Battles within.

Some battles are external and when we win those we can show the world. We can display the certificates and the medals with honor, but there are many battles which are internal and when we win those we may never be able to take the adulation of the crowd. One such battle is mental illness. In the USA the culture surrounding mental illnesses are slowly but surely shifting, people are beginning to realize what havoc they play on families and the person suffering from them.
 The case for mental illnesses in the Asian communities and the South Asian communities in particular is not the same. The culture of keeping face and honor takes precedence over everything in the culture and that is the reason many people are left floundering trying to find support when they are dealing with mental illness. When some one has an injury no one tells them to just keep a stiff upper lip and forget about it. If some one cut their hand and was bleeding all over the place you won't tell them to just ignore it, if that person was to say Oh, its nothing it will get better on its own you will think that person is not in their right senses and will probably drive them to the nearest hospital why is mental illness any different.
 Depression is known to kill too and  a person suffering from any mental disorder whether its depression, anxiety, panic disorders or any other thing is hurting just as much or more than a person bleeding. Its important to start challenging the narrative around these issues and diffusing the stigma around them so more people have the courage to share their stories and to seek help when they need it.
Having a problem is never the problem, refusing to see there is a problem and refusing to seek help and fix it are a much bigger issue. It takes a lot of work and dedication to deal with mental health issues. Mental health does not just affect the one person it affects every one surrounding that person. One such example is the case of post-partum depression, it not only affects the mother it affects her child or children. It is not something one can just snap out of and if some one has post-partum depression or clinical depression in general it does not mean they are weak. Our brain is an organ just like any other organ in our body if some one gets a heart attack we don't say oh he is weak then why must we say that about mental disease. If some one has heart disease he takes medication for it and makes life style changes and finds support in their communities to help them. It has to be the same for mental illness, a person suffering from mental illness needs professional help they might need medication along with life style changes and support from community, so lets give them that.
 Lets make a collective effort to change this rhetoric, lets seek help when we need it and lets be vocal about asking for help and vocal about our accomplishments when we defeat mental illnesses.