I have trichotillomania, and when I tell people that, they have no idea what I am talking about. But when I tell them that it’s an OCD where the person pulls out his/her own hair, they think I’m psychotic. And that’s the case for a lot of mental illnesses; some people think that because you’re dealing with an illness that isn’t visible, you’re just crazy. I’m not sure if those people are just ignorant or if they are choosing to believe it doesn’t exist. So this is for those of you who don’t understand. And I’m not mad at you, but you need to learn the difference.
Mental illnesses, in short, are disorders that affect your mood, thinking, and behavior, just as physical illnesses affect how your body works. Nobody asks to have a physical illness, and nobody asks to have a mental illness, so why are we shaming mentally ill people by calling them crazy but not shaming physically ill people and calling them lazy?
An illness that is not visible does not mean that it does not exist. And similar to a broken bone, you cannot fix the problem by telling the person that is struggling to “just get over it.” These “psychotic” behaviors that people talk about, when they actually decide to talk about mental illness, are only there because the person dealing with the problem is not getting the help that they should be. Going to therapy and taking medication for mental illnesses are actually incredible ways to deal with the problem, yet nobody wants to encourage those resources, because if you go to see a therapist or if you take meds for something mental, you’re crazy. But then, if you choose to not use the resources and act out due to your mental illness, then you’re still getting called crazy because of the way you act.
We need to start treating mental health and physical health with the same severity. The stigma behind mental health being equal to psychotic or crazy only makes the person with mental health feel worse about what they are going through. Mentally ill people are not crazy. Say it with me: Mentally ill people are not crazy. We are all just trying to make it through this rollercoaster we call life and we need to be supportive of those who are struggling a little more than we are. Make the world a place where we can openly talk about mental health and the illnesses that some face, because no one deserves to feel like they’re crazy for something they can’t really control.
