LETTER | Empathise with mental health issues, not stigmatise

LETTER | If our world can empathise with physical health, why can’t we do the same for mental health?

This is a question that lingers every time we encounter the clear difference between how we treat those suffering physically and those struggling mentally.

Society has become used to recognising physical illness. We offer comfort, encourage treatment and attempt to understand what it must be like to walk in their shoes.

However, when it comes to mental illness, we do the opposite. We cast doubt, we dismiss and we stigmatise – yet we continue to wonder why mental health issues continue to escalate.

Unlike physical illness, mental illness often happens quietly, making it even more dangerous. Its symptoms aren’t always visible. And when something is hard to see, it becomes hard to believe. As the saying goes, “people only want to see what they want to see, and believe what they want to believe.”

We live in a society where people limit their understanding to what fits within their comfort zone but how can we possibly treat an illness we refuse to acknowledge?

Why treat mental health with indifference?

Imagine if we stigmatise physical health in the same way we do with mental health. Consider someone with mild chest pain, a potential warning sign of a heart disease.

If we dismissed their pain as “all in their head” and told them to “just ignore it”, we would be ignoring a serious condition that could develop into a heart attack.

Similarly, if someone with early signs of diabetes-frequent urination, thirst, or fatigue - were told they were “just overreacting”, their condition could worsen into life-threatening complications like kidney failure or nerve damage.

Yet this is exactly what we are doing with mental health. When someone shows early signs of depression, like persistent sadness or loss of interest, they’re often told to “just cheer up” or “get over it”.

The same happens with anxiety-when someone feels constantly on edge, they’re advised to “just relax” - as if it were that simple. These dismissals ignore the fact that untreated depression can lead to major depressive disorder, which may result in suicidal thoughts and untreated anxiety can develop into panic disorder or generalized anxiety disorder.

When we trivialise the smallest signs of mental distress, we allow them to fester, with more people becoming mentally unstable.

Individuals with mild depression spiral into severe depression, those with stress develop chronic anxiety, and people who feel hopeless may develop suicidal ideation.

More suffer, more break down and eventually, more will experience full-blown mental health crises. Conditions like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, when left unacknowledged, can lead to devastating consequences for individuals and their families, often culminating in hospitalisation or even death.

And what’s the outcome? Physical health suffers too. We often forget that the mind and body are deeply interconnected, and when one worsens, the other is likely to follow.

Mental health issues if left untreated could contribute to physical health issues - from insomnia, fatigue, and breathlessness to headaches. However, by the time this connection is realised, it’s often too late.

Debilitating illness

Yes, it’s “all in your head” - but inside your head is the brain, the organ that controls both your mental and physical health. If mental illness could simply be “shaken off” or “thought away,” people would have done so already.

The reality is that these invisible wounds can be so debilitating that normal functioning becomes impossible. Just because you can’t see the pain, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. We cannot judge the magnitude of someone’s suffering based on our own experiences.

What we need is a shift in perspective. We must start seeing the person behind the illness, not just the illness itself.

We must take it upon ourselves to learn, rather than remain ignorant of the things we don’t yet understand. And most importantly, we must validate the feelings of others, rather than invalidate their experiences.

The time to empathise, not stigmatise, is now.

Writer is from the Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya and an active volunteer with Empati, an NGO promoting mental health well-being among youth.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.