I'm beginning to lose hope for humanity -for many reasons- but most importantly, because we still can't accept the fact that mental illnesses are real. Yes, they are a thing and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. It's 2017. In the past years, there has been an astounding amount of acceptance towards differences, yet we still act like mental illnesses aren't a thing. Depression is an act. Anxiety is fake. Eating disorders are a cry for attention. Psychologists’ job outlook is steadily decreasing. I'll never forget sitting in my AP Psychology class and telling my teacher I wished to be a psychologist only for him to reassure me that it wouldn't be a prospering career because America doesn't care that much about how our mind works anymore or finding the actual root to a number of our problems as a country. As bad as it crushed what I was passionate about, what intrigued me, and what I thought I could make a difference in, he was right.

Think about all that could be changed or prevented if we actually looked at mental illnesses for what they are. So many murderers and criminals commit crimes because they have a mental illness. We wait until after the crime has been committed to seek help for them, justify their actions, and to try to understand what exactly pushed them to their breaking point. Think of the young girl who committed suicide because everyone laughed at her depression. Taking her own life because everyone thought she was a crazed maniac in dire need of attention when all she needed was for someone to try to understand why she left the way that she did and try to love her against all odds.

Everyone is the first to admit to how wrong crimes are, how wrong it is for someone to suffer, or how terrible it is for someone to take their own life. While everyone wants to turn their heads at the fact of parents, family, and friends refusing to accept the truth. No one wants to notice that people frown upon therapists or finding help for mental illnesses. To them, if you seek help you are weak. If you're reading this and feeling ashamed, I'm talking to you.

On the other hand, if you are one of the brave souls living with a mental illness, my heart goes out to you. My hope is that one day this cold world will become a little less narrow-minded and naive. Until then, continue to rise above, don't let anyone belittle you or make you feel as if you are some vile disease. You are not your mental illness. You are not broken. You are strong. You are important. Don't deny yourself the help you deserve--don't try to be anything you are not--I beg of you to seek help. I beg of you to be proud of who you are. “Safe spaces” are not something to be ashamed of. Shed yourself from the negativity and those who are only out to see you fail. Fight for what you believe in.