Mental illness is a topic that people like to ignore, even if it's something that affects them personally. It makes a person look weak, despite being completely uncontrollable. Every year more and more is learned about different categories of mental illness. Most people are familiar with things such as anxiety, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), or ADD (attention deficit disorder). But most don't actually fully understand how these disorders affect people daily.

Anxiety, for example, can present itself in a variety of ways. I myself struggle with a general anxiety disorder, making day to day worries harder to filter.

OCD or obsessive compulsive disorder usually goes along with an anxiety disorder. Symptoms can include either having repetitive worries or the need to engage in compulsive behavior. This might include things like having to wash one's hands a certain number of times or count before leaving a room. However, OCD isn't just a person having to compulsively wash their hands, it can present itself in several ways, which many are unaware of.

The spectrum of autism is another topic that is widely misunderstood. On the high functioning, end are individuals with Asperger's Syndrome, people who might struggle with social interaction but are still able to interact at a high level. On the other end, there is low functioning autism, usually affecting basic language and social skills. In the middle exist many different cases with people that have very different symptoms. In my own school, I have noticed people misusing the word retarded. Because they are misinformed many of my peers just assume that a student with autism is mentally retarded. This student might just have trouble interacting with people but instead, is thought to be or called stupid. And it honestly breaks my heart.

In this day in age, studies of mental illness have improved so much that this word is slowly being replaced with educated words such as an individual having special needs. Mental illnesses can range in so many different ways and I think the education system has failed to correctly inform students. I pray that instead of assuming people will try to understand the horrible diseases that plague so many people's minds; so many more minds than we know.

In my opinion, being educated on mental illness is even more important in this generation. Every day it seems like another shooting has happened, one that easily could have been prevented. If you were to research all shootings or hostages in the past ten years you would find almost all of them are caused by mental illness. A person struggling with schizophrenia, perhaps off their medicine, found access to a weapon and had some sort of breakdown.

I hope that as our world becomes more and more informed that we can not only advocate for the mentally ill but provide measures that prevent them from hurting others.