To those who know someone with a mental illness:
Please be patient. Like any other organ, the brain can get sick. When the brain gets sick, it is hard to know where it comes from and why. It is difficult to deal with and sometimes, we can tell that the way we function may be a little skewed.
When you have a mental illness, you are not in full control of your brain. When you have a sort of phobia, you have an irrational fear that can be crippling. When you are depressed, you could have the best things in the world but that will not change that you have difficulty getting up in the morning. When you have severe schizophrenia, you see and hear things that are not there and usually heavy medication is the only way to minimize your symptoms.
Mental illness can often be crippling. Along with the side effects of the illness itself, you have to deal with the side effects of how the world treats you. There is a stigma that faces mental illness and it makes it difficult for people to ask for help. Mental illness is viewed as something that people fake or that it is not life altering and nobody really understands what it is like to live with a mental illness (or even multiple illnesses) unless you have one.
Please understand that this is not something that is easy. As someone that suffers from anxiety and depression, I understand that my thoughts are not accurate. I understand that my perception of the world is altered because of my mental illnesses but that means nothing. I cannot change the way I perceive the world around me without proper treatment, and sometimes even that may not be fully effective.
Please understand that, like any other disease, this is real and it is a major part of our lives. It is something we must deal with and it is crucial to have a strong support system to help us get through our daily lives. We constantly deal with the stigma that we are faking or that our illness is not serious, that we need to get over it.
When something is taking over your brain and changing how you behave, perceive the world, and feel, it is difficult to even understand yourself. I have trouble finding a time in my life where I did not suffer from any sort of mental illness. Mental illness severely alters a person's life and, sometimes, we just need you to be patient with us.
It is okay that you don't know exactly how it feels. If anything, be thankful that you don't. That does not mean you should write our illness off as something you don't need to worry about.
Encourage your loved ones to worry about their mental health. Don't be afraid to worry about your own. Anyone can suffer from a mental illness. For years, I questioned why my brain worked the way it worked and I struggled to understand myself. I thought I was messed up and I didn't know any better.
Educate yourself about mental health. Understand what happens to a person when they suffer from a mental illness. Understand that, though every illness is different, they are all the same in that every single one is serious. We all need to start caring for ourselves more.
We lose loved ones to suicide every minute of every day. Suicide is too common of a side effect and without erasing the stigma and taking mental health seriously, we will only continue to lose more loved ones. They may not be your sister, a parent, or a friend, but they are a person. As tragic as it is to lose someone because of cancer, it is just as tragic to lose someone because of mental illness. Not all that suffer from mental illness commit suicide but the rate is still much too high.
We are not faking. We are not weak. We are strong.
Let us know you are there. Let us know that you care. It will be difficult but, know that it is most difficult on us. Please be patient. Please be kind.
Please understand.
