Though college is declared to be the best time of your life by popular movies and TV shows, it is often very burdensome. Learning who you truly are, as well as how you fit into the big picture of life, can be emotional and trying. It is a time when you are forced to function on your own as well as make some of life's biggest decisions.

Naturally, people become affected. Some are affected more than others, but many will experience mental stress from ages 18 to 22. Sadly, in a larger study conducted by the American College Health Association a few years ago, “Thirty percent of college students felt so depressed it was difficult to function" within a single year. Depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, and other types of mental illness are very real issues that people have to live with on a daily basis. It breaks my heart that they are not always seen as equally debilitating as other physical ailments.

At times, I'll hear the word “crazy" thrown around to describe another human being. “She got really sad, a little crazy, she had to get help." Or maybe someone says, “I heard he was a little crazy and cut himself." Or even “I think she takes medicine because she's crazy."

Though we make these statements without thinking, they can be very harmful. We are careful not to make fun of someone with visible disabilities, but sometimes we forget many are fighting heartbreaking, invisible battles. Though a person may appear pristine, he or she could be truly hurting on the inside. The wound is internal, which makes it hard for a community to accept its existence.

Ignorant statements seriously undermine an individual's struggle. For a person to admit they have a problem and seek help is already difficult enough. If they hear you call people with mental illnesses "crazy," they could easily return to square one and feel wrong for having these feelings. Because of the stigmas against mental health, I fear that many don't feel validated in their pain.

"Everyone has hard days, you should get over it."

"You're nervous? I get nervous too sometimes, just take a few deep breaths."

I'm sick of people condemning these struggles with a few meaningless words. When undermining sicknesses, like depression and anxiety, we are providing fuel for a society that doesn't welcome people getting help. Let's not allow our friends to suffer any more than they have to. You wouldn't tell someone with pneumonia to ''get over it." You also wouldn't tell someone with the measles they were "weird" or "insane" for being diagnosed.

I have seen a therapist before. Perhaps that makes me odd. But, I am a heck of a lot happier and healthier for it, and I wouldn't change it for the world.

I think we're all absurd. We entertain ourselves by filling holes in the ground with water and frolicking with pool noodles. We walk runways, we snort when we laugh, we parade around little animals on leashes. We lock lips to feel close with other people, we ride motorcycles, we create music. I don't think crazy is negative, and I don't believe one individual is crazier than the next. We are all a mess of atoms and motivations doing our best to find our way.

Everyone has their box of crazy. Don't let some feel as though their box doesn't deserve to be carried.