Just snap out of it.
Just a month ago we were suppose to be celebrating Mental Health Awareness Month. Today, as I scroll through my news feed, I don't see anything being done about the mental health of these shooters we have spent the week obsessing over. This article is not about these tragic shootings. I will leave that for the professionals to debate. However, this is about how our society behaves so inconsistently. The man who shot and killed Christina Grimme was "deranged" according to several news sources. How is it that a mentally unstable man was able to buy and purchase a gun? (I realize that he could have found it off the black market with no problem at all, but he didn't. He was sold that gun.) I see hateful people discriminating against people I love. Depression and anxiety are real. Please open your eyes to what is right in front of you.
Here's just a little info about mental illness to put everything into perspective.
1 in 5 adults in america experience a mental illness
1 in 100 (2.4 million) american adults live with schizophrenia
18.1 (42 million) Americans live with an anxiety disorder.
Read that.
Read it again.
Yes, that's right. 2.4 million people live with one of the most severe mental illnesses known to man.
But, here is what I can't understand.
60 percent of mentally ill Americans did not receive any treatment.
Over half of affected people do not get treatment. Can you say the same for cancer? What about cardiovascular disease? Mental illness is just as debilitating as those other "easier to speak about" illnesses. I would never say that one illness is greater than another. However, I do know that these illnesses deserve just as much attention as any other medical illness.
Being a psychology major has changed me in ways I had never realized until now. Psychoeducation should be taught more vividly and strictly. We need to be teaching our future generations how to positively view mental health and the stigma that comes along with it. It wasn't until I began my first psychology course during college that I really understood how overlooked the field is.
I just want to encourage anyone who might be reading this article, to open up your eyes. Look around and notice that people are struggling even when you can't see it. So, be mindful of what you say and who you say it around. You never know who is struggling more than you could ever imagine. The joke or stupid comment you might make could destroy a complete stranger.
Remember, strangers are people too.
