The Nuances of Mental Health within Today’s Society

Mental health and the conditions linked to it are some of the most misunderstood and stigmatised health issues we face. Unlike physical ailments, mental health struggles often carry invisible scars. These scars can be masked by stigma, lack of access to care, and a glaring absence of empathy. The consequences are everywhere: poverty, homelessness, violence in schools and public spaces, and rising rates of self-harm.

And yet, understanding mental health isn’t as straightforward as we’d like to believe.

More Than Just “Sad or Bad”

The common narrative often swings between two extremes, you’re either “sad” and deserving of sympathy or “bad” and feared for your mental instability. But the truth is far more complex. Many people struggle silently, masking symptoms behind careers, social events, or even relentless gym sessions.

That colleague who works 15-hour days? Maybe they’re not just “driven.” That friend who never misses a party? Perhaps it’s not just a love for nightlife. These behaviours can sometimes mask depression, high-functioning anxiety, or overwhelming emotional fatigue. Mental health isn’t always visible, and it certainly doesn’t fit neatly into the “sad” or “bad” boxes.

The Complexity of Diagnosis

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) outlines the criteria for mental health diagnoses, but even that leaves room for massive variability. To be diagnosed with depression, for example, you need to meet at least five out of twelve symptoms but… with 600 different symptom combinations, two people with “depression” could present entirely differently.

'“When you meet one person with a mental health condition, you’ve met just one person with that condition.”
Your experience with them does not encapsulate what depression, anxiety, or PTSD looks like for everyone else.

For one person, diminished interest might mean withdrawing from friends and skipping social events. For another, it could mean feeling disconnected while still showing up to every gathering. One person might maintain their hobbies but struggle with basic self-care. Another might feel hopeless but go through their workday with a smile. This variability is why understanding mental health requires more than surface-level awareness. It demands empathy and the willingness to listen.

The Harm of Limited Perspectives

When society clings to narrow views of mental illness, the real damage is done. Here are some ways this happens:

1. Physical Symptoms Are Overlooked
   Mental health conditions can often present with physical symptoms. Chronic pain, chronic fatigue, nausea, headaches. When knowledge and experience is limited we often don’t associate physical symptoms or reactions with mental conditions.

2. Self-Inflicted Invalidation
   Self-inflicted invalidation: this works on the opposite end of the spectrum. Sometimes when you have a high expectation of yourself or you want others to have a high expectation of you, we tend to ignore how much we are suffering. We compare ourselves to others who are ‘conventionally sad’ or ‘obviously bad’. This can also happen within healthcare. Some unexplained physical symptoms can by thrown in the “too hard basket” and be labelled as anxiety.

3. Bias and Ranking Mental Health
   Society often ranks mental health issues, judging someone’s struggle by how “bad” it looks. This leads to phrases like at least you don’t have it as bad as…, which invalidates personal experiences and creates barriers to seeking help.

4. Reduced Access to Treatment
   When mental health is minimised, access to support becomes harder. Symptoms are brushed off, and the idea of seeking professional help is often dismissed as dramatic or unnecessary.

5. Missed Opportunities for Early Intervention
   If we only look for extreme signs of distress, we miss the quieter cries for help—the person who holds it together until they can’t anymore. Intervention should be proactive, not reactive.

The Untold Truth of Mental Health Stigma

If you look at cultures and communities with low reported rates of mental health conditions, you’ll also find higher rates of stigma and lower levels of education on mental health. This isn’t just a coincidence, it’s a reflection of how deeply ingrained misunderstandings are. The last reported lobotomy in Australia? The late 1970s. Globally, it continued into the early ‘90s. It’s staggering to think that less than 50 years ago, removing parts of the brain was considered an acceptable treatment for mental illness.

We’ve come far, but the journey is nowhere near complete.

Changing the Narrative

Breaking the stigma starts with conversations. Conversations that are more frequent, more honest, and more compassionate. It starts with seeing the whole person, not just the label. It’s understanding that the person crushing it in their career might still struggle to get out of bed some days, and that someone constantly out with friends might be battling demons you can’t see.

Access to care should not be a luxury. From our Indigenous communities to the up and coming generation, we need tailored support that recognises the individuality of each mental health journey. It’s not enough to simply say, exercise more or spend more time with friends. We need real, accessible, and compassionate healthcare solutions that cater to the complexity of mental health.

As a healthcare professional, I’ve never asked a question I was afraid to know the answer to, but, I always help find the solution.
Even if I don’t have it right away.

Take care of yourselves, and each other x