Why are you acting like this? Is it for attention? Can you just stop?
Everyone has come into contact with someone who suffers from a mental illness. This can be a friend/family member who you deeply love or someone who sits behind you in the classroom. “One in five adults experiences a mental health condition every year. One in 17 lives with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.” It is frightening for both the sufferer and the support system.
The sufferer is thinking "why can I not control myself? Why do I do this? What is wrong with me?"
The support system is thinking "I don’t know what to do. Am I making it worse?"
Society is lacking knowledge on what mental illness is. We are not taught how to handle it. We form the idea that it's something that's not right. It begins to become a label. Stereotypes are common in this day and age. You have heard them before. Blondes are dumb, Asians are smart and African Americans are ghetto. In mental illness, you are the crazy one.
In October 2015, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I did not react strongly. There was always a small voice in the back of my head that knew for a while. A close friend of mine of over six years could tell from the first time we met. I was always back and forth. It only became worse, which led to seeking help. Through regular treatment and counseling, I have successfully not had an episode since the night of November 22.
No one is just a label. You are not just black or white. You are not just gay or straight. You are not just sick or sane. Every human being is a complex and uniquely created character. An individual is so much more than something that they cannot control or what they are categorized as through cultural means. It is shameful that someone becomes so simplified. Mental illness is looked down upon as a disability that makes us feel incapable that there is something wrong with us. The truth is there is nothing wrong with that part of us. Your brain fires differently than what is considered the normal. Being different is not wrong. It becomes one more piece of you that can be used to create great things.
Look around you. That one person that is always in the gym when you are but you have never made conversation. That one person who is always sitting in the library alone. That one person who you call your best friend. There is so much more to them than what is seen or thought. There are many puzzle pieces that create their whole identity.
I have a mental illness but I am not just my mental illness. I am me.
