There’s this preconceived idealism that anyone suffering from mental illness is crazy and untrustworthy and I’m using this opportunity to call bullshit on it. Bullshit on anyone suffering from mental illness as being a danger to everyone around them. Bullshit on those suffering needing to be heavily medicated. Bullshit on treating us like we are some weird creatures who you need to tread lightly around. Bullshit on all the stigma and bullshit on everyone who thinks we are broken.

I suffer from severe depression and anxiety, the only person or thing I have ever been a danger to is myself. I could never imagine harming another human being and I cry for thirty minutes to an hour if I even run over a possum, let alone one of my pets dying. Yes, there are some people who suffer from mental illness who are a danger to others, but that is the minority, not the majority. I hate when someone finds out about my depression and anxiety because they start to treat me differently and act like I am no longer me. Here’s the thing, though: this stigma surrounding mental illness hurts everyone, those who are knowingly suffering and those who need to get help. People acting like mental illness marks a person as less than makes those who need to seek help fear the way they will be treated for doing so. This needs to stop today, people need to realize that mental illness is not a marker of someone being less than worthy.

When I was first diagnosed I thought for a long time that it meant I was a broken human who would never be worth the love of another human being, that I would never be good enough to live, that I needed to just disappear. Why? Because of all the things people would say about mental illness. It didn’t matter what type a person had, anyone suffering from it was labelled “crazy” and treated as if at any moment they would explode and kill everyone. I hid my mental illness for years because I didn’t want anyone to know because I was scared. I made excuses as to why I had to leave school early once every week for my therapy sessions, I would lie about the pills I had to take daily, and I lied about why I missed nearly two weeks of school. Instead of facing the stigma head on and setting the record straight, I contributed to it by hiding and lying. Well, no more!

This is me breaking the stigma because after fighting this war for years I have come to the realization that my mental illness does not mark me as less than, no, it marks me as more than. My mental illness allows me to see the world as it truly is and allow me to be unafraid of the risks needed to take to change it. I’m sure there are psychologists all over who will scream that I am wrong, but as someone who sufferers from it instead of reading about it in a book, I feel like I have a right to say this. Do you suffer from mental illness? Don’t be ashamed, don’t let anyone tell you that you aren’t worthy because sweetheart, you are going to change the world. You have an evolutionary trait that allows you to fight against yourself and win, you are a burning flame that has the power to ignite the world and rebuild from the ashes. Take your medication because it allows you to focus on the outside problem instead of fighting the internal war and the earth needs us. Let them call you crazy, we are crazy! But you know what? Only the crazy ones dare to change. This country as we know it was built on the crazy idea of a nation for the people and governed by the people. There is nothing wrong with you, there is nothing wrong with having a mental illness. The people who think there is are the people who need to change, not you.

You are great, you are strong, and you will change the world because you are incredible. Your mental illness does not mark you as less than, it marks you as more, it means you see the world for what it is and have the courage to change it. You are a beautiful flame that will ignite the world and build from the ashes. Don’t hide in the shadows, don’t be ashamed, and don’t let the world dim your light. Keep fighting your war, understand that you lose some fights, but every day you breathe is a win. You are a phoenix and from the ashes; you will arise new. Stay strong my loves and keep fighting, I know you’ll change the world.