Mental illness is commonly seen as a taboo topic, that is tied down with stigmas that belittle the person. Claims that mental illness isn't a real thing, or that it can be cured with one therapy session, or the person wished for it to happen to them. When in reality mental illness is a serious topic, and we need to stop hiding from it and actually start talking about it.
According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, about 18.5 percent of adults in the United States have a mental illness. The Mayo Clinic defines mental illness as "a wide range of mental health conditions that affect your mood, thinking and behavior."
Because of the wide variety of mental illnesses, there is no one "cure all" for mental illness. The symptoms and intensity vary from person to person, and no two people experience the same mental disorder the same way. Hormones also play a factor in mental illness and studies have shown that it is possible for mental illness to be passed on through genetics. This explains why so many people are great at public speaking but can't order their burrito from Chipotle.
The stigmas behind having a mental illness, is that the person who has it is weak. They don't know how to control themselves, they just need to find something that makes them happy. The problem behind this, is that the person may be trying.
If someone has depression, they may have the motivation to do something, but they don't have the means to. It's like if you want to go to the store, and your car doesn't have any gas. You want to go and do something, but you don't have the means to.
If someone has anxiety, it almost feels like you are constantly drowning, and panicking because you are drowning, causing you to sink deeper and deeper into the pits of your mind. If a normal situation comes up, anxiety almost tries to find near impossible ways for it to go wrong, but at the time it seems completely rational. Anxiety attacks feel like your body is attacking yourself. Whether its your chest starts to feel heavy, or your throat tightens, or your head feels like its about to explode.
There are so many other mental disorders, OCD, PTSD, Borderline Personality Disorder, Anorexia, Bullimia, ADD. ADHD, and so many more. Everyone is affected differently.
However, even if someone is going to therapy and taking medication, there are some days that nothing will stop your body from halting. One day you may wake up and start to feel ten times worse than you did the day before. That's the thing about mental illness, it takes time. For most people their mental illness can feel like a boulder on some days and a fingernail on others, but that mental illness is as much a part of them as that fingernail is.
Mental Health needs to to be talked about more and not seen as a taboo topic. Mental heath is a sensitive topic, and you may be afraid of asking the person the wrong question, or not properly helping them, and that is okay. But when you say things like: 'Just try to be happy' 'get over it,' 'you have to be faking it', that belittles the person and can make them feel worse then before.
Also if you belittle their illness you are fueling the idea that mental illness is fake. 'Oh yeah, I sometimes don't want to do homework. I must be ADHD.' 'Oh yeah i get depressed when I finish a TV series, but then I'm happy when I find a new one.' 'Oh yeah, there was one time where I just ate like 1,500 calories one day, I hope i don't get anorexia.' Sentences like that makes serious mental health issues seem like cute little quirks, and makes it seem like mental illness is completely made up to justify certain behaviors.
Below are some helpful videos that discuss the topic of mental health and the stigmas attached:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54sDdNa9vek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y97VF5UJcc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D-15Z9oE2g
