Mental health issues have been a taboo for the longest time. Things like therapy and medication are something to discuss only in whispers. It’s embarrassing. Shameful, even. Bringing them up makes others uncomfortable so best not to mention them.

Is it really?

From what I’ve seen, there is a rising trend of younger people casually dropping their mental health problems and their treatment into everyday conversations. It might be small things like someone declining a beer and saying they can’t drink while on antidepressants or someone telling they can’t meet up for dinner because they have a therapy session. You can sometimes tell that the person is a little nervous about what they say, but they do it anyway, sometimes maybe forcing some nonchalance into their voice. The response I’ve seen people get among younger generations has always been positive.

We have written about mental health here at BTSB before from different points of view. We’re not the only ones. The subject has been popular in the news, for example, as people voice their concerns about things such as the difficulty of getting professional help. The way mental illnesses are portrayed in popular culture has also been changing. Therapy can be shown as something more than a joke these days and it’s possible for a mentally ill character to be something other than a psychopathic killer. Normalising mental illnesses and their treatment is important for both those with mental illnesses themselves and those without them, and it’s great to see these changes in the way mental health is talked about.

There still is and will probably always be certain stigmas surrounding mental illnesses. Nothing will change, however, if we don’t show that people with mental illnesses are people too. This can be achieved through better representation in media and by talking about mental illnesses more both in our personal lives and in public discourse. It’s understandable to be hesitant about opening up and of course not everyone has to do it, but those in a position of being able to safely “come out” could give it a try if and when they feel comfortable about it.

So when is it a good time to bring up therapy or medical treatment? Job interview? No. Movie night with friends? Why not. Openness about mental health issues can make us feel less alone and we might find more support than we would if mental illnesses were still talked about mostly in teary-eyed drunken confessions. There is a time and place for those big confessions followed by long conversations, but we don’t have to wait until breaking down before telling someone about our situation. It should and it can be as simple as it would be to mention any other illness. And it seems like we are finally figuring this out.

As for this new BTSB issue, there is something for every reader. To start off, Annika writes about Seasonal Affective Disorder as well as introduces modern day tarot reading. Elina continues her Re-viewed series with a review of three different versions of A Man Called Ove while Vesper makes her debut with an article about Pokémon GO. Leo shares thoughts and experiences about leaving and returning home. Eve tells what to expect when you get a puppy and our resident poet Anthony publishes a new poem. Henna writes about student organisation ribbons and shares her go-to recipe for lazy days.

See you in the next issue!