Mental health is a topic that affects almost everyone, yet misunderstandings about it still persist. In spite of growing awareness around mental wellness issues, outdated beliefs and preconceived ideas continue to shape how people view mental illness. Unfortunately, this also affects the way in which those who struggle with their mental health view themselves and their condition.

Such misapprehensions can have various negative repercussions, such as creating unnecessary shame, making people hesitate to seek help, and slowing the healing process. In this blog, we will explore five of the most common misconceptions about mental illness, establish why these myths have been so stubborn, and look at what is actually true.

Mental Illness is a Sign of Weakness

Struggling with mental wellness is not an indicator that you lack inner strength. In fact, many people with mental illness display considerable resilience in varied areas of their lives. Aside from anything else, continuing to show up and move through life while facing mental health challenges requires considerable fortitude.

Both healing and personal growth are journeys. When trauma sufferers are able to receive treatment for their trauma, and subsequently flourish and find fulfilment, they often look back on their struggles in a more positive way. They realize that what they have been through has ultimately contributed to their current success.

Growing as a person and emerging stronger from adversity is known as post traumatic growth, and it allows new qualities to begin to emerge—inner strength, clarity, and a deeper capacity for connection. Many people find themselves more in alignment with their values and more aware of what matters most to them. Experiencing suffering can bring greater depth to life, creating more presence and adding substance to each day.

This growth is often most apparent in areas such as relationships, creative expression, and the ability to hold space for others. People begin to trust themselves in ways previously unimagined. They become more open, more curious, and more able to meet life’s complex challenges without shutting down.

If You’re High Functioning, You’re Not Mentally Ill

Another misconception about mental illness is that if you are functioning well, you cannot have mental health issues. And yet, some of the most high functioning people in our societies struggle with mental wellness. In fact, it is common for mental illness to be one of the driving forces behind their success.

People with trauma often use work and other activities to distract themselves from the pain they are feeling. Some trauma sufferers even become so completely taken over by their work they are not even aware that this all-consuming activity is their way of avoiding facing trauma wounds. Others with a traumatic past may not even realize they carry trauma at all.

However, such a strategy (whether the individual is conscious of it or not), is not sustainable in the long run. At some point, alarm bells start to go off. Symptoms such as burnout appear, forcing the person to slow down, take stock, and take a step back from work. They begin to understand and recognize the fact that they have experienced trauma, and that unhealed pain is dictating many of their behaviours. Such a realization is often challenging, but it can be a powerful catalyst for change, and the starting point for healing.

If You Can Talk About Your Trauma, It Wasn’t That Bad

It is common for people in therapy or other settings to discuss their trauma freely and seemingly without difficulty, leading those around them to conclude the person is no longer affected by their traumatic experiences. While this may sometimes be the case, it is often in fact a sign of dissociation, a psychological defence mechanism put in place by the person’s mind in order to protect themselves from overwhelmingly painful memories and feelings. Dissociation is not a conscious response, and arises when a person creates a disconnection between themselves and inner wounds that feel too intense to be faced. While the individual may appear well, they are in fact practising a surface level indifference. Unfortunately, this feeling of numbness often spills over into other areas of their lives.

Individuals dissociated from their trauma often:

• Appear to feel “fine” while talking about something horrific
• Seem unable to cry, or even to express anger – unless a powerful trigger breaks through their dissociative barrier. They are often also unable to feel joy easily
• Feel distant or robotic when discussing personal experiences

Post-trauma dissociation may also cause chronic tension or tightness, digestive issues, fatigue, numbness and even autoimmune symptoms. Even in the absence of emotion, the body, endocrine and nervous systems all continue to react as though still in the presence of imminent danger.

In order to restore a healthy sense of feeling and aliveness, it is essential to find the courage and willingness to feel buried emotions. This is where somatic therapies come in, since traces of both memories and emotions remain stored within the body. During sessions, trauma survivors are guided through the work of meeting, and then letting go of their pain, by skilled professionals. This process of release can be profoundly transformational and lead to deep healing.

Somatic Therapies Are Pseudoscience

Somatic therapy has been around since the 1970s, but has only really gained traction over the past twenty years, particularly in the field of trauma treatment. Books like The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, and Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine highlight the importance of treatment approaches which help access emotions trapped in the body.

As with any advances in healing modalities, there will always be doubters and naysayers, people who question the principles behind somatic therapies, or even dismiss them as ‘pseudoscience’. Such people include therapists who practice more traditional methods like talk therapy. However, talk therapy is conducted at the level of conscious thought and cognitive processes only. It does not take into account the physiological traces of a person’s lived experience.

There is a considerable body of scientific evidence spanning the past two decades, that demonstrates the effectiveness of somatic therapy in treating trauma, with large-scale studies confirming its positive effects on treating PTSD.

Many trauma treatment centers now offer trauma healing retreats, which place the individual in full immersion in a healing environment, creating conditions for significant and lasting healing.

You Must Remember Your Trauma for Healing to Happen

Not everybody can recall their traumatic experiences, even though the impact of these is still felt. This may be because the trauma occurred at a very young age, before cognitive development was complete. In other cases, people have successfully blocked out their trauma, because it is too painful to live with.

Nevertheless, even if you have little or no recollection of your trauma, it still leaves an imprint within your body, and can affect your subconscious beliefs – beginning what you believe about yourself. A holistic approach to trauma healing is necessary in such cases, because it is useless to try and pinpoint a specific moment in a person’s life if it is not accessible as memory. Holistic healing works powerfully on the nervous system and tensions in the body, where memories – conscious or not – end up being stored. This is why trauma treatment centres like Yatra can help you release the trauma you experienced, as well as abandon mistaken beliefs about yourself and others, so that you are more aligned with objective reality.

When the above shift takes place within you, symptoms of trauma are naturally reduced, and make way for greater inner freedom, as well as feelings of contentedness and fulfilment. The constricting impact of past trauma is replaced by a greater sense of safety and possibility.

Why Misconceptions About Mental Illness Still Exist

Many of the misconceptions society carries about mental illness are transmitted unconsciously. They stem from how mental illness is portrayed in the media, what people hear growing up, and the things that are not generally spoken about.

For decades, mental illness was a sensitive topic, rarely mentioned in public in any productive way. In the absence of open conversation, preconceived and incorrect assumptions took root, and these remain difficult to eradicate.

This is caused in large part because mental illness is often not outwardly visible. It cannot be detected on someone’s face or in their body, in the same way as a physical injury such as a broken arm. Someone might appear calm, productive, or even successful, leading others to imagine they are fine. But appearances reveal little or nothing about what a person is experiencing inside.

In some communities, it can be hard to speak about mental health because of traditions or beliefs. Some cultures may place a strong emphasis on forbearance and restraint, leaving little room for expressions of distress. Any environment in which people are not encouraged to talk about their feelings or struggles can make topics such as mental wellness difficult, or even taboo. And in the absence of open conversation, it is impossible to dispel misconceptions.

Education plays a role too. A surprising number of people in the modern world actually have very little idea of what mental illness actually is. For some, it is just a generic label meaning things like, ‘not right in the head’, ‘unstable’ or worse. Without being educated on what mental illness looks like and how it affects sufferers, people may have very little understanding of the condition, and a tendency to entertain biases, assumptions and fears about it. And when such misconceptions remain unchallenged, they become, for many, the default lens through which they view mental health.

Misconceptions don’t just live in individual minds, but are also built into systems. They are apparent in schools, workplaces, and even healthcare establishments or therapy circles. Shifting the conversation requires open minds, a healthy curiosity and a willingness to question things long assumed to be true.

Trauma Treatment at Yatra Centre

If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of erroneous ideas or beliefs about mental illness, you’ll know how unsettling the experience can be, and how self-doubt and other negative emotions can creep in. However, in the right environment, surrounded by professionals who, on the contrary, have a very deep understanding of the whole spectrum of mental illness, recovery is possible.

Healing from mental illness, including trauma, requires finding the right support, reconnecting with yourself, and learning how to move forward in a way that feels safe and empowering.

At Yatra Centre, we specialize in trauma recovery, using a holistic and evidence-based approach. Whether your trauma is recent or more distant, whether it is still vivid in your memory or vague, perhaps even absent, the safe space provided by our team supports your healing. Using therapies that address both the mind and body, we help you release stored pain, realign with yourself, and build a life that feels whole and vibrant.

Contact us today on +66 96 916 3287 for more information.