If you are reading this, you or maybe someone close to you may be struggling with mental health. I for one are no exception. The questions that one may ask are how do we identify mental health illness and why should we care.

For the longest time I thought my family was immune to this disease. I have a loving family and we support each other in good times and best times. I thought I had been the best father for my three children, who are now young adults. But I was wrong.

Three years ago I noticed that my daughter’s behaviour had been strange. She seemed more withdrawn and she did not show any joy in her face. Feeling something was off, I slowly approached her and started to encourage her to talk. And I was very surprised to find out that she felt sad and was having challenges in dealing with day-to-day life challenges. She was 13 and the most vulnerable age.

After some prodding and spending countless hours talking to her, I found out that she no longer felt confident about herself after being falsely accused by her close friend. She felt her feelings were betrayed and had difficulty in allowing anyone to get close to her.

That put me on the spot and I was never so helpless the first time in my life. I was never trained to treat such illness nor had any experience such a thing in my life. My daughter is important to me so I gathered all my courage and met this challenge head-on.

I was determined to help my daughter get through this stressful stage. And I believe the one cure that I could prescribe was to have an open honest talk with my daughter. I spent countless nights and hours talking with my daughter. We touched on her school, friends and ultimately her feelings. As time passed, she started to feel a lot better. While she is not fully cured, she knows that I will always be by her side.

Mental health is really important. If it is left untreated, the consequences could result in self-hurt and even suicide. Unfortunately, there is no easy cure. If you know of anyone who is suffering from mental health, it is important to seek professional help. One of the things I learned from my daughter is being open to discussing one’s feelings is the best cure. And for us being a good listener is equally important.