Mental health and the effect on a foundation — August 2017

Having lived in multiple different states and met many different types of people, I have seen firsthand how culture affects the mental health of someone and have dedicated my quarantine months to dive deeper into the area of mental health and perception. Without even realizing it, quarantine has given me the time I needed to slow down and take a long look at what I value, want, and how I think. For example, by diving deeper, I noticed discrepancies between what I want and what some of my friends want; I found a big difference in how selfless we are. I tied these differences to my Chicago upbringing and felt like the pressure and environment in a bustling city like Chicago is far different from the laid-back community of Los Gatos, California. I then took it a step further, does this same phenomenon of childhood being a primary foundation of characteristics translate to thought processes like racism? How can society change to make sure that this first foundation is one that the next generations can thrive on, and what do we do if someone’s foundation is based on outdated ideas? My journey battling mental health and constantly trying to recognize and build my foundation showed me an area of improvement that is shielded by a layer of stigma; mental health.