May is Mental Health Awareness Month. If you are struggling with a mental illness, it is okay, you are human. If you don't, you still need to take care of your mental health.

When people hear mental health the immediately think mental illness so I am going to talk about what mental illness actually is rather than what people think it is.

Mental illness encompasses a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. This can include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors. Mental illness is deeper than the skin.

If your best friend called you and said they had broken their arm playing football, you would tell them to go to the doctor. If your best friend called you and told you they were depressed, what would you do?

Mental health is just as important as physical health. Just as you take care of your physical health, you should take care of your mental health.

A broken arm does not mean a broken person, neither does an eating disorder.

A person is not their mental illness. You don't stop talking to someone because they broke their arm so why would you stop talking to someone if they have a mental illness? Often times people think of a mental institution as a place for crazy people. Having a mental illness does not make someone crazy; it is just another part of being human.

Stop oversimplifying mental illness.

You wanting your crayons arranged by color is not OCD; OCD is having to go through a specific routine and feeling debilitated when something messes it up-you have to start over. Feeling anxious before a test is not anxiety; anxiety is waking up in the middle of the night sweating, uncontrollably hyperventilating, and having no reason why. Depression is not sadness: depression is being physically unable to get out of bed because your mind and body has gone numb. Saying you want to kill yourself because you didn't get your way is not being suicidal; being suicidal is having no will to live because you have lost sight if your purpose on this earth and see no way to find it.

A broken arm will not magically heal just because you want it to. Healing takes time.

"Stop acting so sad" "Can't you just take some medicine" "Quit acting like that"

You know, if fixing mental illness was as easy as taking a pill, wouldn't everyone do it? Does a broken arm heal overnight? Spoiler alert, it doesn't. For some people, mental illness is a lifelong battle. It is normal to go to the doctor when you break your arm as it should be if you have a mental illness. Asking for help does not make you weak.

Mental illness looks different for everyone.

I have seen "Cyberbully" and "13 Reasons Why", I know exactly what mental illness looks like. No, you do not. Sometimes people have depression without being bullied or going through a traumatic event. Sometimes people develop an eating disorder without being harassed about their body. Mental illness affects men and women of every color. Do not assume that you know everything about someone because you know they have a mental illness. There will be bad days and good days and that is okay.

If you are someone who has a mental illness and you are getting help, good! You are strong and I am proud of you. If you think you have a mental illness but are scared to ask for help, it's okay, mental illness can be scary. I know it may be intimidating to ask for help but you can do it. I believe in you. If you know someone with a mental illness, be there for them. You may not know what to do; just listen to them and let them know you care about them. Take care of your mind, it is the only one you get.