Understanding mental health in a high-stress culture which devotes little time and effort to healing from mental illness is not easy.  One primary purpose of the psychiatric industry is to adjust a person’s behavior to conform to the values of this society.  There is a big difference between material success in this society and how a person feels on the inside. Often it seems as though there is not much available help and guidance to people who desire to understand mental health.  If you are an anarchist, many psychologists may say you are either insane or imbalanced or even unintelligent, and in need of reforming.  What kind of advice is this?  It is important for us to define for ourselves what mental health really is.  

In order to understand mental health we need a new language that speaks from the point of view of the person who wants to heal, not from the psychiatric industry, which seeks to judge and categorize people, with the intent of medicating them.  These labels that have been created to describe mental illness; bipolar disorder, depression, disassociative identity disorder, etcetera.  These labels were created for psychiatrists so that they could diagnosis their patients.  What do they do for you and I?

It is necessary to free up some time to deal with complex problems.  Time is one of the only things in this life that is truly yours.  Time does not even exist unless you are following someone else’s calendar.  In America most of us tailor our lives around the Roman calendar.  One effect globalized capitalism has on the Earth is that it imposes the Roman calendar and a hegemonic schedule onto indigenous cultures and people.  In the United States the Roman calendar is so deeply entrenched into our lives that many of us do not even question it.  The land you and I sit on at this very moment was once inhabited by Native Americans, who spoke a different language than American English.  Native Americans had unique ideas about health and healing that are based on living in harmony with the plants and animals around them.  Doing activities that are prescribed to you by someone else does not teach you to think for yourself.  Your job may allow you to earn money to provide for basic necessity but your job may also teach you to muzzle your feelings and to follow the definitions of what is defined as “upstanding” and “normal” by American culture.

Trying to improve your own mental health is difficult and confusing.  Sometimes I think to myself “How do I know if I am really making any progress?”  It is best to trust your instincts and to share your feelings with people you can trust.  Since there is no one, linear process to get us from feeling anxious, insecure and pain-stricken to feeling self-confident and empowered, we are going to have to take some time and embrace diverse ways of seeing ourselves.  Some of the things people do are yoga, tai chi, mediation, dancing, screaming at the top of your lungs, spending time outside, socializing, exercise, sharing experiences with others, keeping a schedule, seeing alternative therapists, taking psychedelic drugs, taking herbal supplements or drinking tea, taking time throughout the day to relax, keeping a journal and going to support groups.  I’ve tried to list a lot of activities because it is a terrible feeling to feel as though you have a problem and at the same time, do not know what to do to solve it.  Choosing a hobby to get involved in and watching yourself improve gradually builds self-confidence.  

Even the term mental health means different things to different people.  If we are to see ourselves out of this difficult and confusing situation we are going to have to learn to be flexible, compassionate and we are going to have to work together.