8 Mental Health Myths That Hurt You

Do you recognize any of these?

Myths, and misconceptions are what continue to prop up false illusions in our mind.

Our brain hears or even creates a misconception to disresgard you, hurt you, and prevent you from making any necessary healthy changes.

Below are 8 of my favorite myths I hear echoed around me daily…

PS. Before we begin! I wanted to highlight my affordable online course I’ve created to help people kick anxiety realistically, check it out here - markmetry.com/program

1. Got mental health problems? Oh it means you don't have a connection to God or your family doesn’t love you. 

As someone who grew up in a christian household, I can’t tell you how often this was echoed around me. Just pray to God until your problems go away, and if you still have anxiety it means you don’t have a connection to God and you just need to go to Church again and again.

I obviously have no problem whatsoever with church or God or praying, and in fact it can be helpful but it’s not a silver bullet. This is like telling someone hey instead of wearing a seatbelt, refrain from drinking alcohol, to drive safely, just close your eyes and pray and hope nothing else happens. Nothing is absolute. 

Understanding there is something bigger than yourself, having faith, can be very helpful. 

2. Only certain people in the world experience mental health issues…

False. If you have a physical body, you have physical health, if you have a brain, you have mental health.

Often times people who make this claim actually suffer from mental health issues unknowingly. Drinking everyday, anger spurts, trying to surpress your voice and memories are all more subtle common signs of underlying mind and brain health problems. 

Struggle with creating a realistic plan of action to manage social anxiety? Next week I’m running a workshop all about this, check it out and a recap will be available at anytime later…

3. Mental health automatically means you are mentally ill and broken.

False. Everyone has a capacity for mental health. But, not everyone has a mental illness. A mental illness comes from years, or decades of neglected repeated behaviors that wear and tear the psychological framework of your brain down to the point of you not being able to control your life, and for some that may mean to be depressed and unable to get out of bed, and others it may be homelessness & addiction. 

I found myself at 18 on the verge of mental illness when I found myself obese, suicidal, depressed and socially isolating away from my family and friends. Luckily, I was able to climb out and recover & heal but many others aren’t so lucky :(

4. Social Anxiety means there’s something wrong with you as a person. 

If you have social anxiety, there’s something wrong, but not with you. Not who you are as Jeffrey or Jessica, but maybe a glitch or an error at a nervous system level. 

Similar to getting a flat tire and taking your car to the mechanic. He or she doesn’t say, oh we need to throw away your whole car, instead they just fix the tire. 

You don’t have social anxiety, your brain has social anxiety. 

Would you tell someone who has a broken leg or a heart issue that they are broken? I don’t think so. 

5. Mental Health treatment only consists of medication & talk therapy:

False. Many other forms of therapy like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), psychotherapy as well as nutrition, gut microbiome, movement, sleep, precision supplementation, a community, are all treatments as well. In fact, just expecting your mental health problems to go away because you’re on medication and talk therapy doesn’t work for many, but rather a multi-approach. 

6. People who don’t use drugs, get good grades, have perfect families, achieve a lot and make money don’t have any mental health issues.

False. In fact, most people once they reach the good grades and money, start to realize they have mental health issues. Because they were using money or an illusion of a perfect family to create a facade that they are fine and have no problems.

7. Mental health is a mindset problem.

False, mental health, anxiety is actually a body, physiology, brain problem. It’s more about the chemicals and biochemical functions more than your conscious control of thoughts and attitude. 

You can have a great mindset, be very positive and face a ton of mental health issues. 

8. Mental health is just once.

False, working on your mental health is a daily journey.

Yes, there are many leaps of progress you can make. Personally for me, anxiety used to impact my life by 90-95% and today it’s more or less like 5-10%.

Mental health is lifelong. Your brain is like an investment, the more you invest, the better off you are in the long run no matter what happens!

PS. Check out my full 45 day online training affordable course on how to kick social anxiety and decrease stress & nervousness - markmetry.com/program

Can I help?

Over the last several years I’ve devoted my life to helping introverted, shy, socially anxious creators, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and professionals move these mental health obstacles out of their life so they can get busy being their real selves in front of anyone.

If you are interested in potentially inquiring about my services for yourself or someone else, please fill out this form below.

Next steps click here to fill out the form.

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