When you are the person that provides care, who takes cares of you?

As a female healthcare provider living in the United States, I have had my own mental health struggles, which, due to my upbringing, I’ve often convinced myself that I should handle alone. We tend to avoid speaking about inner conflicts, preferring to deny, ignore or minimise our mental health illnesses. I know I am not alone in feeling this way. However, I’ve come to accept that you may need more than yourself and even your family and friends to handle your mental illness. It’s not weak to go through therapy. It’s not shameful to be on medication for a mental health condition. It’s not a lack of will to have it.

To encourage more healthcare providers to seek help for their mental health illness, I believe that we and our fellow healthcare providers could be more transparent about our own mental health. I realise that this can be difficult to share, but it can often take only one person to speak up for another person to muster the courage to find the help they need. We need to create a culture where both patients and providers are comfortable to share personal stories and destigmatise mental health illnesses. Thus, anyone could feel encouraged to be proactive in their own care. Additionally, we need to continue creating robust programmes to provide accessibility, financial assistance and information for mental health services.