{"id":18125,"date":"2019-09-26T14:53:28","date_gmt":"2019-09-26T19:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mentalhe180dev.wpenginepowered.com\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T09:17:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T14:17:20","slug":"why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are We Afraid of Mental Health?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Eventually we have to ask ourselves, \u201cWhy are we afraid of mental health?\u201d<\/p>\n

As my high school experience came to an end, I found myself in the middle of a revolutionary path toward understanding and normalizing mental health. It is so common to avoid mental health in everyday conversations. It\u2019s treated like something that \u2013 almost \u2013 doesn\u2019t exist. Some might say \u201cIf it ain’t broke, don\u2019t fix it.\u201d This clich\u00e9 summarizes how too many of us view mental health \u2013 that the status quo is good enough \u2013 and it allows us to remain silent. But the status quo isn\u2019t good enough and we need to talk about mental health.<\/p>\n

That leads to the question I first asked: Why are we afraid of mental health?<\/p>\n

The teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) program changed the conversation for me and my peers this year. The program brought the topic of mental health to the ENTIRE senior class at Valley High School in Las Vegas, and equipped students with the ability and tools to not only recognize warning signs, but take the proper steps to help someone in a mental health crisis. It engaged students in discussions about mental health that we never had before and helped us understand what a crisis is and how to help.<\/p>\n

tMHFA gave us real-life examples of what mental health challenges and crises look like, what those who are struggling go through and the ways depression or anxiety can be crippling to a person\u2019s normal function. This was new information for many students, who came to the training with little to no information about what challenges like depression and anxiety can do to a person\u2019s overall persona.<\/p>\n

It was information we were able to use immediately to help those around us. Soon after finishing the training, I was talking to a friend and with the help of tMHFA, I recognized the warning signs of depression. I put the tMHFA Action Plan into play and tried to break through the discomfort of talking about mental health by asking a seemingly easy, yet impossible, question: \u201cAre you thinking about killing yourself?\u201d It was a really loaded question to ask on a Saturday afternoon, but something that needed to be said. I was able to help my friend get in touch with a trusted adult and get needed help.<\/p>\n

That conversation might have been the hardest thing I ever had to do. It\u2019s also something I can\u2019t imagine doing without tMHFA training. Thanks to the course, I had the tools to help someone who was really in need and the confidence to have the difficult and uncomfortable conversation. Now, I can keep having conversations about mental health with my peers and can keep trying to break down the invisible barrier around mental health. As a graduate of the tMHFA program, I have seen first-hand the importance of this training and the necessity of its expansion across the nation.<\/p>\n

This program has changed my life and will forever impact me. And as it continues to expand across the country, I know that we can be the generation that remove the fear of mental health and come into a world where it is real, valid and manageable.<\/p>\n

Learn more about Mental Health First Aid and take a course today<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eventually we have to ask ourselves, \u201cWhy are we afraid of mental health?\u201d As my high school experience came to an end, I found myself in the middle of a … Read more<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[190,194],"topic":[292,229,181,175],"news-type":[172],"class_list":["post-18125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-schools","tag-youth-and-teen","topic-for-employers","topic-guest-commentary","topic-mhfa-training","topic-organizations","news-type-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Are We Afraid of Mental Health?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Are We Afraid of Mental Health?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eventually we have to ask ourselves, \u201cWhy are we afraid of mental health?\u201d As my high school experience came to an end, I found myself in the middle of a ... Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mental Health First Aid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-26T19:53:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-13T14:17:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rubina Kapil\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rubina Kapil\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rubina Kapil\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75cfa03f5a68b272b5025daf1ae970ee\"},\"headline\":\"Why Are We Afraid of Mental Health?\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-26T19:53:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-13T14:17:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/\"},\"wordCount\":561,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Aaron-Pina-e1569508444702-284x300.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Schools\",\"Youth and Teen\"],\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/\",\"name\":\"Why Are We Afraid of Mental Health?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Aaron-Pina-e1569508444702-284x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-26T19:53:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-13T14:17:20+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Aaron-Pina-e1569508444702-284x300.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Aaron-Pina-e1569508444702-284x300.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Are We Afraid of Mental Health?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/\",\"name\":\"Mental Health First Aid\",\"description\":\"Mental Health First Aid\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Mental Health First Aid\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/06\/mental-health-first-aid-logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/06\/mental-health-first-aid-logo.svg\",\"caption\":\"Mental Health First Aid\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75cfa03f5a68b272b5025daf1ae970ee\",\"name\":\"Rubina Kapil\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53cd56f9b47db915c7351137c1e654eefc7644527c6721379cac8fa987720bab?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53cd56f9b47db915c7351137c1e654eefc7644527c6721379cac8fa987720bab?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rubina Kapil\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Are We Afraid of Mental Health?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/","og_locale":"es_MX","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Are We Afraid of Mental Health?","og_description":"Eventually we have to ask ourselves, \u201cWhy are we afraid of mental health?\u201d As my high school experience came to an end, I found myself in the middle of a ... Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/","og_site_name":"Mental Health First Aid","article_published_time":"2019-09-26T19:53:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-13T14:17:20+00:00","author":"Rubina Kapil","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rubina Kapil","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/"},"author":{"name":"Rubina Kapil","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75cfa03f5a68b272b5025daf1ae970ee"},"headline":"Why Are We Afraid of Mental Health?","datePublished":"2019-09-26T19:53:28+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-13T14:17:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/"},"wordCount":561,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Aaron-Pina-e1569508444702-284x300.jpg","keywords":["Schools","Youth and Teen"],"inLanguage":"es-MX","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/","url":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/","name":"Why Are We Afraid of Mental Health?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Aaron-Pina-e1569508444702-284x300.jpg","datePublished":"2019-09-26T19:53:28+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-13T14:17:20+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"es-MX","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es-MX","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Aaron-Pina-e1569508444702-284x300.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Aaron-Pina-e1569508444702-284x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/why-are-we-afraid-of-mental-health\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Are We Afraid of Mental Health?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/","name":"Mental Health First Aid","description":"Mental Health First Aid","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"es-MX"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#organization","name":"Mental Health First Aid","url":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es-MX","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/06\/mental-health-first-aid-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/06\/mental-health-first-aid-logo.svg","caption":"Mental Health First Aid"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/person\/75cfa03f5a68b272b5025daf1ae970ee","name":"Rubina Kapil","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es-MX","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53cd56f9b47db915c7351137c1e654eefc7644527c6721379cac8fa987720bab?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53cd56f9b47db915c7351137c1e654eefc7644527c6721379cac8fa987720bab?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Rubina Kapil"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18125"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18126,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18125\/revisions\/18126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18125"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=18125"},{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=18125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}