Mental health month (2): Myths, misconceptions

As much as there is a growing awareness and acceptance of mental health, there are still lots of confusion about what it is, how it works, and what we can do to nurture it. Psychiatric and psychological concepts have permeated lay language, particularly in social media. However, this runs the risk of either pathologizing natural phenomena or glamorizing suffering. A little knowledge in mental health can do great harm in this way. It is much better to adopt the mindset that mental health is a complex, multifaceted aspect of ourselves that cannot easily fit into mere labels or boxes. To help you understand mental health better, I’d like to identify a couple of common myths and misconceptions:

Mental health is not just about having a diagnosis. When people talk about mental health, they tend to equate it with having psychiatric diagnoses like depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, and borderline personality disorder. While these are very real and serious conditions, mental health isn’t limited to this. In fact, everybody has their own mental health, in the same way that we all have physical health. Mental health concerns itself not just with illness or suffering but also in ways of thriving. Dr. Violeta Bautista, an eminent clinical psychologist, developed the “Ginhawa” model where she equated mental health with the Filipino concept of “ginhawa.” This highlights a person’s total well-being rather than just having a focus on symptoms and illness. She further identified “sigla” (strength and energy), “gana” (enthusiasm), and “gaan” (ease) as necessary achievements in order to attain “ligaya” (joy). This is a more indigenous and culturally appropriate understanding of mental health, especially as Filipinos tend to perceive their experience in a more holistic manner.

Mental health is not just a medical matter. Mental health is not exclusive to the medical field—it is a multidisciplinary field as it requires a biopsychosocial approach. Aside from our body chemistry and genetics, mental health is also greatly influenced by our social environment. Some without a genetic predisposition for depression can still develop it when bombarded with adverse experiences such as severe stress, repeated failures leading to hopelessness, and trauma. On the other hand, some who face similar hardships may not develop depression if they have other resilience factors that protect them. Our personality, values, and beliefs also impact the quality of our mental health. Two people may react and cope differently in the same situation depending on how they perceive and understand what is going on. One may be more prone to road rage when perceiving other drivers as “kamotes” while another may be more patient during traffic as they consider that others on the road are also probably under great stress. Since mental health has multiple influences, it thus requires a variety of solutions. Aside from medication, one can improve one’s mental health by reflecting and working on their mindset (sometimes via psychotherapy) as well as make the necessary environmental or lifestyle changes. For Filipinos, their spirituality plays a big role in their mental health as well and a lot turn to their priests and pastors for support and guidance.

Self-care is not done alone. Self-care is a big buzzword especially around this time of the month. However, there is something misleading about the term: Self-care is not just done by the self. It takes a community to nurture self-care. Whenever a self-care seminar is conducted, participants tend to agree with the recommendations but will readily admit that they do not seem feasible given their home and work environment. For example, good nutrition and physical exercise are part of self-care and yet these can hardly be done when our responsibilities demand so much of our time. Lack of physical and social spaces for self-care also hinder the ability of the individual to take charge of their well-being. If a community does not provide spaces for physical activity such as parks and jogging paths, then the barriers to self-care increase. Self-care is not just behavior—it is also a value. If this value is not shared by the workplace, the family, or the overall community, then one will have a difficult time practicing it.

Mental health is a challenging concept to pin down and the worst we can do is to apply a reductionist approach and reduce it to symptoms. Mental health is also not just an individual endeavor but requires a community to help sustain it. We do not even have to be professionals to help with someone’s mental health—as long as we make space and support each other in what makes us thrive, this can go a long way in lifting up everyone’s mental health together.

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