Pulling Thread | Unity Statement

Mental health is a universal matter, common to people of all generations and walks of life. However, so many people choose to approach mental health as if the topic belongs solely to the youth. From unconscious ignorance weaved within off-hand jokes to the rejection of all ideas from the opposite generation, we know that the gap between generations is undeniable. Different attitudes and beliefs spark disagreement, while varying lifestyles and social norms often lead to misunderstanding and miscommunication. A major factor that contributes to this is the lack of intergenerational communication and collaboration. We all know that engaging in conversations between different generations is essential, especially when it comes to mental health, but doing that is not always as easy as it sounds.

While younger people tend to be more conscious when it comes to mental health education, they also tend to be closed off and dismissive when relating with people of older generations. It is difficult for the youth to open up about their mental health and ask for help because they are not sure how to tell their parents or guardians about these challenges. So many youth remain silent about mental health problems they may experience for fear of being tagged as weak or acting out rather than receiving the support labeled they deserve and the mental health services they need.

On the other end of the spectrum, people of older generations, like all humans, also have issues that they want to talk about. However, the uncertainty and unease that comes with difficult conversations compounds with the fear of becoming a burden to their children, often leading older people to keep personal challenges to themselves (Carpenter & Mulligan, 2009). In addition, the stigma on mental health that was so significant in their younger years has had the double effect of both making older people very resilient as well as unfortunately making conversations about mental health quite scarce among their circles. While this lack of mental health awareness in older generations is certainly changing every day, it is still a sad but very common occurrence for older people to be excluded from youth-led discourse on mental health based on the perception that they simply would not understand.

This needs to change.

If people of younger and older generations learn to communicate properly, talk about mental health openly, and understand each other’s needs and wants, it will become much easier to acknowledge existing issues and collaborate to come up with solutions. How do we as a community achieve this when generations of stigma and misinformation have piled up? We have to continue talking about mental health. We have to work together as a society to educate ourselves and each other on mental health and to address the issues we face today.

While there are still people who refuse to recognize mental health and its associated struggles, we need to realize that blaming the problem on individual people is not going to fix it. We must instead learn to create inclusive and respectful dialogue in which everyone can talk about their feelings and draw insights from each other’s opinions (Carpenter & Mulligan, 2009). If we are to move forward in our fight for mental health, we need to include everybody in those important conversations.

As advocates for mental health awareness, we have to recognize that this fight is shared by all people. We have to work together to break down the barriers limiting access to reliable mental health education and proper mental health care. This means opening up to people from every generation and acknowledging the necessity of collaboration. By doing this, we will inevitably improve relationships, grow as a society, and dismantle the stigma one tita or one bunso at a time. Let us unravel the dividing curtain held together by difference and misunderstanding, close the gap it has created, and weave a new fabric of intergenerational connection to unify us all.

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Source:

Carpenter, B.D. & Mulligan, E.A (2009). Family, know thyself: A workbook-based intergenerational intervention to improve parental care coordination. Clinical Gerontologist, 32(2), 147-163. https://doi.org/10.1080/07317110802676825.