Dex-chan lover
- Joined
- May 9, 2018
- Messages
- 2,986
I think it's less looking down on mental health and more having a very defensive culture.
Standing up against wrongdoing is the best option for society, but it's also a dangerous position for yourself.
Let's say we have a hypothetical situation in which you see someone who can't defend themselves being abused by a small group of people. If you were to try to stand up against the abusers, you are inviting abuse onto yourself, especially if you also aren't able to defend yourself against the group of abusers. It is of course still the right thing to do and if there are others that would also try to stand up against the abusers, you could chase the abusers away, but the probability that any one standing up against the abusers gets hurt at least a little bit is very high.
Of course, many people would want to help in such a situation, but that is them deciding to risk their own life. A parent however would likely not want their children to risk their lives, so parents teach their children how to behave to minimise being targeted by abusers. This practice, over generations, creates a culture, where sticking out is heavily discouraged, as it makes you the target of harassment and abuse, while everyone around has been taught since early childhood that standing up for those that can't stand up for themselves will only get themselves hurt and increase the number of victims. It's a self inforceing system.
I think it is by mental health because that type of system of wanting to shrink yourself into thinking where you won't be a target, feeling no courage, and wanting to harm yourself is the cause + living poor mental health. By talking to a therapist and your emotions into what you feel in these situations feel less isolating. Yes, it is lonely physically but not emotionally when we talk about it with others.
Trust me when I say I understand those types of situations. As said before, my family lives in this mentality despite not being Asian. My parents often give me this talk into not wanting to cause "trouble for others" and keeping to ourselves. So we aren't targets to bullies. This year I got blamed still as an adult for speaking out how someone was being rude in a store. My mother told me to just shut up and let them handle it.
When I went to my therapist, I felt less bad for the blame because we do need more people speaking out in the world when someone is causing problems. Why should we blame humanity instead of trying to fix it? A small drop can cause a big ripple to others. That is why I cannot stand this mentality and system. I can understand the whys but cannot, nor will not agree with them.