Having a mental illness in college can be tough. You may be afraid to speak to anyone about what is going on because you are scared about the judgment you may receive, or the mass amounts of stigma that circle around mental illness. But really, it is far more common than you may realize. In fact, over half of college students develop or have some form of mental illness in college whether it be depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or OCD. The list is endless and can have many students feeling alone.

The truth is you are not alone. Before living in my sorority house with 40 other girls, I assumed I was the only one struggling with crippling anxiety. Until I realized just how common it really is. I had never been an anxious person before my junior year, but specific courses of events led to this great new gift I was blessed with. Sitting in a classroom felt like my own personal torture and being in certain situations felt like a panic attack could happen in any moment. It sucked.

Before entering my junior year, I barely knew anyone who was being medicated for a mental illness. I had heard of a couple people being on medicine, but I realized it was not a subject openly talked about. So for some reason medication for anxiety was never an option for me. I happen to be a very stubborn, hard-headed person who thinks they can overcome anything with a little determination, but it actually turns out anxiety is a much more stubborn than I am and was winning this battle going on in my head. I found myself in this terrible position of not wanting to go on medications and being bound to my bed afraid to go to class. My grades started slipping and I knew something had to change.

So I made an appointment with my doctor and we made a plan. She explained to me just how common anxiety and other mental illness are to college students and she agreed with me that they need to be more openly discussed.

Having a mental illness does not make you a failure and choosing to start medication does not mean your illness has won. It just means you have chosen to actually live your life in peace rather than struggle every single day. If you are going to go on medication for your mental illness there are some important things to remember:

• Be proud of yourself because you have finally allowed yourself to get the help you need.
• Not all medication is the same, for some it takes a couple different tries to get the right medication.
• Be patient. Medication is not going to work right away, they need to build up in your body before you can begin to feel a difference so do not give up on them.
• If something does not feel right with the meds you are on go see your doctor! They are there to help and can get you on the right path to feeling better.
• Seeing a therapist can be very beneficial. Yes medication helps, but it can only go so far. Talking to someone can allow you to get advice from a third party and get everything off your chest.
• Never be ashamed of your mental illness. Understand that this is much more common than you know so never be embarrassed.

Mental illness needs to be talked about. People need to stop being so ashamed of what they are being diagnosed with because the truth of the matter is it doesn't make you an outcast or a psycho, it just makes you a human being. We all struggle with things and the more open we are to talking about it the more we can begin to help one another out.