Depression- noun: feelings of severe despondency and dejection. “You have no reason to be depressed, so many people have it so much worse than you, you’re fine.” Bipolar Disorder- noun: a mental disorder marked by alternating periods of elation and depression. “You are so moody and indecisive, make up your mind.” PTSD- noun: an anxiety disorder associated with serious traumatic events and characterized by such symptoms as survivor guilt, reliving the trauma in dreams, numbness and lack of involvement with reality, or recurrent thoughts and images. “Why are you freaking out? What happened wasn’t even that bad, relax.” Anxiety- noun: a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. “Your fears are irrational, you have no reason to be worried”
Mental illness is constantly being downplayed because society only sees the definition of these words, not how it affects people’s lives in huge ways, every single day.
You would never guess that boy in your English class that barely ever shows up to class or does any of his work isn’t just “lazy” and “partying too much,” he’s actually suffering from severe depression. You would never think twice about the girl at the frat party who’s downing shots and dancing with all her friends one weekend, but the next, she’s crying in the corner of a dirty frat bathroom. She’s going through a depressive state with her Bipolar disorder. You would never guess that your good friend on your dorm floor that has all of a sudden stopped going out with you on the weekends and never seems to leave her dorm, is actually going through PTSD, and severe anxiety from when she was raped by a guy she thought she was friends with.
Overwhelming amounts of college students in today’s society are going through or have already experienced some form of mental illness. But what’s even more concerning is the stigma that seems to be constantly lurking behind having a problem with your mental health. Nobody wants to admit there is something wrong with them because a lot of the time they convince themselves that they are “screwed up” and that their reasons for acting the way they are may seem irrational to other people. When the National Alliance of Mental Illness did a survey of college students they found a tremendous amount of students that dropped out, did so due to a mental health related issue.
Mental illness is something that has impacted my life in a huge way. From being someone who has experienced it for myself in the past, to having loved someone who battles with it every day and can’t seem to find a way out, to knowing people who couldn’t overcome their battles. Mental illness is all around us. It could be affecting anyone around you, even those you think you know the best. So, be conscious and be compassionate and educate yourself before you make assumptions.
Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
