Mental health issues: Time to empathise, not stigmatise

IF people can empathise with a person having physical health issues, why can’t we do the same for those with a mental health problem? Society easily recognises physical illness. We offer comfort, encourage treatment, and attempt to understand what it must be like to walk in the shoes of those who are suffering. But when it comes to mental illness, we do the opposite.

We cast doubt, we dismiss, and we stigmatise – and then we wonder why mental health issues continue to escalate..