Foot in the Door of Mental Health
- Ruqaya Jawad
- Mar 16, 2021
- 3 min read
TW// ED, Depression, Anxiety
Growing up in a Middle Eastern household, mental health was neither addressed nor embraced. To me, depression and anxiety were simply “Western Buzzwords;” matters of concern for people who did not have a strong belief in God. The solution to almost every emotional breakdown was “pick up a rug and pray,” “read versus x to y from the Quran,” or “fast for a few days;” just anything and everything to steer away from addressing the Goliath in the room. Topics relating to depression were practically forbidden, and any mention of seeking help for mental health was shut down with accusations regarding lack of faith. To put it simply, I was raised in a household that was not only close-minded and toxic but dismissive of anything relating to “mental health” or “mental illness.”
Despite all of this, however, I still did not blame my parents. In fact, I felt sorry for them. It is certainly never easy for 30-something-year-olds to pack up their entire lives and move across the globe for a chance at life. Having been raised in households themselves that operated like dictatorships, it is certainly not surprising that they had a hard time sympathizing with mental illness. Nonetheless, I knew I wanted a different outlook on life and a different kind of relationship with my future children.
I started doing my own research regarding mental health. I learned about all of the different causes, effects, and treatments that were available, and I started to seriously consider contacting a therapist myself. For the longest time, I was led to believe that depression and anxiety were “for the weak,” and that I should just trust in God for all my problems to sort themselves out. However, I just knew that “hope” was not going to cut it anymore, and that the more I ignored my issues, the worse they became. Therefore, I finally mustered up the courage to contact an ED/ Anxiety naturopathic Therapist, only to discover that they were around $140.00/ session and that there was no way my parents were going to support me in this endeavor. I was crushed, realizing the harsh truth of mental health in our society. I knew then how naïve I was about mental health resources, and how frustrating it must be for so many people to desperately need help and yet not be able to afford it. But I knew there had to be another way.
I decided to keep searching for cheaper options or alternative resources, and I found many programs and counselors under OHIP coverage that were available for all different kinds of mental health treatments. The programs varied in quantity and quality, but they all included volunteer mental health specialists that were available to help people in moments of crisis. The services that such programs provided were obviously not as 1-on-1 treatment intensive as the more expensive routes, but they were still operating to help thousands of Canadians in their daily health concerns. I have joined many ED group therapy programs myself and have gained many resources about how to deal with my own problems, as well as to have sympathy for other people.
The main takeaway for me was to treat my mental health as seriously as my physical health, no matter how insignificant my concerns felt in the eyes of my family or community. I also learned to be more understanding and patient towards other people, and to never assume anything about their internal struggles, because after all, we are just trying to live and get along on this lonely rock we call Earth.
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