Seeing my debate partner fervidly scratch her hands and choke up breathlessly due to anxiety opened my eyes to the detrimental effects of poor mental health. From then on, I was determined to never be ignorant of such a situation again; as a result, I joined my school’s mental health club, which mobilized to spread awareness and provide resources for mental health. The goal: resolve the issue of “We do not talk about mental health enough.”

At some point, I also signed up for a mental health series in determination for advocacy, but by the third day, I surprisingly found myself only watching the minute hand slowly reach the finish line. Ninety. More. Minutes.

Sitting there, I realized that the constant emphasis of “We do not talk about mental health enough” from social media, parents, and schools could make the issue of mental health overdone. This is not to discredit legitimate diagnoses, but if all students hear is that they might have anxiety or depression, then how could they not self-diagnose?

Awareness anomaly. Excessive emphasis. Sustained self-labeling. Instead of blindly pushing for more mental health recognition, I was ultimately able to question my socio-centric belief of  “We do not talk about mental health enough” by asking myself, “Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health?” I finally recognized that the schoolwide mental health interventions may sometimes “…[overshoot] a bit and [need] to be brought back in” (“Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health?”).