So let's talk about it...

Today is Bell Let's Talk Day.
Now, normally I don't like Bell, I think their customer service is probably the worst in the country.
But I like this initiative.
I really do, even though I'm aware that it's about half Bell advertising.
Why do I like this initiative? Because it seeks to promote dialogue about mental illness.
You know mental illness, it's the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about till they're suffocating in elephant paddies.
So the question is: Why?
Why would people who have a mental illness sit and suffer and not get help?
Two reasons that I can see:
1) stigma
2) lack of knowledge

Let's look at stigma:
Its  a not uncommon misconception that mental illness is indeed a weakness of character, a cry for attention or straight up laziness.
I call bull shit on that
Mental illness is a complex set of neurochemical, perceptive and emotional responses to stimuli that keep people from achieving the goals they set out to do.
Nobody wants to be depressed. Trust me, it sucks in ways that non depressed people can't begin to imagine.
It's not sadness, sadness you can get over.
It's a chemical imbalance.
The problem with it is that it's a chemical imbalance that no research has yet to come up with a key to. There's no map.

Which leads me to a lack of knowledge:
Mental illness, specifically depression has no identified primary neurochemical pathway despite 40 years of concentrated research.
What the hell does that mean?
It means that although we know depression is a chemical imbalance similar to diabetes say, we don't know which chemicals are imbalance in which numbers enough to have a magic cure. We have no insulin for depression.
Why? Well, that's a question for the researchers but my theory is this: the human mind is too complex for a simple quick fix for everybody.
Every experience we have changes who we are and how we perceive things.
So the treatments have to be tailored to the person.
A combination of possibly: drug therapy, talk therapy, diet, exercise, alternative medicine and or spiritual guidance.
Since each protocol has to be tailored to each person, it can take a looooong time to get the elements just right. And you have to keep at the doctors and therapists to make sure you have the best protocol. The one that works for you.


So the irony of mental illness is that when you have depression and each day is a struggle to be able to get the energy and the attention to work and do your basic activities of life and you're struggling alone due to the jaded opinions of those around you, you have to get yourself together enough to be determined to get your treatment protocol organised.

So what can we do? What can we do to support the people around us with this struggle?

Let's get rid of the silence. Let's talk about it.
Lets be wise enough to understand that the first step is to stand behind people who are suffering so that they have the support to go and get a treatment protocol.