So here's the deal: you are your own person. If you have a mental illness, it should never be about “which disorder is worse” or “who has better odds at recovery or “who has the most diagnoses." I cannot tell you how many times I've heard people talking like this--especially online--and describing how they're the one with the most problems or that they're in more pain or have more symptoms than another person. Let me say this nice and clearly for the people in the back: Dealing with a mental illness is not a competition.

The thing is, people are so worried about measuring up to others all the time in every aspect of life that having a mental illness becomes just another way to prove yourself. People are less concerned with "am I getting better?" and more concerned with "am I suffering as much as x person?" Everyone dealing with a mental illness is in pain. Everyone dealing with a mental illness is hurting. We're so afraid of the stigma, of being seen as less-than or faking, that we're comparing ourselves to others in this community.

And that's not healthy.

Why? Because at the end of the day, you need to worry about you; not whether or not you “measure up” to what the definition of mental illness looks like, or if you’ve got way less “intense” diagnoses than other people, or how many times you’ve relapsed in comparison to others. Why do you need to invalidate the struggles of others to make yourself look/feel better (or worse) by comparison?

We, as a community, as a group of people struggling with something very real and very painful--we need to stick together. We must encourage each other to get better and healthier instead of arguing over who is the worst off and whether or not we deserve to get better. The truth is, we all deserve happiness. Is that so hard to believe? But we will never find that happiness in tearing other people or other disorders down, or by measuring ourselves up to how others are or aren't recovering.

So my advice to you is this: heal at your own pace. Every step towards recovery is a step in the right direction. In the wise words of Tumblr/Confucius, It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop. Don’t give up. Don’t give in. And don’t compare yourself to others.