I wrote this little piece on World Mental Health Day—on a day with countless articles and posts across media about mental-health care being healthcare, the importance of access to mental-health care, the need for greater equity in mental-health care, and eliminating pejorative associations societally and culturally about seeking mental-health treatment.
I wholeheartedly agree with all of that, of course, and especially that as a society we need to make our mental-health service and treatment array much stronger and more easily accessible, normalized, culturally responsive, and present for *everyone* across the lifespan.
I’ll add, though, that mental-health perfection, rather than variation, is mythical—as elusive as physical-health perfection—and maybe a little boring. As a goal or standard, it’s not just elusive, it’s punitive.
And there’s no such thing as a mental-health normality.
Our goal, what we need to make available, is support for people’s well-being. In that approach to mental health, there is at least some choice—hopefully a lot of choice—and much beautiful variation.
On every World Mental Health Day and on every other day of the year, let’s remind ourselves to center acceptance and love for others—and ourselves—in everything we do, in our minds and in our hearts.
Holding to that goal or standard, surely, will help make all of our mental health better, all of our lives much richer, and all our community and communities far more loving.
#mentalhealth #worldmentalhealthday #acceptance #love #lovingcommunity
Photo credits: Featured photo by Nicole Zelniker of Nicholas Hemachandra and Ray Hemachandra at Jordan Lake Recreation Area, North Carolina, 2023; bottom photo by Nicholas Hemachandra of Ray Hemachandra at the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, 2023—on the left, an African woven textile by an unknown artist, dyed cotton, 20th century; on the right, a Gee’s Bend Quilt by Jemica Williams, woven cotton, 2021.
