Many people shy away from admitting to themselves or to society that they are struggling with their mental health.
This is specifically severe for those of you coming from a culture that values family, community or society over the single individual - those of you who originally stem from a cultural background located in Asia, Eastern Europe or South America for example. You have probably been brought up to prioritise the needs of the group over your own. Which makes you feel guilty and severely ashamed to admit to anyone that you have mental health problems, not to mention reaching out to a therapist for healing and support.
And although being rooted in a we culture (or to use a technical term - “collectivistic culture”) can spare you from slipping into states of anxiety or depression too easily (see link to study below), it can unfortunately also keep you from taking steps towards your healing.
IT IS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK and I want to take that opportunity to tell you:
- You are not alone - I’ve been there too and so are many, many, many of us with the above mentioned background; you can find like-minded people all over the world; please contact me if you are seeking encouragement and connection
- Be brave to take care of your mental health
- I will introduce you to a little exercise that can dampen your feelings of guilt and shame
Stay curious, stay inspired and share this podcast with anyone you think might benefit from it!
Some of the upcoming episodes will be in German and probably Serbian too, so watch out for indicators in the episode titles. ;)
The links I promised you in this episode are these:
https://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2009/10/chiao.html#:~:text=Collectivist%20cultures%20may%20give%20individuals,depressive%20episodes%2C%22%20Chiao%20said.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4297733/
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mental-health-awareness-week
https://actionforhappiness.org/
https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/self_compassionate_letter
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The links to my social media channels are here:
Website: https://www.evolutionable.co.uk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolutionable/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinamiljkovic/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Martina_Evolves
Podcast Music "A Travel" by Codemusic via Pond5.