It’s Okay Not To Be Okay

We are not doctors to analyze how a human brain works and how a disorder is working. But, this is the issue that has been ongoing in the current scenario a lot of times. There are a plethora of mental health issues coming forward. Is it because more and more people are accepting it and being open towards it? Or is it because people are becoming more and more vulnerable towards it? Or is it both?

Let’s, for instance, take depression; there’s a vast crowd fighting for it if said, it is just temporary, but there’s another crowd saying, it’s okay not to be okay? Are we pushing ourselves to the extremes? When told, it’s just temporary, people got offended, fought for it, and more and more people started opening up. And then raised a slogan called it’s okay not to be okay. In the beginning, this might’ve helped many folks by letting them lighten up the burden.

But did this push the crowd towards the extreme to such an extent that depression has been normalized? Is this the reason why more and more people are coming out? Now, don’t take me wrong when I say this, and I’m not trying to sound like a grandma. I have seen young men and women facing clinical depression and clinical anxiety. I have seen people fighting with these problems way before the world started normalizing mental health.

Did we start victimizing ourselves way too much? Did we start saying, its okay not to be okay too much that we began to believe we have mental issues even when the slightest thing disturbs us! Yes, people will say, people have huge problems; only a few succumb to peer pressure. It might be right. But, what if this increases? Or what if it’s rising? I often see people go through depression or anxiety if they face heartbreak or fail in a test, etc. Of course, you can’t measure the level of depression by measuring the gravity of its cause. But, my only question is, Are we becoming weaker? Are we victimizing ourselves a little too much? Are we normalizing depression? Are we vulnerable to problems a little too much?

When a youtube suggestion says 10 steps to having a better life, think before clicking it. Ask this, do I need that video? do I need to make my already happy life better? do I need to learn from that video? if I watch that video, will I keep watching these videos and develop an obsession to change my life?

It’s a disorder. Saying its okay not to be okay indicates that we are trying to normalize it like any other physical health issue. But it’s still a disorder. It still needs a cure. Don’t normalize it too much that if you don’t have, you might think you have it, and if you have it, you might think its okay to have it.

— By K Amartya