Nyr’e Jones, Staff Writer

About 13.6% of people in the world struggle with mental health, translating to over 1 billion people. These struggles affect people of all different ages, ethnicities, genders and social statuses. This worldwide crisis has been around for centuries, but has only just recently been seen as a health hazard and extremely detrimental. Mental health comes in different forms like depression, anxiety disorder, childhood development issues, post-traumatic stress disorder and so on. Mental health struggles are sometimes visible in a person’s life, but most of the time they are often disguised by many of the victims– where they can smile throughout that day while their mind is overwhelming them. Although the ability to hide is successful, there are many ways the strain is revealed.

Mental health not only affects the mind, but the physical body as well. Chronic stress can lead to unhealthy weight changes and sometimes triggers eating disorders. Depression often causes the inability to get out of bed and fatigue, which can be a vital clue that someone is struggling mentally. Depression can drain energy and motivation that are reflective in the inability to go on throughout the day, which later affects the desire to eat.

Mental health also extends beyond personal strain, straining friendships, romantic relations and familial relationships as well. Withdrawal and sudden disassociation cause loved ones to feel hurt or mistreated. This can lead to loss of contact or removal of the person who is struggling mentally because it’s not revealed to family and friends. This becomes a severe issue because the miscommunication can lead to a detrimental cause. Relationships and support are a huge necessity for people who struggle mentally, for the stability and support are what pushes them forward to bettering their health. Without communication, the silent battle is almost invisible and hard for the outsider to read, emphasizing the danger of mental struggle.

This invisible burden of mental struggles can also affect productivity and the role of everyday life– even through simple daily responsibilities like leaving school/work early, cleanliness and goals. These day-to-day things become neglected because of the struggle within, such as depression taking away motivation. Anxiety disorders affect overthinking and the inability to prioritize important things. Fatigue and lack of focus may lead to missing work/school deadlines, terrible performance and other harmful mistakes. These troubling effects on the body, mind, relationships and daily responsibilities reveal just how severe mental health struggles can be.

Mental health isn’t just individual issues that affect the mind, but affects a person’s wellbeing and the people closest to them. Fatigue and eating disorders show how the mind can affect the body, withdrawal and miscommunication shatters relationships, and mental struggles challenge the ability to fulfill everyday needs. Mental struggles can be extremely scary and draining causing a person to lose themselves entirely if they do not get the help they need. Because most of these struggles go unnoticed, the problem goes on until it’s worsened. Addressing and helping people who struggle with mental health should become an obligation because it does not just affect the person, but the ones around them and our world as whole. Mental health deserves action just like any other illness, for no one deserves to suffer silently.