Today is World Mental Health Day; a day dedicated to the awareness of mental health.
When I first started studying medicine, psychiatry seemed to be very vague, something 'not quite as important' as the other acute illnesses that were meant to be studied.
Over the years, that perception changed quickly - I realized how important mental health was, and how so few people placed importance on it. How people with psychiatric disorders were stigmatized, and for some, how difficult it could be to move forward.
I've sat with a friend talking him through a grandiose dream for an hour while persuading him to seek help.
I've brought people I know to hospital for depression, because they couldn't see it for themselves that it wasn't just a case of being sad.
I've stood my ground against people in a psychotic rage, as uneasy as it made me.
These were young people, in the peak of they lives, who had succumbed to a mental illness at some point or other.
This year's theme for Mental Health Day focuses on youths and adolescents, and the rise of mental illness with the rise of an increasingly interconnected world.
Mental health disease will continue to rise, but are we ready for it?
If you know someone who has a mental health problem, please encourage them to seek help. Help is always available, and they are never alone.
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