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My Manifesto

Mental Illness and Healing

Diamond Le

Intro to Humanities

Professor Khrystine Kelsey

May 7, 2020
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A value that is important to me is to take care of my mental health before anything. A

trait of being healthy is to take care of your mental health. If you are just thinking negatively

about life, then everything else around you will be negative. If you see things in a positive way

you are going to be optimistic. Since the moment I was a teen up until two years ago I saw

myself in a negative way. I am not saying my whole life has been bad there has been happy

moments. That does not mean I was always happy either.

One thing that was draining to me was that I let others get to me. I admit, I do not do well

with criticism. I have lived my whole life being skinny or petite. In movies, you see that the

skinny girls are the popular girls. That is not the case for me. People have always teased me on

my weight. I do not have an illness. In fact, I love food and I am happy to try new things all the

time. I think I just have a fast metabolism. Looking back at old pictures of my mom when she

was younger, she was also on the petite side. So, I think that within age I will have a slower

metabolism. People have always said I was too skinny, or they looked at me disgusted at times.

“Go eat a burger”, they said. “Diamond, you must be a size negative zero”, they snickered.

Someone said that to me, and I thought it was dumb because there is no such thing as a negative

zero.

One thing I hated the most was when they would grab my wrist and cup their hand

around it. They laughed at the fact that their whole hand wrapped around my wrist. “OMG

you’re so skinny!” Hearing comments like these drained me. I always looked in the mirror and

was disgusted with myself. There were countless days where I got home from school and shut

myself in my room and cried to myself. The saddest thing is that these were people that I knew

too. There were times where I had random people make comments about me when I met them.

Though, most of the comments came from friends and family.

Mental health is common in society. It is considered a social issue. Mental health is

important because it affects us emotionally, psychologically, and socially. Mental health is

important through multiple stages in our life. From our childhood to our adulthood. Depression is

one of the leading mental illness. Many people also suffer from being anxious or stressed.

Factors that can lead to these mental illnesses are family problems, stress from school, work, and

society. It is estimated that 1 in 6 people experience a common mental health problem. Children

and young people in between 5-16 years old are diagnosed with mental illnesses. (Mental Health

Foundation, 2015)

I have dealt with having anxiety problems since the moment I was in school. In

elementary I was considered the quiet kid. I was afraid of speaking. Many times, I have been

asked why I do not talk. Even by people that barely know me. It was not until high school I

started speaking more and even so I am still quiet. The idea of being around people stressed me

out and gave me anxiety. It was only around people I knew that I felt like I could be myself.

Anxiety can have serious affects on your health. Social anxiety falls into this category. This

disorder consists of being in fear of social situations and being judged by others. It is nerve-

wrecking when I must get up and walk in front of a group of people. I am so afraid of people

judging me. 15 million Americans live with social anxiety. (Cherney, 2018)

A common mental health issue we all have is putting ourselves down. It is so common

for people to think of things in negative ways rather than positive. Society teaches us that we

should not brag. We should be humble. We often listen to criticism from people and apply it to

ourselves. Only you know who you truly are, and no one knows you like you do. Do not let

people tell you who they think you are. Self-deprecating can be a way of coping with anxiety and
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stress. (A Conscious Rethink) We also tend to laugh at ourselves, but this affects our mental

health long-term.

I have been on a spiritual journey to find myself and heal mentally. I began thinking

positively and following values that help me think positively. To do what makes me happy and

do not let others criticism affect me. Now when people mention how small I am it does not phase

me as much. My anxiety and stress still exist and will continue to for majority of my life, but I

have found ways to deal with it. I have been into collecting crystals for healing purposes. It is

said that crystals or stones have energy in them. Some stones like Amethyst are said to reduce

stress and aid with sleep. Other crystals like Rose Quartz help with self-love. Clear Quartz is said

to clear the mind of negative energy because of its clarity. It is said that healing from crystals

will not work for you if you do not believe in it. Anything you put your energy into will reflect

its energy back at you. I have read countless stories of people who heal from crystals.

Another form of healing is called Reiki. Reiki has been around since 1922. It is a form of

healing by touch. Reiki has also been used with crystals. Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress

reduction and relaxation. The idea of reiki is based on the idea that an invisible “life, force, and

energy” flows through us and it is what causes us to be alive. Reiki treats the body, emotions,

and mind. There is controversy that reiki is hard to prove through science. Though, this is more

of a spiritual experience. Many people who have received Reiki has said that it had worked for

them. (Newman, 2017) Reiki is an energy medicine that helps the flow of energy and removes

blocks. (Similar to acupuncture)

For Christmas, I had received this Tibetan singing bowl. A Tibetan singing bowl is made

from brass. It comes with a wooden mallet and when you circle the mallet on the lips of the bowl

it sings. Singing bowls produce a vibrational sound. It is said to promote relaxation and other
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healing properties. I use it when I need to clear my mind before I do homework or type essays.

Buddhist monks have used these bowls for meditation practices. Since I have discovered these

bowls, I have looked for other instruments that produce this sound healing affect. Singing bowls

are a great tool for mental health. I plan on buying another type of singing bowl that is made

from quartz. These bowls produce a louder vibration. You can feel the vibrations engulf you as

you play it. There are various types of bowls and each one plays a different note. Each note also

matches a chakra in your body. Something to note about why singing bowls are sound healing

tools is that it can help align the chakras in your body. You have 7 chakras in your body: Crown,

Third Eye, Throat, Heart, Solar Plexus, Sacral, and Root. For example, if I play a singing bowl

with the note of an A it can correlate with my third eye chakra. Healing bowl ceremonies are

often performed for people who need healing. One thing I want to do to help others heal mentally

is to show them how to be spiritual and sound heal with my singing bowls.

A material in this course that has correlated to my manifesto is the module that talks

about spirituality and human experience. We learn about different beliefs and one that correlates

a lot to spirituality is the belief of Buddhism. In the readings for Buddhism it is said that they

practice spiritual practices, beliefs, and traditions. When I go to metaphysical stores, I tend to see

the Buddha being represented. There are crystals that are carved into the form of a Buddha.

Philosophical concepts and well-beings are a section in this module that correlates to mental

health. In the material, Happiness & Subjective Well Being, we read about what is means to be

happy. It talks about the pursuit of happiness and how it is in the culture of the United States. In

the reading it says that 40% of our happiness comes from what we choose to do in life. Denmark

is also considered one of the happiest countries on Earth. One of the factors being that there is

free health care and college. This would take away a lot of mental stress from people.
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Works Cited

-Cherney, Kristeen. “12 Effects of Anxiety on the Body.” Healthline. Healthline Media, March

28, 2020. https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/effects-on-body.

- “Reiki: What Is It and Are There Benefits?” Medical News Today. MediLexicon International.

Accessed May 7, 2020. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/308772.

- “Stigma and Discrimination.” Mental Health Foundation, February 10, 2020.

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/s/stigma-and-discrimination.

-Vinestock, Lucy. “5 Reasons To Stop Talking Yourself Down – Starting Right Now!” A

Conscious Rethink, July 23, 2019. https://www.aconsciousrethink.com/6795/stop-talking-

yourself-down/.