What Mental Health means to me: Arsema Zoga Alemu

As I look at my fingers, tattooed with the teeth marks I imprinted during times when my heart

pounded against my rib cage, I am reminded of the 13-year-old girl who was almost consumed by the darkness she knew nothing of. Even as a child, I felt a sense of injustice, as though the adults around me had failed to protect me from the overwhelming grief that compressed my lungs. That one simple conversation I was deprived of about mental illness in turn set the standard for the person I aspired to become: a safe space, a platform, and most importantly an advocate.

Mental health is the vital bridge between understanding what mental illness is and developing suitable means to navigate its associated problems. It is the highs and lows of life, wrapped neatly in healthy coping mechanisms. It encompasses the nurturing support system that we not only deserve but are owed. It is the relief we experience when we hear the words, “You are not alone.”

We have come a long way as a society. We’ve transitioned from a time when schizophrenia was met with frontal lobotomy and depression was labeled as hysteria to a present where these struggles are not only recognized but are accompanied by adequate treatment programs. Not to mention organizations, much like this one, dedicated to mental health advocacy have emerged, serving as the body armor many of us lacked during our times of need. Although as a whole we have progressed in terms of protecting individuals that struggle from mental illness we are still a long way from completely eradicating its challenges because to this day there are a multitude of countries where psychological wellbeing is often overlooked and at times even stigmatized.

For me mental health does not mean clinging to a version of our lives we yearn for rather it is

thriving. It is finding strength in vulnerability and connection in shared experiences. It is a journey toward self-acceptance and a commitment to bettering ourselves and those that surround us.

-Arsema Zoga Alemu