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Things Mental Illness Is Not
So many things
Mental illness is still highly stigmatized in the US. Though I tend to be self-conscious about everything else, for whatever reason, I have never been ashamed of my mental illness. I’ve always been open to talking and writing about it freely, as well as reading almost any material regarding mental illness I can get my eyes on, whether it be treatments, new drugs, scientific breakthroughs, etc. Maybe I’m not self-conscious about it because I’ve known from a young age I was depressed; it’s been a fact of my life as far back as I can remember.
But when I write about my struggles with mental illness, invariably I get mean comments about it. The comments don’t bother me in the least, because I know the person making them is clearly clueless about their own mental health. I mean, anyone who’d make fun of PTSD and other disorders has obviously got issues themselves, and mental illness goes largely undiagnosed and untreated in the US. It’s easy to call someone else “crazy,” in this culture, and far more difficult to admit you need help.
Mostly, though, I get responses from people thanking me to have the nerve to write about my own struggles with mental illness because it makes them feel not so alone. It’s nice when people say that, but it’s also very telling. The fact that so many people feel as though they can’t talk about…
