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“Change the way you see things and the things you see will change” – Dr Wayne Dyer

What is often more harmful than a lack of information is inaccurate information. Myths are widely held beliefs that are largely false and there are many myths about mental health. It is impossible to cover all of them in an article. We will try to bust some of the most common ones.

■ Mental means crazy We have heard this inaccurate word association time and time again. Mental does not mean crazy. The word mental refers to things related to the mind. In the context of mental health, crazy is often used to label a person “mad” for experiencing mental health issues.

■ Is it okay to call someone “crazy” because their actions do not fit our ideas of what being “normal” is all about? Let’s not be judgemental and give others a negative label based on our preconceived ideas of mental health. How would we feel if someone gave us a negative label without understanding us as a person, the reasons and context behind our actions? Deepika Padukone and Shahrukh Khan are amongst many that have experienced mental health issues. Does this mean they are crazy? No. Then why are others labelled “crazy”? A person’s mental health issues do not define them as a person. They are not their mental health issue. They are not a “Schizophrenic” or a “Depressed Person”, they are experiencing depression or schizophrenia. There is a difference between “being something” and “experiencing something”, with the latter being the case in mental health issues. Let’s not label people as this worsens their issues and the stigma prevents people from seeking appropriate support.

■ Mental health is the same as mental health issues Your mental health is not the same as mental health issues. Like aforementioned, we all have a mental health just like we have a physical health. A mental health issue means a person is experiencing a difficulty with their mental health.

■ People with mental health issues belong in a mental hospital No. Any one of us can experience a mental health issue and this does not mean we belong in a mental hospital. We all deserve to be living in the community, amongst our social network of people and have the right to be treated like a human being. People experiencing mental health issues should only be hospitalised as a last resort, after all other options to provide support in the community have been exhausted. Often, people experiencing more severe forms of mental health issues and those at risk of hurting themselves and/ others are hospitalised. In theory, people hospitalised for treatment should be supported to return to the community on remission but unfortunately, this does not happen in practice. This can be due to a number of reasons such as, ineffective or inappropriate treatment, lack of resources and support in the community and unethical reasons which are beyond the scope of this article.

■ People with mental health issues are weak in character Does having a physical health issue make us weak in character? You would not question the character of a patient with cancer or asthma, so why would having a mental health issue make us weak in character? Anyone experiencing a mental health issue is not weak. There is nothing inherently wrong with them. Neither are they at their fault for experiencing a mental health issue. Everyone has experienced difficulties in life. Mental health issues can develop when we struggle to manage the impact of these difficulties using our existing coping strategies. It takes a lot of strength to acknowledge you have a mental health issue and even more to seek support to understand and manage it.

■ You can only treat mental health issues using medication This myth is encouraged by our medicalised view of mental health issues and wanting a “quick fix”. Medication is one amongst many treatment options and is not a compulsory treatment for all mental health issues. Therapy, also known as talking therapy can be an effective treatment option. This involves talking to a suitable professional (e.g. clinical psychologist, counselling psychologist, therapist) trained to help people understand and manage the impact of mental health issues.

■ You can “catch” mental health issues from others A mental health issue is not a virus or a disease. It is not “catchable”. The majority of us would have a mental health issue if we were able to “catch” them from people experiencing mental health issues. Only people with mental health issues have talking therapy This is inaccurate. People without mental health issues can also have talking therapy. The purpose of therapy is talk to an appropriate professional (e.g. clinical psychologist, counselling psychologist, therapist) to understand yourself, the problems you might be experiencing and how to manage them. Therapy should be confidential. Everything you share with the professional should remain between you and the …