When most people think about mental illnesses, they think about severe illnesses such as schizophrenia, multiple personality disorder, or someone committed into an insane asylum. We hear mental illness and we automatically limit a person's individual uniqueness and cast them off as crazy, stupid, or dangerous. What you don't usually think of is a person who is simply imprisoned in their own mind, someone who fights a battle that you never see, someone who is just desperately wanting to be understood, accepted, and to one day be set free. Instead we further lock them away in the cage of their own minds and pray it doesn't touch you because then it would get your hands messy. You may think metal illness will never touch you or your life, but I would dare say it already has.

Having a mental illness has been stigmatized and made into a monster that many never try to understand or ever dare to embrace. It has many faces and many names, but never any loves. From anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, substance abuse, addictions, etc, the list could go on and on. Chances are if you don't suffer from one of these issues, someone you know and love does. Yet we don't always show the support those who struggle in these silent wars need. It's not always answers, medication, or easily fixed. Sometimes it's just silence and open arms that are desired.

It has been proven that nearly 1 in 5 Americans suffer from a mental illness. "Every year, about 42.5 million American adults (or 18.2 percent of the total adult population in the United States) suffers from some mental illness...The data, compiled by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), also indicate that approximately 9.3 million adults, or about 4 percent of those Americans ages 18 and up, experience “serious mental illness” – that is, their condition impedes day-to-day activities, such as going to work," (newsweek.com). Yet most who struggle are forced to do so alone and are misunderstood. We partake in callous jokes, judgment, stereotypes, shaming, and seclusion and we claim it to be our "solution" to this issue when what we really have done is further the severity of the problem. What we need is awareness, support, and readily available help. Change begins with you. Don't be one of the many who shrug it off as a problem that doesn't affect you. Mental illnesses affect all of us, even you.

Take a stand and show support for those who silently struggle to live freely in their own minds.

Let's show love for all.