This argumentative essay will zoom in on the importance of seeking and receiving help for mental health. An essay about this issue is critical in my career development, as it helps to resolve the conflicting arguments existing regarding the proper measures to be undertaken on mental health. It will also help the audience and the readers to develop a reasonable and analytical approach towards mental health. Besides, through reading this essay, the reader will be able to pick up concepts and ponder on the writer’s unpopular but critical ideas on mental health treatment.
Mental health is a state whereby an individual is free from mental ailments. People affected by mental illness usually seek medical care so that they could get well, boost their productivity, develop good habits, have good relationships, reduce their dependency on their families and also gain or lose healthy amounts of body fat. However, as these people concentrate on attaining the benefits of mental health, they ignore the negative side of it-the adverse effects. The effects include high cost of treatment, chronic pains, cases of suicide, and also discrimination from friends and family members (“Untreated Mental Illnesses: The Causes and Effects | Princeton Public Health Review”, 2019).
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A study has it that stigma is the leading reason why patients forgo seeking treatment for mental illnesses. Stigma is defined as “negative attitudes held by others, is a barrier to receiving treatment for mental health disorders. Perceiving negative attributes such as believing individuals with mental health problems are weak, incompetent, and cannot take care of themselves, are common forms of stigma and may contribute to increases in harmful attitudes,” (Lehigh Centre, 2019). The stigmatizing views bring forth to shame and negative opinions with relation to mental illnesses and potentially preclude many people and particularly younger adults from seeking help. Further, stigma destroys the will to get treatment. Therefore, though there’s is a great benefit to be enjoyed in seeking mental health help, there exist similar adverse risks associated with it. The main areas of risk associated with mental health treatment are associated with physiological wellness, productivity, and reduced dependency ration.
A tour to mental health centers and getting treatment has shown improvement in psychological wellness in patients. This is despite the denial and hesitation that patients struggle with before admitting that they require help. What they forget that seeking professional services for their conditions is beneficial and that delaying treatment comes with disastrous consequences. Failure to open provides an opportunity for serious mental health illnesses to escalate. Undoubtedly, untreated health conditions are enough to disrupt relationships, hamper optimum performance at work, and even heighten chances of sliding to drugs and substance abuse.
The main improvements observed with psychological help include correctional adoption of normal behavior both in terms of their emotions, behavior, and social maturity of a person (“What Is Mental Health? | MentalHealth.gov”, 2019). These improvements have helped mental health victims to function generally in the society they live daily and better social interaction with others. Evidence shows that with the improvement of social, emotional, and behavioral maturity, the victims are becoming more and more comfortable to associate with other people (Daskivich et al., 2015). However through this improvement, significant discrimination issues have also risen, for example former mental unstable people are still being associated with the mental state they were in, not excluding that in the case they make mistakes as it would occur with any rational person, their mistakes are associated with their former mental state, rather than it being termed as any other humane mistake.
Mental health help and awareness have tremendously boosted productivity for most of the formerly mentally ill people. Productivity described here encompasses the activity in which the patients were engaged in, including physical and mental tasks, besides improvement in creativity was also registered. Research has shown the association of good mental health with improvements in productivity. However, this improvement in previous mentally ill patients comes with stigma and small talks that falsely associate these drastic or gradual improvements with assistance from other means, like spiritual forces. In schools, improvement in performance by previously mentally challenged students is perceived to be luck or assistance from other students (Thornicroft et al., 2015).
Treatment of mental health among victims has shown increased self-reliance to the victims. This self-dependence is directly correlated with a reduction in the dependence on others. The previously mental ill victims depended on others to carry out necessary activities like feeding, bathing, and providence (Wilenset al., 2015). However, from practical experiments, evidence has shown that the treatment of mental disability increased self-reliance among the victims. However, these self-reliance comes with challenges, and the now reformed victims have to deal with the trust-trauma that is associated with their previous mental state (Gilburt et al., 2016). Being trusted with carrying tasks is a significant issue in matters like being employed and being assigned responsibilities, especially in areas they were previously known.
The benefits of therapy span beyond caring for oneself. Seeking treatment presents the patient with numerous choices of the healthy habits of care. Courage and awareness are thus crucial for the public so that the assumption that therapy belongs to the lazy people can be eroded, granting them the confidence they badly need to pursue an emotionally balanced life. A patient’s road to recovery is reminding themselves of who they are and using their strengths to pursue who they were meant to be. Seeking treatment is the beginning of the search for oneself because, just like physical health, mental health is vital.
In conclusion, it is vital to put into consideration the vital role that mental health treatment and awareness have played in society and individual lives today. A professional therapist is most suitable for evaluating the clinical symptoms so that he/she can establish the severity of the mental health condition. With this understanding, the patient can adequately plan to seek the services so that they can embark on a journey towards a happier and more fulfilling life.However, as we emphasize the importance, it is also critical not to forget the negative impacts that these benefits bring in with them. Adverse effects of treatment are there and need to be put on public and necessary measures taken to ensure that these effects don’t bring in more adverse effects where positive effects of mental health were expected.
References
Clement, S., Schauman, O., Graham, T., Maggioni, F., Evans-Lacko, S., Bezborodovs, N., ... & Thornicroft, G. (2015). What is the impact of mental health-related stigma on help-seeking? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies. Psychological medicine, 45(1), 11-27.
Centre, L. (2019). Home. Retrieved 27 November 2019, from https://www.lehighcenter.com/
Daskivich, T. J., Jardine, D. A., Tseng, J., Correa, R., Stagg, B. C., Jacob, K. M., & Harwood, J. L. (2015). Promotion of wellness and mental health awareness among physicians in training: perspective of a national, multispecialty panel of residents and fellows. Journal of graduate medical education, 7(1), 143-147
Naylor, C., Das, P., Ross, S., Honeyman, M., Thompson, J., & Gilburt, H. (2016). Bringing together physical and mental health. King's Fund.
Pedrelli, P., Nyer, M., Yeung, A., Zulauf, C., & Wilens, T. (2015). College students: mental health problems and treatment considerations. Academic Psychiatry, 39(5), 503-511.
Untreated Mental Illnesses: The Causes and Effects | Princeton Public Health Review. (2019). Retrieved 24 November 2019, from https://pphr.princeton.edu/2017/04/30/untreated- mental-illnesses-the-causes-and-effects/
What Is Mental Health? | MentalHealth.gov. (2019). Retrieved 24 November 2019, from https://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health
