Next month it will be three years since I was diagnosed with a severe generalized anxiety disorder. Since then, I have come a long way. Not just by overcoming and learning how to control my mental illness, but also in the way that I came out stronger, and with more passion. My mental illness does not take away from my value as a person, no matter how hard it tries to convince me that it does. If you were to have just met me, I would be able to hold a conversation with you, smile, and act as anyone else would, despite what is going on inside my head. It is unlikely that you would come to the conclusion that I suffer mentally after leaving a conversation with me. You might even want spend more time with me, and have us build up a relationship together.
That is until I inform you that I am mentally ill, your desire to hang out or get to know me, may quickly change.
When you mention something about the mentally ill, people are quick to associate it with things like a mental hospital, psych wards, or mental facilities. They think of serial killers, a violent, crazy person. People get scared, without even attempting to understand. That is the problem.
For the longest time, there has been such stigma surrounding mental illness. The outside world views us as insane. There is this fear built up around the word “mental”. When it’s used, it is done so negatively. This leaves people feeling trapped. They seek and need help, but do not want to be viewed as crazy. I vividly remember sitting in a hospital room after having my first blown out anxiety attack, unsure of what had just happened. I remember how I felt once I was told I have a mental illness. I remember telling myself that I would keep it a secret, not letting anyone ever know. Already, I was terrified of having others view me as insane for something I had no control over. It made me feel like I lacked any worth of a person, and beat myself up over it constantly.
How is that okay? Someone who is sick, who needs help, to only get the complete opposite. Yet, when you take away the mental aspect, and just have someone who is ill, for some reason it changes things. When somebody is physically sick, even if it just being a fever or a cold, all of sudden people want to help. People sympathize for you. You are taken to a doctor to get treated. Your parents understand why you are laying in bed from morning till night, your teachers excuse you for the day, because your illness is now valid. It’s suddenly real to them, because they can see it. Even though there are mental illnesses that cause people to harm themselves and change their appearances, no one tries to understand.
The mentally ill don’t get told, “I hope you feel better soon!”, “What can I do to help?”, or “You don’t deserve this”. Instead, they get, “It’s just in your mind.”, “You’re over exaggerating!”, “Why are you so lazy?”, and a handful of other uncalled for phrases. Why is it when the word “mental” is put in front of “ill”, the desire to help suddenly goes away? Why am I left helpless simply because you cannot see my illness? Why am I called an attention seeker for something I would give away in a split second if I could?
Stop being so scared of the word mental. Stop stereotyping and adding to the stigma by viewing mentally ill people as freaks. Stop letting something as serious as mental illness be brushed off to the side. Help those in your life who told you they have a mental illness. Be apart of the community striving to give mental health the recognition it deserves, instead of only adding to the stigma. Then, you will see the change.
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