There is a stigma on mental illness. Sometimes, people view those who have mental health disorders as being incapable of handling their ordinary lives as well as possibly being accused of being too unstable to be allowed to make their own decisions. The stigma is used negatively and inappropriately to try to destroy the credibility of people by falsely claiming that some people have them as well as obscuring the truth and harmlessness of what it is like to truly have one. After learning about a vast array of mental health disorders, I can conclude that a mental illness is physiological. Mental health disorders are created by chemical imbalances in the brain, and they usually require medication and therapy much like regular physical health problems. Just like physical health problems that require medication, so do mental health disorders. However, what is unique about mental health disorders is that they can also influence the emotions and can stem from realistic sources. Depression's source is the knowledge that not everyone can have a happy ending and that some aspects of life are fragile. Anxiety's source is the knowledge that every decision can close a door and open another, but the knowledge that the closed door may never open again with all its secrets behind it. Mental health disorders can stem from the knowledge of the fragility of our wellbeing. Learned helplessness is derived from the knowledge that not everything in one's life is going to be in one's control.

However, there is an unhealthy, unfair, and oppressive stigma on mental health disorders. In fact, people are accused of being "crazy" as an insult and as a means to destroying their credibility. They say, "oh, this person cannot simply handlethis situation because they are crazy with <insert mental health disorder here> when that person does not have a mental health disorder. This distorts the accurate identity of those who have mental health disorders. The people who actually have these mental health disorders can handle many situations and live fulfilling lives, but their stories and perceptions of their lives are obscured and invalidated by the stigmas that are used to make their perspectives seem illegitimate. Many people with actual mental illnesses struggle, but not to the point that they need to be locked up or be considered lesser than people without them. In our society, the stigma is associated with violence. The stigma is this: apparently, anyone with a mental illness is unstable, which implies that they could become violent and harm other people. Not all mental illnesses are associated with violence. In fact, the majority of them are not. Instead, the people who end up being violent are the ones that cannot control their emotions such as anger and wrath, which is not always associated with mental illness.

A girl in one of my college classes wrote an ethnography about the stigma on mental illness. Although this girl was never diagnosed with a mental health disorder and had never seen a therapist, she was alone during a spring break at her parent's house. Isolation is known for being extremely disabling and debilitating for EVERYONE, so she naturally began to feel lonely. She thought she was getting temporarily depressed, so she called a hotline. She did not want to worry her parents. However, within 15—30 minutes some cops showed up and took her away to a mental health hospital. She was forced AGAINST HER WILL to be locked up in a mental health hospital. Fortunately, she had smuggled in her phone down her pants and texted her parents to let them know what was going on. She was in that mental health hospital for approximately 24 hours before her parents came to release her. During her time inappropriately locked up, she found that they had inappropriately diagnosed her with schizophrenia and three other mental health disorders that she has never had. She was traumatized by what had happened to her during this spring break in Oklahoma. She only wanted to call a hotline for comfort; she was not expecting to be locked up.

Someone wanted to invalidate her perspective. Her voice did not matter: she was forced to have a diagnosis of a mental health disorder that she never had. The reason that this was done was because of the evil stigma on mental illness. The issue is that having a mental health disorder should not destroy ANYONE's credibility as a professional AND no one should try to use the stigma to lock people up against their will. The stigma is an immediate weapon using to justify harming another person or destroying their validity as being capable of making rational decisions. Yet there are SO MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE BOTH SUCCESSFUL, INTELLIGENT, AND COMPLETELY CAPABLE OF LIVING HEALTHY LIVES WITH MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS.

Abraham Lincoln was known to have a mental health disorder, but he effectively leads the United States during the Civil War. There has been speculation about Albert Einstein having dyslexia. There has been speculation about F. Scott Fitzgerald, Audrey Hepburn, Emma Thompson, Ernest Hemingway, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Harrison Ford all having clinical depression. None of these people needed to be locked up because of mental health disorders. In fact, locking them up would have inhibited any contributions they made to society. People cannot contribute to society while they are locked up or lacking credibility. If we reinforce the stigma that only acts as a weapon to oppress people, then we only inhibit everyone's ability to contribute to society. Instead, every dilemma regarding mental health should be handled case-by-case to prevent the reinforcement of the stigma and also maintain the safety of the entire population.