Depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, anorexia, bulimia. All the mental illnesses listed and many more are real and real people suffer from them. I'm afraid our society has reached the point where we don't recognize exactly what we are saying or doing.
Too often when I am on social media, whether that be Instagram or Twitter, I see something regarding mental illnesses. Instead of spreading awareness of them and how to help someone who is dealing with one or more of them, the mental illness is being romanticized. People talk as if they actually desire to suffer from a mental illness. Mental illnesses are now regarded as beautiful and desired rather than serious until it's too late.
I've seen pictures that are talking about suicide and it says how beautifully tragic suicide is. A little girl or boy is left without one of her parents. Parents lose their baby girl or boy. Best friends lose their other half. Husbands lose their wife. Wives lose their husband. You see, yes, suicide is tragic, but it is by no means beautiful.
Whether it be a parent, sibling, friend, or distant cousin, almost everyone knows someone who is truly suffering from one or more mental illnesses. 19 million people suffer from depression. 6.8 million people suffer from generalized anxiety disorder. 15 million people suffer from social anxiety disorder. 6 million people suffer from panic disorder. 5.1 million people suffer from bipolar disorder. Nearly 40 million people commit suicide annually. These statistics are America alone.
When are we, as a society, going to realize that mental illnesses are not something we should aspire to? When are we going to start trying to help those who suffer instead of romanticizing it? When are we going to stop calling suicide a "beautiful tragedy"? Today. Let's start today.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. You are loved. You are wanted. You are not a failure. You are not a waste of space. You are not alone.
