Be happy. Don’t worry, be happy. If you want to be, be. Every 60 seconds you spend being angry are 60 seconds you miss for happiness-potential.

I am constantly hearing maxims and cliches about happiness, day in and day out.

So what? Does hearing an outdated phrase that has nothing to do with my life actually affect my life?

Yes and no.

Yes, it does affect me. No, it does not not affect me.

I do not comment on things or situations that I have zero personal or factual knowledge about.

For example, if someone tells me that they broke their leg, I am not going to instruct them x, y, z to do to perfectly manage their pain and lead them to the promised land of relief. I am not a doctor, nurse, counselor, or an otherwise qualified medical professional.

So why do we not extend the same common decency to mental health?

When I share my daily life with my friends and family, I rarely sugarcoat. I am known for my deadpan humor and my blunt attitude about my life as a college student who is self-deprecating, loving, and also happens to have anxiety.

I do not consider myself an anomaly or a superhero for managing my anxiety and my intense course load. Millions of people do this every day, and they have family, spouses, and pets to support.

I only have to worry about myself, and I am a LOT to handle.

As a person who at times struggles with mental health, I understand the importance of the proper mindset to deal with adversity. However, for a person to recover from a bad day is one thing, while managing an ongoing illness is quite another.

Last semester, as my senior year was starting in full swing, I made the decision to begin taking medication to aid in my mental health.

Medication for anxiety, depression, or any other common mental health disorders are constantly in the news, and these highly personal and controversial methods are often used to demean and belittle someone’s confidential and medical conditions.

Yes, sometimes people are curious or simply want to be helpful to their fellow family members, friends, colleagues, neighbors, churchgoers, et cetera.

But. It is none of your business.

I’ll repeat that.

Someone else’s personal and medical illness is none of your business.

I personally do not mind sharing my ongoing mental health journey.

I consider myself an open book, and I hope that my openness will encourage others to seek help, if they need it, and consider some tough yet effective options if they want it.

Happiness is a state of mind, but depression and anxiety are actual disorders and not just made to be magically disappeared by reading a cliche on a hapless or random comment with a smiley face tacked on the end :-)