Haleh Banani – Busting 7 Common Mental Health Myths

			There are seven mental health myths I want to help clear up because this is an issue that we need to
bring a lot of focus to, we need to make sure that we understand what these myths are and clear it
because if we don't, we're not going to take the right necessary actions. So Madico My name is Hello
Banani empowering you with psychological tips and spiritual support. Bismillah was salat wa salam
ala Rasulillah. So these myths that we have causes individuals to have a stigma around mental
health, not understanding it correctly having the wrong information, and it that causes people not
to take action, they will not do what is necessary to get the treatment that they need, there are
		

			actually seven mental health myths that I want to address today and Inshallah, that it will be very
helpful. So the first one is the myth that mental health disorders are not that common. In reality,
the research shows that one in five individuals have a mental health issue, they have health related
issue. And so this is extremely common. So if you take any five individuals, you find that one
person may be suffering from depression, anxiety, bipolar, so it is as common as many of the other
physical ailments that we see. And we put so much emphasis on getting if someone has diabetes, if
they have heart disease, if they have any kind of issues, we address it. But then with mental
		

			health, we are just ignoring it. Many people ignore it until it's too late, or in the sense that it
gets exasperated. And most of the time, people don't get their mental health disorders address until
there is a major occurrence, maybe they have a mental breakdown, maybe they have some kind of some
major issue comes up. And that's when they finally take action. But we need to take action as soon
as we see any sign. So the second myth is that children or teens don't have mental health disorders.
And this again, one in five children have mental health issues, we need to really address this as
far as adults are concerned, we need to address this and make sure that our children, especially if
		

			they're feeling depressed or feeling anxious, they are they are having any kind of symptoms that you
feel are unusual, they're totally withdrawn. If you feel like that, and they are not showing any
interest in the things that they're doing, then it is important to recognize that it could be a
mental health issue and to get it addressed. The third thing is that many people have this fear that
psychiatric medication or they are unsafe, and it's actually quite safe. If you use it
appropriately. If you take the prescriptions the way that they are prescribed, then you shouldn't
have any kind of issue. So when you recognize that with the psychiatric medication, many times, it
		

			really saves a person's life if someone is extremely depressed, and they're having suicidal
thoughts, and it's like a chemical imbalance. And once you get that balance, then what you find is
that they actually become much better and and so we need to have trust in the psychiatric medication
and not fear that. And the next myth is that many people feel that the talk therapy may take years
and years. Now psychotherapy can take years and years. But there are many different forms of
therapy, if you have cognitive behavioral therapy that is very much solution focused, you get
quicker results. And so you need to ask before working with someone what kind of approach that they
		

			use, because it doesn't necessarily take a long time. Now there are many therapists that may may
take anywhere from six months to a year. But you need to ask and figure out if individuals are using
a more solution focused methodology or not. The fifth myth is that once you have a mental health
disorder, then there's no way to recover from it. And that's not true. Because sometimes, if you get
it treated early enough, you can recover from it, there are times that it can be managed, depending
on the severity of your mental health issue, you can definitely get it treated and you can manage
it. So don't think that once you have it, that means that's it, it's never going to get better. The
		

			sixth fifth is that talking about suicide leads to suicide, people are afraid to ask let's say their
children if they have suicidal ideation because they feel okay if I bring it up. Maybe I'm planting
a seed and that's not true. Actually, the opposite is true is that if you don't talk about it if you
don't address it, if you don't get more information when someone is acting very depressed, then that
can lead a person to commit suicide because they have no one to talk to. Many times clients will
tell me that they had don't want to turn to no one to talk to no one will understand that. So if you
take that time to ask if they're like, Oh, I'm really I'm really depressed or they make a statement
		

			like I just I wish I wasn't alive. I wish I could die. take that seriously and follow it up.
		

			Put some questions about do you have a plan because if there's a plan, then there's a red flag, you
need to take action, it's very serious and get a mental health professional to help you with your
child. And if they say, No, I just, I'm just really sick and tired of life, and they don't
necessarily have a plan, you still needs to take action, right, because they may not have a plan
right now. But if they're sad, this is not addressed. If their anxiety is not addressed, then they
may attempt suicide. So talking about suicide does not lead to suicide, not talking about suicide
can lead to suicide. And then the seventh myth is feeling that there's nothing you can do to help a
		

			person with a mental health issue of our mental health problem, you actually play a very important
role. If you're a family member, if you are a friend, if you're a spouse, you can be a source of
support, you can be understanding, the worst thing that you could do is dismiss the individual who
is suffering from this mental health issue. And many people unfortunately, do it. They feel like no,
you really don't have this disorder either. being dismissive unfortunately, sometimes there's
mocking, and if you can be a source of support, if you can show love and understanding that is going
to be the best way that you can be there for them, and ask them what what is it that you need from
		

			me, and you can actually be their way of becoming better because you are understanding and you're
helping them and may be encouraging this process. So it's so important for us to do away with the
seven myths. And there are many more myths out there as far as mental health. And if we don't have a
clear understanding of what mental health is how its treated, about the medications, then we're
really, we're going to do more harm than good. We're not going to not get the treatment that we need
for ourselves for our children. So I really urge you to take the mental health of your children very
seriously. If you see their behaviors have changed. They're very depressed or withdrawn, take the
		

			time to ask them about how they're feeling. Ask them if they need that extra support, seek it seek
some local assistance and get them to at least talk it out. They may not talk to you about it, but
at least they can get the help and support they need. I can't tell you how life transforming it can
be so please do not ignore the mental health of your children. prioritize it. It's as important we
could be so negligent about the mental health so please prioritize that and seek the treatment that
is necessary in order to make sure all our children inshallah are in the best mental health