The Unspoken Story Ep.4

 

Growing up in my household was a bit of a struggle. Around the age of 12, I was bullied quite severely, which in turn had an impact on my mental health. I began to experience symptoms of anxiety and depression. I was always a reserved, quiet person but I built up the courage to talk to my mum about how I was feeling.

I went into the kitchen to talk about being bullied and how it made me feel. I was expecting some understanding and comfort but that is not what I received. To this day, I remember exactly what she said to me, "You're too young to be depressed. What do you have to be depressed about?”

The response made me feel like my feelings did not matter as I was ‘young’ and had not experienced life yet. At times, I believe that I was not taken seriously due to my age. I was young, so perhaps my mum believed what I was feeling at the time was temporary. I felt sad for some time as I hoped that I could at least talk to my mum and get some encouragement. The topic wasn’t discussed for some time and I was always the one to bring it up.

As my mum didn’t understand me and how I was feeling, I turned to my cousin who understood my feelings completely. I expressed how my mother’s response made me feel and she assured me that her response is ‘typical’ of the older, west Indian generation. Mental health is somewhat of a taboo topic within West Indian culture; some people with mental health disorders are often referred to as ‘crazy’ with little acknowledgement of what the person may be facing.

Not only was discussing feelings and topics that are sensitive in nature rarely discussed, when it was eventually brought up, most of the time the topic was dismissed or the issue was minimised.