My name is Anna and I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

This isn't the most defining aspect of my personality, but it's definitely not a fact that can be overlooked.

Reason being? It's fairly obvious.

One afternoon with me will typically showcase the highlights of my illness, such as:

"I did in fact just wash my hands five times in a row."

"I know I've asked you about this same topic five times, don't judge me."

And the ever obvious, "Yes, that is a pen flicking around in my hand, no, I don't notice that I do it and please, stop staring at me, I know it's annoying but you're making me feel bad."

This isn't just my personal problem. It seems that in most cases, non-mentally ill people don't always know how to act or behave around those of us who are. Our habits may be peculiar, we may do things that you aren't accustomed to and our moods are sometimes beyond our control.

A lack of knowledge? I can let that slide for a while. Straight up ignorance?

I would like to throw out there as a bit of a disclaimer, I realize that not everyone has the ability to be fully educated on this issue, and I am not talking about you. I'm talking about the people who are willingly uneducated and refuse to attempt to educate themselves because they just don't care.

I can let simple inexperience go because not everyone is educated on these things. That being said, those who intentionally or repeatedly act out of ignorance towards mentally ill people...I don't care if you know better or not after a certain point. I'm tired of hearing the same things and answering the same questions.

And I'm not just talking about my OCD. I mean people with other illnesses -- anxiety, depression, PTSD, schizo-related illness, to name a few -- get the same form of rhetoric. And though my list is by no means exhaustive, it's by far some of the worst things I've heard being said in reference to my or my friends' mental illnesses, and sweet Jesus, I want it to stop.

1. "I'm a little OCD too! I have to organize all my stuff!"

How often have we heard something along these lines? Not just with OCD, but with depression, anxiety, what have you?

To clarify, I don't mean the people who experience bouts of these issues in smaller quantities because your illness is valid. I mean the people who are arbitrarily inconvenienced or just a little anal and want to hyperbolize.

This kind of thing may sound funny to you, but it trivializes the struggle coming with an illness, and only perpetuates stereotypes about the illness.

Mental illnesses are not adjectives, and if you repeatedly do this as it's done around me, you're going to earn an audible eye roll. End of story.

This leads me to my next one.

2. "I was just joking about it! Lighten up, it's not that serious."

I've been known to call out this kind of thing before, and usually, I just get insulted for being too PC on the issue. Which may very well be the case, but your willingness to make light of something that is serious (and if you knew that, you wouldn't joke about it) is a jerk move.

3. "You don't look like you're mentally ill."

Will someone please explain to me what a mentally ill person looks like? Do people not realize we don't all have the same illness?

4. "Mentally ill...so, you're like, schizophrenic?"

I'm going to pause and be serious here for a minute. Please do not ever attempt to have an in depth-conversation with me on this topic if you don't know the basic differences between mental illnesses.

Schizophrenia, bipolar and multiple personality disorder, for example, have differentiating characteristics. I cannot explain how done I am with grown people using these terms interchangeably.

I've seen it. Multiple times. I have officially run out of patience with it.

5. "But you don't act like a crazy person."

I think the media has perpetuated the stereotype of the "crazy person" for so long that this very false stereotype has become ingrained in our minds as fact.

Yes, there are some mentally ill people who do have more advanced symptoms and require more care than others. But a good deal of us are high functioning and have had to learn to deal with our symptoms to get through day to day life.

Mental illness manifests in different ways, but the stereotypes people have about it date back decades. Isn't it time to move on from that?

6. "I knew someone with (insert mental disorder) and you're not as bad as them."

This sort of goes hand in hand with the last item, but again, not every illness manifests the same way. And your experiences are not fact.

7. "Are you sure you have that? Maybe it's something else?"

As someone who is both mentally ill and neuro-divergent, I have to say this is one of the single most hurtful things that can come out of someone's mouth. Odds are if someone confided in you about something so personal, it's because they trusted you. And being believed about our symptoms is a very big thing for a lot of us because we've dealt with rejection in the past.

I realize this statement's intention can be harmless, but if you really think about what you're saying, you'll realize how it might be coming off.

8. "Did you, like, ever try to kill yourself?"

I want to say, for the record, that despite what you may believe, not every mentally ill person self harms or is suicidal.

That being said, pointing out something like self harm scars is just an all around d*ck move and asking them about their medical history is intrusive and rude. Unless they trusted you with that information about their past, it's not your story to pry out of them.

9. "Everyone goes through that."

This is also in the vein of "that mental illness isn't a real thing," and other such "theories" that come from people who are clearly medical experts.

I love a good conspiracy theory as much as the next person, but you can't just write off the illness as a false thing just because you decided that you were a psychiatrist after reading a few Tumblr links.

As for "everyone goes through that from time to time," you know, I honestly don't doubt that's true. We all experience different emotions at different times. What separates that from mental illness is the frequency, intensity and impact on day to day life.

If you've never experienced it, I don't expect you to understand. But don't go around discrediting our issues just because you feel like you know better than we do.

10. "Why don't you just get over it?"

Wow! None of us ever thought of that!

Seriously, don't you think that if we could just flip some magical switch and make all of our problems go away, we would have done already? If for no other reason, then to get ignorant statements like this off our back for good.

Maybe there are people who still don't understand this, but mental illness is not something you can control. Sure, you can work on alleviating the severity of the symptoms, do behavioral therapy or if you prefer it, medication, but there is no fix or cure. It's something you just have to live with.

Unfortunately, that comes with a lot of ignorance on behalf of other people, and I know my article alone isn't going to change a lot of minds, let alone impact society towards the reform it needs.

All I'm saying is really think about what you say before you say it. Educate yourself. Mental illness is complicated, I think that's true all around. But it costs zero dollars not to be a jerk about it. Maybe give it a try.