We all hear about it, more and more each day it gets recognized. It's mental illness- Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, the list can go on and on. Though there is science to back up the tangibility of mental illness, there are still those that because they cannot see it means that it isn't there. Sometimes what is more painful that the actual mental illness is the invisibility of it to those outside of our own bodies.

My junior year in high school I officially got a diagnoses of having a general anxiety disorder and depression. After years of going to the school counselor, group counseling, and the school psychologist, I finally had it on paper that something just was not right with me. I remember driving home after getting my prescription for my anti-depressant/anti-anxiety medicine and my parents and I were just silent. I could not come to terms with the fact that I had to take a pill to make it happy, I felt I was cheating in life someway. I went to school the next day and one of my favorite professors found me crying in the hallway, I explained what happened and I will never forget what he said to me, he said, "You taking those pills does not make you weak, if anything, it makes you stronger, the pills are meant to help enhance your life, it does not change it because you will it so."

Here is the thing that I have learned and I tell anyone who comes to me and tells me they just got prescribed pills, they do not work alone. Medication for mental illness will only work if you are also using them with therapy. Hours, and hours of therapy. Hours of trying to figure out how to accept your new normal, accept that who you are just needs a little help.

I've been told that if I prayed enough, I would be okay. If I was just strong enough to will the bad thoughts away, I would be okay. That my life would be better if I just didn't take those pills. This is what I want to say to every person who has said that to someone else who is sick: YOU ARE WRONG. The pills do not cure anything, they do not save anybody, they do not give us a leg up on life. They simply allow us to function to the best of our ability that you can do on your own, and only with the help of therapy. To the person who is taking those pills and are too scared to tell anyone, you don't have too. It is your business and you can when you are ready. But you are prescribed that medication for a reason. They will help you get to where you long to be.

Yes, yes, I know medications are overused, I know that sometimes doctors are just ready to write away pills, but everyone I have come across who takes medication truly need it. So I am going to continue to believe that there are good doctors out there.

I take 60 mg of Cymbalta every day. I take it every day and go to counseling every other week because it is what I need to do to continue to function. Not because I am just sad, not because I am just nervous, but because my mind plays tricks on me into thinking I am not worthy, that I am disposable, that everyone hates me, that I will fail in life, and it literally puts me into a stage of stillness. THAT is why I take my pills everyday. So I can succeed in school, do my job, be a good friend, be a good person. I, and others who take medication do not take it as a free pass, for a way to escape, for a way to be better at life than those around us. It just simply is not the case. Again, I know there are those who abuse medication, but parts do not speak for the whole.

If you know someone who is taking medication, love them. Let them know you are there, let them know that it is okay, that they are strong, and they can tell you what is going on. One of the best combats for mental illness is not having to hide it from the ones we love. And please, don't give up on us. The best combat of mental illness is support and acceptance.

If you are taking medication or think you're about to be at that point, you got this. It doesn't make you weak, it doesn't make you less than, it doesn't make you a slacker. It means you just have to do a little extra to be at the point in your life that you want and there will be the ones who shame you for it. Don't let that surround and encompass you.

I am 21 years old, and I have taken my medication in line with therapy since I was 17 years old. And despite what others have said, I am a better person because of it. Those fighting mental illnesses aren't weak, they are some of the strongest humans around.