Not in the head
While I am not authorised to make claims to medical diagnosis, no one can deny the entitlement I have over my physical and mental health. Thus, when I went into depression following a hysterectomy I had undergone earlier this year, and didn’t know why I was behaving quite hysterically, there was one thing I was sure of. It was not in my head.
Since all things ‘negative’ are automatically associated with an idle mind, that was the most frequent comment I heard besides the “You have much to be grateful for, so why?” statement. But whoever made such comments didn’t live with me and so had no way of knowing how occupied I actually was.
In fact, it only encouraged me to explore more about mental health. I read widely about it and voiced out my symptoms to anyone who was willing to listen.
To my surprise, I found fellow feeling from people I’ve known quite closely for many years and hadn’t once suspected they were suffering.
The tales were all pretty similar to mine, right from an affliction of hormonal imbalance and symptoms of depression to reactions of close ones. And then the silence and the stigma. Because this was not only not the mental illness brought on by a neurochemical deficiency but it also concerned women’s health.
With almost 8 out of every 10 women today going through female-specific health issues, shouldn’t there be more awareness about the psychological repercussions of gynaecological conditions?
After all, the word ‘hysterectomy’ comes from the Greek ‘hustera’ meaning ‘womb’. ‘Hustera’ is also the source of the word ‘hysteric’ that came about from the belief that the neurotic distress was brought on because of a dysfunction of the uterus.
Which makes me ponder, are most medical practitioners overlooking something?
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt Nov 03, 2018)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/8a515a91-7...
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
Since all things ‘negative’ are automatically associated with an idle mind, that was the most frequent comment I heard besides the “You have much to be grateful for, so why?” statement. But whoever made such comments didn’t live with me and so had no way of knowing how occupied I actually was.
In fact, it only encouraged me to explore more about mental health. I read widely about it and voiced out my symptoms to anyone who was willing to listen.
To my surprise, I found fellow feeling from people I’ve known quite closely for many years and hadn’t once suspected they were suffering.
The tales were all pretty similar to mine, right from an affliction of hormonal imbalance and symptoms of depression to reactions of close ones. And then the silence and the stigma. Because this was not only not the mental illness brought on by a neurochemical deficiency but it also concerned women’s health.
With almost 8 out of every 10 women today going through female-specific health issues, shouldn’t there be more awareness about the psychological repercussions of gynaecological conditions?
After all, the word ‘hysterectomy’ comes from the Greek ‘hustera’ meaning ‘womb’. ‘Hustera’ is also the source of the word ‘hysteric’ that came about from the belief that the neurotic distress was brought on because of a dysfunction of the uterus.
Which makes me ponder, are most medical practitioners overlooking something?
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt Nov 03, 2018)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/8a515a91-7...
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
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