Mindfulness For The Mentally Ill

How much does mindfulness cost? While conducting research for this essay, this popular Google search suggestion summarised its validity and point precisely. Mindfulness is not something that should have a cost assigned to it. Although, as with everything today, it does - and a heavy one at that. To the mentally ill, mindfulness may just be another desperate avenue towards healing. As, if one is experiencing a chemical imbalance in the brain, the most effective solutions are prescribed medication and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). However, these options come with restrictions. Medication for mental health treatment is experimental. Sometimes it can have a detrimental effect - a risk far too great for somebody so close to giving up on their life. Also, the average expense for one private therapy session can be anywhere between £40 to £80. Therefore, natural mental practices such as mindfulness can appeal to those who are unable to access these remedies. Though, it has come to my attention that mindfulness is a luxury. It is not something that the ones who need mental healing most can easily apply to their lives. Nor, something that many can afford.

Established actor Jim Carrey says the following in regards to a particular mental illness. "I believe depression is legitimate. But I also believe that if you don't exercise, eat nutritious food, get sunlight, get enough sleep, consume positive material, surround yourself with support, then you aren't giving yourself a fighting chance." There is a suggestion in this statement that all of these elements act as the basic necessities for a functioning, healthy human. To somebody with depression, these seemingly simple functions of all our daily lives are avoided. Perhaps a fear of failure is at play here. For, if even the most elementary requirements do not cure the illness, hope may become too far to reach. In those experiencing this mental weight, just the thought of achieving exercise or stepping outside into the sun could be exhausting. Maybe the honesty of this conscious action feels too real. The fact that something that is mindless for most, is strenuous for you. That is an overwhelming realisation. Many times I have sat in my car parked opposite the gym, hyperventilating. Tired before even lifting a weight. Salt crystallising on my cheeks before I could sweat. The reality of the situation has been too much to bear. Most of those running on the treadmills beside me were not running for their life. They were just running.

Social interaction, activity, nutrition. These are all things practised in rehabilitation centres. For those who cannot process these necessities naturally due to their mental illness, it is actively encouraged and embedded into their routine - to essentially become less unnatural. One week inside a British rehabilitation centre costs, on average, between £1,500 and £2,000. Of course, seven days are not generally considered sufficient for those with severe cases of poor mental health. A minimum of four weeks is recommended by rehab facilities. Poverty is a catalyst for mental illness. It is those who cannot afford to spend £8,000 on a rehabilitation programme that may need it the most. They struggle to live. But, they, too, struggle to survive.

Though I am attempting to raise awareness of this injustice, I understand more what mindfulness is to a mentally ill person. It may not be the cure or the remedy. But, it could be something that shows those we love, and ourselves, that we are trying. "Self-care" and "wellbeing". These are words that we hear and see constantly - and exponentially often. Printed onto glossy magazines that we can hardly afford. Or promoted on the tube that takes us to our minimum wage paid job. Wellbeing and self-care, they can be materialistic. A new scented candle, journals and, even, the glossy magazine. None of this can cure depression. Though, it can fill our lives with examples of how we did all that we could, with all that we had, to wake up one more day.