"You have a disorder"

"You have something special"

"You have an illness"

Any of these things may have been said to you at a younger age when you were told you had a mental illness. What exactly is a mental illness? It is a broad spectrum of illnesses that affect your behavior, your thought process, and your mood. Anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, ADD, ADHD, etc, there are so many of these out in the world that you are battling with or against right now, and it takes it toll. I can't say I know what it is like, because I do not have a mental illness, but I know countless numbers of you do, and you need to know something very important regarding what you have.

It is classified as an "illness", and that sounds like you are different in a bad way, but it should not be classified as that, because it is something that makes you unique, not different in a bad way, and it is not a scar on your life, it is something that has made you who you are today.

You were told from the get go you were "special", and not in the form it is usually intended. The bad news for those that said that to you is this: You are special, in the way that word is intended to be meant. Your strength is special, your courage is special, and everything in which you carry yourself in your day to day life is special. There is a negative assumption around mental illnesses and that needs to stop. Society looks at them as a black mark, like a flock of sheep, when the ones that look at it in that way have no idea what it means to battle the way you all do on a repetitive basis. You have the strength to move mountains and you have already moved so many mountains in your life already. You have never stopped battling and that is something that will make you ready when you have others in your life in the future that battle the same demons. God gives his toughest battles to his strongest warriors and you all are the toughest in the world, never forget that.

I have close friends that battle one or more of these every single day and if I tried to put my admiration for them into words, this would be the longest article in the world, so this is for all of you out there, whether I have crossed paths with you or not. Thank you for showing me what being truly strong is like. I speak for many when I say we hope to be like you one day, and we also admire you for your bravery. You will never be alone in this fight, myself, and millions more will always be in your corner, right there for you as you battle whatever is thrown your way. One day, we will conquer the negative stigma of Mental illness forever, and the world will know just how strong each of you really are, and you will become figures of strength for so many in the world who need it. You are amazing, special, strong and so many other adjectives, but I will leave you with one word: Fighter. Keep fighting, keep winning, keep getting stronger, and when you conquer this all one day, we will stand with you on top of the latest mountain you moved in life.