Reflective Essay Sample about Mental Health

“What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation.” – Glenn Close. I read this quote while going through the internet and it immediately grabbed my attention.

At first, I thought of what it meant when it said “mental health needs more sunlight” It had a deeper connotation to it, obviously I knew it didn’t mean we need to go out in to the sun to get more light on our heads. So then, what did it mean? 

But after reading it all, I knew a lot more than I did just a few minutes ago. Indeed, more sunlight is needed for our mental health; there should be opportunities for us to express ourselves and define what we desire. There should be these unashamed conversations in which we can express our opinions and feelings without fear of being judged or embarrassed.

The youth of our generation surrounded by a variety of emotions, thoughts, difficulties, and stereotypical influences that force them to drift further away from their true selves as they struggle to fit into a world where they don't belong. They are so weighed down by the pressure to meet others' expectations that they lose sight of their own. This makes them feel miserable, useless, and hated by others, and it makes it difficult for them to love and accept themselves because who they are currently is not the true them. What makes matters worse is the fact that there is none to lend an ear, none to sit down and listen to their problems. This is the case in my country and most likely in my whole continent, Africa. 

I have lived all my life in this community where people don’t have an ounce of awareness about the existence or mental health, how precious it is and how we can keep it healthy. It more like they don’t care. And the lack of awareness to the subject is even more pressing as it plays a big role in the indifference to it. I feel jealous when I see in the movies and social media platforms, the mental support other people in the western world are getting. Through psychiatrists, therapy and community support groups. It makes me feel driven to share that culture of care and consideration to my world, my country and my continent in a whole.

I look forward in the future to take up on a research that helps the youth grow mentally stronger and feel more content in who they are. I want to create a community that when they see a boy or a girl being angry or crying or feeling down, rather than taking it as just a normal mood swing, they care, approach and lend a helping hand and listen to what they have to say. There is more we can learn from one another, more knowledge, opinions and strategies we can share. What is more beautiful than a place where we can respect our cultural differences and share those which can help in making ours a better place? 

There is an undeniable cultural difference that resides in the world, whether it is harmful or useful. But what matters most is that in these differences of ours, we have a lot to learn. The fact that we are all not the same is a blessing rather than a curse. It means new adventures, new exciting stories and new experiences. And in that path we also create a better understanding of our ways and actions, what we are doing wrong and what we need to do to solve it. And in my case, in the future that I want to create, I want to help create a change by helping remove a mental stigma  a society creates on the youth, helping them learn from a different culture than their own that mental health matters.