The stigma that surrounds mental illness is complete bullshit. There is no problem or shame from suffering that we have little control over. It is 2017 people, a time that cars are self driving and romance is in the form of swiping left and right on an app. Why is there still a stigma surrounding mental illness?! IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP!
Mental illness is not preventable. It is almost like cancer. There are times that something can trigger it but it can also just happen. You cannot train or strengthen yourself to avoid the illness like you can for your body to prevent injuries in sports. You cannot just bundle up like you do when you go outside when you feel like you have a cold. And this is why its bullshit.
How many people have told someone with cancer to just 'suck it up' or 'just be happy' or 'its only cancer, just get over it'? Probably none of us. So why is it acceptable to tell someone suffering from another invisible illness that? The patients that suffer from various illnesses suffer enough. We surely dont need to hear any of your stupid comments about something you have most likely have never experienced and know very little about. Not being able to get out of bed and missing the whole day is worse enough, the ones who say we are 'lazy' can go suck one.
When in therapy, a counselor once told me that mental illness is much like a broken leg but much worse. It is not something that is healed in 6 or 9 weeks. Not something that you can take a pain medicine and the pain will be gone. Its something that can take months to get under control. Medications are usually trial and error and can take months to start to be effective. I always think that its funny how if someone hurts their leg, everyone rushes to help them and get them help but how many people will rush to help their friend who is sad? Very few.
Something else that is interesting is how it seems that no one suffers from mental illness however it is reported that 1 in 5 adults suffer and 1 in 5 children suffer. It is reported that 60% of americans neglected to get treatment in the year prior. Thats a lot of fucking people for it to not be considered a problem. I can bet that most of them neglected to seek help because of the stigma. Because of the fear that people would treat them differently or that they would appear weak. Because, you know that if you go to a doctor for something that is not right physically it is ok because something is wrong but, if you go because something is not right mentally you are weak or wanting attention.
It is a shame that it can take a suicide for people to realize that this is a problem. Interesting how everyone always says 'there are always other options' or 'there is always so much to live for' but how do you say that to someone who suffers from an illness that society does very little to recognize and fix? How do you tell that to the person who has reached out to their friend saying they were sad or could not get out of bed and that friend responded with 'just be happy' or 'don't be lazy'?
So this is for those that tell people that are suffering to 'man up' or something else that as equally unsupportive, GET A GRIP. This is a serious issue and a crisis. The negative connotation needs to end now and that starts with us. Stand up and support those that are struggling because in this world, you could be the only one.
