Posted in: 20/10/2022 – 14:31
One of the most followed topics on social media these days is that related to mental health. Not only on the occasion of the World Mental Health Day, which we spent about ten days ago, but also in general, and even without occasions.
This issue is now being raised and discussed in Lebanon and the taboo-free Arab world, having long been surrounded by shame and darkness, and its owners lived in fear or shame to reveal their struggle not to be labeled “crazy”, seen the prejudices that people called trouble sufferers about it. For this reason, this sudden change of mentality, and this new comfort in talking about a subject of such sensitivity and importance, reassure me, because they are an indication of our maturity as peoples, and of our acceptance of the fragility that is in each of us. without exception.
I am not saying that the stigma is gone: unfortunately we are still a long way from that, and there is a lot of ignorance, cynicism and denial at this level, but we are in the right direction. I still remember ten or fifteen years ago how, whenever I mentioned my depression in one of my books or interviews, I was described as “brave” and “bold”. But personally I did not consider it neither audacity nor courage, but rather a mere desire to understand, and above all a desire to understand, emanating from a place where I felt for a long time mortally alone and with so much pain: I mean, making strangers understand what it is this world of depression and its challenges in order to correct some mistakes that surround it.
The biggest mistakes in the mental health issue? That people often confuse external behavior with psychological condition, when these two are often quite separate. For example, I am positive in nature, I have a very high sense of humor, I smile spontaneously and laugh out loud. Furthermore, I am very sociable, friendly and dynamic. But, at the same time, I suffer from depression. Many people like me suffer from it, because depression is not synonymous with sadness, sulking and laziness. It is more dangerous and cunning. Few realize this.
Finally, greet all those who fight their inner demons, openly or in the dark, victorious at times and defeated at times. These are my words today, to say: You are not alone.
