Health is such an important topic yet for some people, we feel more comfortable not opening up about our issues or ignoring them all together. For a lot of people speaking to a health professional or confiding in someone close to us, isn’t an issue, however, more and more people aren’t giving their own health the right amount of care. The conversations we can have with family and friends are extensive, but health is rarely mentioned as people tend to shy away from talking about personal problems. To delve a little deeper into why health is more of a secretive subject, UK lawyers Slater & Gordon, surveyed 2,000 members of the British public to find out why this is the case.
Mental health matters
Over the past few years cases of mental health have been on the increase and for a lot of people, it doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Whether it’s depression, anxiety or another type of mental health issue, it affects a large portion of the UK population and research shows it will affect 1 in 4 of us at some point in our lives. Surprisingly from the survey carried out, 38% of people who have suffered from a mental health issue, believe they’ve been treated negatively because of the stigma around the problem. For this reason alone, we need to open up more about mental health and widen the knowledge of the UK population. Suffering from a mental health issue should be something everyone can talk about and it’s important that together, we educate people and end the stigma around it.
Visit your GP
Many of us would rather ignore any health issues we may have, rather than speak to a GP or a relevant health professional. With extensive research and knowledge online, a huge 62% of people surveyed said they’re more likely to search their symptoms online, rather than speak to a health professional. A number of issues can be treated by a pharmacist or simply by purchasing over the counter medicine, however it’s best to be on the safe side and see your GP if your symptoms persist. Although the internet is full of useful information when it comes to your health, a lot of the information can be very misleading and potentially delay crucial treatment you could be receiving, if you had been and visited your GP.
It’s ok to talk
It’s understandable that some health issues are more private than others and we may only want to speak to a GP, but it’s important to do that. So many people shy away from speaking to the relevant professionals and it’s better to get the issue sorted as soon as possible and the chances are, it won’t be anything serious anyway. The results of the survey show that 57% of people would happily discus their own health with family and friends, but really this figure should be higher. If a family member or friend had something wrong with them, we’d want them to open up to us; so it’s important we do the same.
