OCT 12 — World Mental Health Day came, and went, last October 10. Far from being depressing, it was a strangely hopeful occasion as so many people went online to both promote awareness on the day as well as sharing their own stories.

We need more mental health awareness, that's for sure. According to the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2015, the prevalence of mental health issues among adults had gone up from 10.7 per cent in 1996 to 29.2 per cent in 2015.

Just last week a young man jumped to his death at a shopping mall, texting his brother of his intentions just seconds before he made the leap.

If he had survived, technically he would have been charged with a crime. He would have committed an offence under Section 309 of the Penal Code, which states:

“Whoever attempts to commit suicide, and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine or with both”

It's silly, isn't it? Penalising someone for being in so much torment that suicide seemed like the best option.

That's the thing, though. This notion that it can be practically criminal to be ailing from mental issues. I blame a lot of the "positive thinking" happy-clappy mantra that goes around, telling sad and unhappy people that they're just being downers.

One particularly vapid Malaysian celebrity even made a video telling people to not be so negative and "just be happy!"

If that was all it took, there wouldn't be so many people committing suicide every day, all over the world. One particularly sad statistic is that most of them are men. Even in the countries where men have a higher status than women in society, more men than women kill themselves.

We have made it "not OK" to "not be OK." Men have it particularly hard because the toxic masculinity narrative has encouraged men to keep their pain bottled up, to never admit they need help.

Still, we live in an age where people have begun to realise that sometimes sharing your pain and struggles isn't about attention-seeking or narcissism. It's a way to survive.

Rapper Kid Cudy announced to his fans he was getting help for depression. Bruce Springsteen's latest memoir was searingly honest not just about his own mental health issues, but those of his father's.

It wasn't just celebrities sharing their stories; ordinary people are finding their own outlets online through blogs and social media.

"It's OK not to be OK," was a repeated common refrain. It was a reminder to all those suffering that having a mental disorder wasn't a character flaw and there was nothing to be ashamed about for seeking help.

The reality is this: the internal and external pressure to maintain positive facades, even if we have to fake it, is quite literally killing us.

We have to start owning our emotions, acknowledging how we truly feel and finding a way forward from there. It does no good to be erasing or denying our issues; in the end, it's all about learning an acceptance of the sadder parts of our personalities, to be able to look at our own inner darkness and not pretend it isn't there.

It's a simple mantra everyone needs to embrace: it's OK not to be OK. It's OK to be human, to be broken, to be lost, to be hurting.

Your worth as a human being does not diminish from having a mental disorder; you are not any less of a person to be in mental anguish.

The world is hard enough on most people already; we could all do with a little kindness and sometimes that means being kind to yourself. We could all do with a little self-forgiveness and some self-allowance to let ourselves have our "not OK" days.

OK?

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.