Imagine a friend walking into class late one day with a cast on his or her leg, complete with crutches and a noticeable limp. Imagine hearing the unmistakable sound of someone blowing their nose on a piece of tissue and coughing violently. These are just two examples of maladies that our society acknowledges by offering sympathy and proper healthcare. Events like these, especially those with discernible symptoms, are generally recognized as normal illnesses and injuries. Can the same be said for illnesses that plague the brain, arguably one of the body's most vital organs?

We know the horrific history of how society dealt with mental illnesses before the much-needed reform, but there are still significant strides to be made. With one in four American adults experiencing mental illness in a given year (61.5 million individuals), it would seem imperative to offer more accessible health care and dismantle the stigma that still rests with mental illness. Would it surprise you that approximately 60 percent of Americans with a mental illness received no mental health services in the past year?

Though an illness is not visible to others, this does not mean the illness does not exist or does not require care. With 42 million Americans living with anxiety disorders and 14.8 million with major depression, it is evident that mental health issues are widespread and affect large numbers of people. The issue is certainly social when African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans use mental health services at one-half the rate of white Americans, proving that there are disproportionate levels of access among various groups.

It is clear that a problem exists in recognizing the equal importance of mental and physical health. (Did I mention that those with serious mental illnesses are prone to an increase in medical conditions?) We so often invalidate the mental health experiences of others because we cannot observe the effects in the same way. While a broken bone or virus can manifest in specific ways and require a certain treatment, disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder can be difficult to determine and may vary according to the individual. One person's anxiety may be completely different from another's, and the danger lies in assuming that all people experience mental illness in concrete, often stigmatized terms.

Symptoms are used as adjectives in our society, and often the words "psycho," "bipolar" and "depressed" are employed descriptively and jokingly because many people do not understand how to address serious matters. As someone who deals personally with anxiety, I am disheartened to see online posts glamorizing it. The motives are challenging to determine because many individuals will resort to humor to mask their discomfort with mental health discourse, and it remains unclear if users are speaking openly about their struggles in a humorous way or if they are romanticizing a disorder that is certainly never "cute." I want to feel comfortable sharing my stories with friends and explaining how, like chronic physical issues, I experience mental struggles on a regular basis. The more we communicate with one another about our perspectives, the easier it is to develop a better understanding.

Why is it not considered imperative to allocate funds towards mental health care when mental illnesses cost America $317 billion in loss earnings per year? By disregarding the necessity of mental health care and comfortable discussion, our society discourages growth and instead chooses to "other" those who suffer. Do we laugh and joke about sprained ankles and cancer? Certainly not. Instead we ice and rest the ankle and try to offer the cancer patient the best care. Somehow mental illnesses are not treated in the same way, and individuals are less likely to seek care for a malady that is just as dire. Whether people think mental illnesses will "go away" over time or define an individual, it is truly disheartening that sufferers are invalidated for their experiences.

We need to normalize mental illnesses and approach them with concern and appropriate treatment. There may not be a simple solution to the lack of available care, but at the very least we can ask ourselves how we talk about these struggles, whether they belong to us or close ones. Above all, we need to be willing to understand that we all may experience mental illness in different ways (some people will experience it more severely), and that these maladies are not to be used as jokes. Ask yourself the following, "Is there anything I can do differently to help?" By changing the way we talk about mental illness, we will slowly begin to alter its perception in society for the better.