life. But how can these people accomplish simplistic goals if they have some very important psychological needs that are not yet fulfilled? They are then forced to maintain a job, or do well in school, even with these emotional issues. Our society ignores mental health to an extent, so these people do not even have the opportunity to seek help. How are we supposed to maintain a stable society, if the basic needs of citizens are not put first? Because it is so important for people to remain stable, by fulfilling basic psychological needs, our society as a whole must adjust their priorities, by providing mental help to everyone, in order to preserve the mental well-being of its citizens.

The third need on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is known as the need for love and belonging. This comes once physiological (food, water, shelter) and safety (stability, order, freedom) needs are met. According to Em Griffin, author of A First Look at Communication Theory, Maslow considers this need to be the foundation for all other higher-order desires. He describes this need by using the words friendship, acceptance, and approval (Griffin). This is the first psychological need on Maslow’s pyramid, and it shows how important this need truly is in order to sustain a healthy mind. Without achieving the feeling of belonging, one will have a difficult time doing everyday tasks. This is mainly because if a person does not feel as though they belong anywhere, their self-worth plummets, and rids them of feeling goal oriented. For example, would you even attempt to apply for a job, if you felt as though you had nothing to offer? You know you wouldn’t do well during the interview, and you know you would not do well even if you got the job, so why bother trying? This is how the mind of someone deprived of this need might feel.

You can see how easily humans are affected when they do not receive basic psychological needs. Not only is this person down in the dumps because they feel useless and unloved, but this negative view of themselves stops them from even attempting to get a job, something necessary for an everyday member of society. The solution to a problem like this seems simple, just go out and find friends, right? Actually, it isn’t so easy. What happens if this person literally cannot make friends? What if they have social anxiety, blocking them from having any social skills whatsoever, leaving them sad and lonely?

According to the Rhode Island Psychological Association, it is crucial for humans to be mentally healthy, as well as physically healthy (Rhode Island Psychological Association). It might be hard for some to wrap their mind around the idea that mental health is just as important as physical health. If you are physically sick, your body does not allow you to do simple things. This goes hand in hand with being mentally sick as well. Someone with a mental illness cannot perform the typical activities humans are expected to do every day.

Tony Hughes, is an English and Cultural Studies professor at the University of Western Australia. He describes his struggle with depression in his own words in his short story “Depression and Me”. Hughes mentions how his depression affected his life; from the daily urge to commit suicide, to the difficult time he had thinking clearly. Hughes is a prime example of how depression affects people. Here is a well-educated man, living a successful life, and yet his career and well-being are greatly affected by his weak mental state. The careers, families, and friends of people suffering from a mental illness are negatively affected all the time. Because it is almost impossible for humans to strive in life if they are not mentally healthy.

Tony Hughes is one of the many individuals affected by a mental illness. People every day suffer from mental health illness’ like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and many more. You cannot see these illnesses, but these people can feel them. These disorders can stop individuals from working, attending school, socializing, and even taking care of themselves.

It might seem as though individuals suffering from mental illness do not have many options, but our society is fortunate enough to have come a long way in dealing with psychology and mental health. Throughout the years of various studies and research, science has proven that mental illness is in fact a real disorder. We went from believing psychological disorders were “all in your head” to learning that there really is a difference in the brain between someone with and without a mental illness. Now that our society actually takes mental health seriously, it is obvious there should be something done to help those of us in need. Well, thanks to psychology and mental health awareness, people are here to help. Therapists, counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists are all available to support someone suffering from all sorts of psychological conditions. And while the answer to solving mental illness now looks clearer, there still remains many unfortunate issues regarding receiving this kind of help.

Finding the right psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist, or counselor can cost the average citizen more money than they’re willing to spend. According to Anna R.M. Herbert, in the article “Mental Health Parity: Moving Closer to an Effective National Policy”, from the Journal of Financial Service Professionals, “Some health insurance companies refuse to offer mental health coverage entirely, others limit coverage to acute care or place financial restrictions on services” (Herbert). It is not fair to make citizens pay more for mental help than physical help. Herbert discusses how these issues are equally as important in order to lead a healthy lifestyle, and more people will go without treatment or help if they cannot afford the extra expenses. Herbert continues to mention how for many insurance companies, only selected therapists are free of charge, so you do not even have much of a choice regarding who you see, and then you’re only given a certain number of sessions before you must pay (Herbert).

While the concept of mental health might be confusing, that does not make its level of priority any less than that of physical health. And although the cost of mental health treatment seems high, it is nothing compared to what the U.S. spends in physical healthcare treatment alone. Individuals that suffer from mental illness’ like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and many others, have a very difficult time in the everyday world. When you have a physical ailment, it is almost impossible to complete assignments that may be easy without this physical issue. This is the same for someone with a mental illness. As a society, we are raised to believe that if someone cannot physically see, or even feel the pain, it is not really there, but this information is false. A person that looks perfectly healthy on the outside, and has everything intact on the inside, could be suffering mentally. And you would never even know.

According to Robert Pearsall, Susan Hughes, John Geddes, and Anthony Pelosi, authors of the article “Understanding the Problems Developing a Healthy Living Program in Patients with Serious Mental Illness: A Qualitative Study” from the BMC Psychiatry Journal, “People with serious mental illness are at an increased risk of physical ill health” (Pearsall, Hughes, Geddes, Pelosi). With this knowledge, one can conclude that not only is it difficult for individuals suffering from a mental illness to do well in school and work, they are now more likely to physically feel sick.

People with mental health issues also have a hard time socializing, they may feel as though no one understands them, or they will be judged. Because most people do not understand what it means to have a mental illness, they tend to act awkward and get nervous towards those suffering. Nobody wants to be treated differently, or looked at as if they have “something wrong” with them. If having a mental illness can stop someone from living a decent life, the same way a physical issue would, then it should be viewed as just as serious. People with psychological disorders should be treated with the same care people with physical issues are given.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs describes how humans must fulfill psychological needs in order to attempt to lead a rewarding life. People with mental illness cannot move up in the pyramid, because they have not received some of the basic psychological needs to survive. Without a healthy mental state, people cannot do well in their careers or even enjoy social interactions. We do not want a society, full of capable people that are forced to sit aimlessly, all because their psychological well-being has not been treated. Our society must start viewing mental illness as of equal importance to physical illness. It is a crucial change to make, in order to protect the safety of its citizens.