COVID-19 has caused significant mental health issues among Americans, prompting star athletes like the NFL’s Darius Leonard to champion an awareness campaign
This is an op-ed by JoEllen “Jo” Smith, a small business owner who lives in Port Wentworth. She is an occasional contributor who focuses on how local government affects our everyday lives.
What if you were open about your mental health struggles? What if you revealed you were depressed, suicidal, suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder or bipolar disorder? Do you think you would be mocked?
Here is something new, tell the ignorant bully to take it up with your new ally, the 6-foot-2, 229-pound “Maniac” of pure muscle named Darius Leonard of professional football’s Indianapolis Colts.
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Darrius, along with the CEO of the Colts, Jim Irsay, are waging a war against this pseudo-macho baloney. They have started an awareness campaign, “Kick the Stigma” in an effort to do just that – to eliminate the negative perception of something which affects 20% of all Americans.
“Being an African-American male who people look up to as in being strong, not really having feelings, for me to come out and talk about all this stuff, having this platform, talking about it on social media,” Leonard said. “Now all these kids are seeing this strong man who has everything he could possibly dream of, and he’s talking about mental health, and he’s talking about all the things he’s been through in life.”
What if you had negative and unrelenting thoughts in your head like an “earwig,” flipped the light switch on and off incessantly, or were terrified of germs? If an ignoramus says anything, tell them to take it up with your new ally, David Beckham, arguably the greatest soccer player who has ever lived and a self-proclaimed sufferer of OCD.
The list of those suspected of having mental illness is long, impressive and diverse. They included Steve Jobs, Estee Lauder and Abraham Lincoln. Even Winston Churchill complained about “black dog of depression” and admitted to his doctor that he would never stand too close to the edge of a train platform, so as not to be tempted.
Psychiatric Times recently described Isaac Newton as “a periodically outright psychotic, super-genius” thus fulfilling Aristotle’s reputed observation that “there is no great genius without a mixture of insanity.”
Today mental illness is no longer seen as just psychotic breaks accompanied by hallucinations and an involuntary admission to the psych ward. The person with mental illness is no longer just the man on the street corner who argues with no one and sings opera to a lamp post.
Popular culture is taking ownership of mental illness for the betterment of society and the 1 in 5 people who suffer. It includes post-partum depression, anxiety, OCD and bi-polar disorder. And it disproportionately affects the most successful among us in business, art and sport but we are all still ashamed.
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As Leonard has stated, “That stigma of being the tough guy, I wore that mask for so long, and then it beat me up for a while, so I had to find some help.” He’s among the lucky 50% who get help.
It is widely acknowledged that the pandemic is causing a worldwide mental health crisis. When the economy opens again we are all in for a big dose of hurt if we don’t take this as seriously as we do cancer. To make matters worse there is little, to no, insurance coverage for this discipline of medicine. I could go to my doctor for an annual physical and pay nothing but if I walk into a therapist’s office I would have to pay 100% out of pocket as would many others.
So let’s use the pandemic assistance money to relieve the issue it caused. President Joe Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” includes nearly $5 billion for just the State of Georgia and more than $500 million in direct aid to just our cities and counties..
This is in addition to direct payment to individuals, rent relief and billions directly to schools. There is so much money flooding municipalities so quickly there is risk of the “use it fast or loose it fast” mentality. We could supply mental health support and barely make a dent.
What a better time to shine a light, and who better to be leading the way, then the biggest, strongest and most masculine among us who are being bravely candid in this regard. As Leonard states in his video as part of their campaign, “It’s OK to say you are not OK.” That is vulnerability and true compassion. It might be the dawn of a new day.
Contact Joellen “Jo” Smith at joellen.author@gmail.com
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