Feeding a mistake is choosing to be part of the problem
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
Carla Rodrigues Cardoso
“A state of well-being and physical, mental, and psychological balance,” reads the definition of “health” in the Priberam dictionary.
If the definition of health is the one above, why is there insistence on the term “mental health”? Furthermore, aren't mental illnesses physical? Aren't they based on physiological issues?
Let’s think about it. Is there medication for neurological diseases? Yes. For venous diseases? Yes. For dermatological diseases? Also. And for psychiatric diseases? Well, yes...
A medication is not a panacea. It is an active ingredient that produces effects. It treats real problems, which are physical. Regardless of their nature. Invisible does not mean non-existent. Or does anyone doubt a heart disease simply because the affected heart is not visible?
Whenever “mental health” is mentioned, it adds another drop to the stigma surrounding people with chronic or occasional psychiatric issues. A stigma that does not exist when the illness is from any other medical field. An absurd stigma, but so deeply rooted socially and culturally that it has become naturalised.
There is health and there is illness. And that’s it. Every word we speak is an action we take. Insisting on a mistake contributes to its replication and persistence. In the future, only health, please.
Carla Rodrigues Cardoso
Director of the Master's in Journalism and Media Studies and the Bachelor's in Communication and Journalism, Researcher at CICANT - ECATI
