318.9 million people live in America, and 42.5 million of them suffer from a mental illness. That's actually under 20 percent of our population. Even though it's such a small number, those people need a voice. So many Americans are uneducated about mental illnesses. There are so many stigmas attached to the several illnesses like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, etc. It's not just mental illness that people need to know more about, it's suicide and self-harm, as well. Many repeat it time and time again, how serious and important these issues are, and yet, in 2015 it's still not taken seriously.
First of all, mental illnesses are not adjectives.
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People, especially young adults and teenagers, don't seem to understand the difference between these horrible illnesses and a temporary feeling.
So to that girl that thinks cleaning makes her OCD "come out," I'm very sorry to inform you how wrong you are.
To the boy who calls his ex-girlfriend a "psycho" please for the love of God stop throwing the term "psycho" around so recklessly.
Being depressed, having panic attacks: These things are very real. They aren't terms to be used so loosely and they most certainly are not jokes. Depression is terrifying, it isn't "beautiful" or "romantic." Having a panic attack isn't a cute "quirk" a person has, it's walls collapsing in on you and the oxygen escaping your lungs.
"Mental Illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but the stigma and bias shame us all" -Bill Clinton
I'll say it again — it's 2015, why on Earth are people still making a joke out of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and so much more?
You would think, with everything American high schools do with ending bullying, they would actually talk about mental health. Depression, anxiety and other disorders all develop in high school and have become more and more common. Kids in high school are doped up on depression medication, thinking about ending their lives and they barely know how to drive yet. Ignorance is what makes these situations worse. Kids are actually bullied for having these illnesses.
It's so easy for kids to laugh about being "crazy" because it's easy to joke about it, even though none of them know the first thing about living with a mental illness.
Little do they know, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death, with a life being taken due to suicide every 13 minutes in the US. For years, people have been choosing to take their own life and very rarely is it ever talked about.
It makes you wonder how many lives need to be taken too soon for America to finally wake up and educate their young people on mental illness. One in five Americans suffer from a mental illness and they should not, and do not deserve to be suffering in silence any longer.
