Can we normalize emotional suffering?
As a society, using the term “emotional health” instead of “mental health” might make people feel a little more comfortable about asking for help. After doing a little research into how the term mental health was created, I learned that the word mental originated quite innocently. This discovery made it even more clear that it’s time to separate the term mental health from the stigma of mental illness.
Origins of the term “mental health”
The term “mental hygiene” was coined by American psychiatrist William Sweetser in 1843. Sweetser was on a mission to promote mental health and prevent mental illness, particularly from a public health perspective.
The term “mental hygiene” was inspired by the concept of personal hygiene, which emphasizes practices to keep the body healthy and prevent disease. Dr. Sweetser extended this idea to include mental health, proposing that just as we need to keep our bodies clean to prevent disease, we need to keep our minds healthy to prevent mental illness.
This made a lot of sense to me. Furthermore, Dr. Sweetser believed that mental health should be a top priority for individuals and society as a whole. He advocated education and awareness-raising to promote good mental health habits, such as stress management, emotional regulation, and healthy relationships. He also emphasized the importance of environmental factors, such as living conditions and social support networks, in influencing mental health.
I think William Sweetser would be very disappointed to know this about the stigma that mental health still carries. A common finding in the literature is that women are more likely to seek help than men. I don’t think anyone would be surprised by this, especially considering that in February 2024, it was reported that the suicide rate for men in Canada has consistently been at least twice that of women for the past 20 years. In 2021, the suicide rate for Canadian men was about 15 per 100,000 population, compared to 5 per 100,000 for women.
As a practicing psychotherapist in Canada, May 6-12 was National Mental Health Week, and it seems kind of paradoxical to me that (a) we as a society have normalized stress and (b) therapy continues to be subject to stigma.
When did it become embarrassing to identify and talk about our feelings and thoughts, let alone glamorize busyness and personify it as an admirable achievement?
Slow but steady is the path to victory
Why should we hide the suffering we feel? We are human beings and that is what we are here to do on Earth. Instead, we pride ourselves on being so busy and unfocused. It is not normal to walk into a room and constantly ask yourself, “What did I come here for?” Perhaps it would be beneficial for us to go into nature to find stillness and be in the moment.
It’s no wonder that my 84-year-old mother often wonders if the world has gone mad, to which I quickly reply, “Yes, Mom, but that means AI won’t take your job,” before she looks at me with even more confusion about what AI is.
