Emily Yu - Week #2: Is Mental Health a Part of Your Identity?


Receiving the assistance necessary is not as simple as deciding that you need it. According to the American Psychological Association, many psychologists have waitlists and some even report having no openings for new patients. The average wait can stretch for months. I have experienced it myself while trying to access therapy through Kaiser. When someone finally admits that they need help, being told to wait can make the patient feel even more isolated.

Another problem in terms of accessibilities could be the costs. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, among adults who need care, but did not receive treatment, cost was one of their major reasons not to. So despite realizing that someone may need help, there could still be a wall between recognizing the problem and receiving treatment.

Without access to proper treatment, long-term stress keeps the body’s stress response active; affecting sleep, digestion, blood pressure, immune function, and cardiovascular health. As a great example, depression is associated with a higher risk of conditions; including heart disease, diabetes, strokes, inflammation, and increased stress hormones (Holly Hill Hospital). In other words, mental health is not just something in the mind but something that interferes with the body, school work, relationships, and concentration that carries your every-day life (mayo clinic). 

Someone who can not concentrate and is constantly exhausted can start to view themselves as unmotivated and unintelligent. Similarly, they could claim themselves as antisocial due to the overwhelmingness and exhaust of socializing and being out. The rough symptoms morph into inaccurate labels, and eventually become someone's identity. Attempting to be the same as everyone else, people learn to mask these symptoms. The longer this continues, it can grow to be more difficult to distinguish who they really are from the version of themselves that is built to function. 

Hence why treating mental health holds importance and gives the chance for patients to live without illness, stress or shame. Mental health can be a part of someone’s story without being their entire identity.


Comments

  1. Riley WanSeptember 11, 2026 at 12:57 PM

    Hi Emy! I have also used Kaiser to attempt to receive assistance with my mental health, and I can confirm it just sucks. I understand how it feels waiting weeks to receive mental health help after reaching out, almost like you’re being penalized for speaking out.

    Thank you for sharing the physical and mental health conditions that people are at risk of when they have depression, I had no idea. Mental health is something that has been continuously overlooked, and every time someone speaks out about it it helps mental health receive the proper attention that it deserves.

    I agree that mental health does not have to consume your identity, and hopefully people begin to understand that we need resources to make sure it does not.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sairishitha GangiSeptember 16, 2026 at 7:48 PM

    It is already so difficult in this day and age to admit if one needs any support for their mental health because of societal or other external pressures. You are so right that with these additional barriers like cost and waitlists, it can feel suffocating and disrupt someone’s identity.

    I am really glad that you emphasized how through not being able to process these emotions, it can lead to the creation of a false identity. Your message serves as a great reminder for everyone that mental health is important, but we are so much more than our health, and resources to help guide it should be accessible to all.

    The research you hyperlinked was very interesting to click on and read! Especially about how having mental health conditions leads to an increase in other physical symptoms.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Natasha KuoSeptember 16, 2026 at 9:12 PM

    Hi Emy! I like how you explained that mental health can affect so many different parts of a person’s life beyond just their emotions. The point about access to treatment especially stood out to me because it shows that recognizing that someone needing help is only one part of the process. Having to wait months for an appointment or not being able to afford the treatments can make it so much harder for someone to actually get better. I also thought your discussion about mental health being a part of someone’s identity was interesting. I agree that when someone experiences the same symptoms for a long time, they might start to believe those symptoms are simply who they are rather than something they are experiencing. I liked how you ended by emphasizing that mental health can be part of someone’s story without defining their entire identity.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“Individualism?” Don’t be Daft!

Image
        The trees   are dependent on the environment, but the environment is purified through trees.       The topic of individualism tends to be lionized in contemporary society, but to further perpetuate the lie of the individual existing truly as an independent subject would be foolish.  In history class, we learn about the codependency of colonies to the imperial core (without the raw capital of the colonies, the empire would not flourish) and the reliance on mutual understanding and bureaucratic decisions to further beneficial trade. (international alliances such as NATO) In biology class we learn about the cycles and how the environment is affected by our actions. We learn about the dependency of trees to the sun, soil, and rain; the dependency of soil nutrition levels to human action; the dependency of humans to the trees. In nature, a tree dying would be detrimental to the rest of the ecosystem, so why do we as humans thi...
Read more

Sairishitha Week #1: In the Spotlight

Image
Sophie Birenbaum in Waitress; Netflix 2026 This past Sunday, in the midst of my studying, I took a break to watch Don’t Say Good Luck . A recent Netflix Original that follows Sophie Birenbaum’s theatrical activities and family life while in high school. While she juggles learning to drive, the lead in the school musical, and relationship problems, her mother, Elizabeth, experiences a cancer relapse. Immediately after hearing the exposition, I resonated heavily with the main character’s crisis. Although I have never planned on auditioning for a musical production, her family dynamic and how Sophie processes her emotions lingered with me. Despite the family’s adversity, her parents continue to be deeply involved in their children’s lives, promising Sophie that they will be there to watch her perform.  At first, Sophie felt that she could not fill the role as the protagonist, having difficulty mastering Jenna’s southern accent for the musical. To combat this, her mother takes her to a...
Read more

Alisha Week #1 - Otherworldly Perceptions of the Self

Image
  Dr. Heisenberg Magic Mirror of Uncertainty, Duane Michals, 1998           Within the past few days, the world lost two major public figures, Tim Curry and Dolly Parton (rest in peace). As the world began to mourn the dearly departed, I noticed an interesting divide in what exactly people mourned about each person. Some focused on their public personas, praising their incredible accolades and connections; some focused on the their integrity as people, praising their contributions and support for minorities. It has made me start to think about how I will be remembered.           There are two main aspects of each of our identities: internal and external. How we view ourselves and how others view us, respectively. Obviously, it is our external identities that dictate our legacies—we can’t exactly tell anybody how we viewed ourselves when we are gone. Yet I remain fascinated by the notion that for every person who ever lived...
Read more