Mental health disorders are not a choice. They are disorders, just like high blood pressure.

However, not everyone believes that. There are people who walk this planet that still believe disorders like depression and anxiety are a choice. I am no psychologist or psychiatrist, but I do know that mental health disorders are real, as real as other health disorders, and they deserve just as much attention.

I am a firm believer that because people think that poor mental health is solely a choice, many leave their mental health on the back burner. It is a hard conversation to have because people do not want to be labeled as crazy, delusional, or anything that will degrade them. Those who are concerned about their own mental health are scared to speak up and ask for help because they expect to receive a negative reaction from those who surround them.

I think that mental health is just as important as general health because mental health is general health.

Mental health is just as important as heart health, dental health, eye health, etc. I believe that mental health check-ups are important for everyone, and that everyone should treat their mental health like a yearly physical. Maybe doctors should conduct mental health screenings regularly with their patients, to help mental health become something normalized and not scary to talk about.

If we take mental health more seriously and look at it like general health, maybe it would be easier for those who may think they may have something going on to talk about it and get the help that they need.

We have made progress with understanding mental health, but we still have a long way to go.

I just read an article the other day that analyzed data from emergency rooms. The article explained that the percentage of young adults and children who are going into emergency rooms with suicidal thoughts and/or attempts of suicide has increased significantly.

This is a terrifying problem that must be acknowledged.

We should take into consideration the negative impacts of mental health such as suicide when it comes to the importance of mental health awareness and understanding that mental health disorders are, in fact, real.

It frightens me that young people are suffering so severely with impaired mental health that they feel their lives are not worth continuing. It infuriates me that despite everything proving otherwise, some people still think mental health is not something to be concerned about. It saddens me that people are not getting the help and support they should be getting.

Start taking mental health seriously. It's just as important to your overall health as physical wellbeing.