In America, approximately 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older or about 1 in 4 adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. Mental illness tends to be one of those things that is brushed off, or simply misunderstood. Many people may not mean to be ignorant-- they just believe that such illnesses aren't real because unlike physical illness, you can't always see the problem at hand.

Physical illnesses are simple. You have a stomach ache? There's a remedy for that. You have a fever? There's medication for that. Most physical symptoms that people suffer from can be relieved simply by going to a doctor. However, mental illnesses are a little different. Illnesses such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders or phobias are things that are not as easy to see. Many people suffer in silence from these debilitating illnesses, and it often takes longer for them to be diagnosed.

The real problem is the stigma surrounding mental disorders. If you are depressed, you can't just "snap out of it.” If you are anorexic, you can't "just start eating.” These diseases affect the brain, and are so much more complicated. Many people believe that mental illness is all in the person's head. So many cultures around the world don't believe in anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medication, because they don't believe depression and anxiety exist. Well, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older. Major Depressive Disorder is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. for ages 15 to 44, and it affects approximately 14.8 million American adults. So many people suffering from these diseases feel ashamed, because that is how society has made them feel. People suffering from a mental illness should never feel embarrassed. Your mental disorder does notdefine you.

So many people ignore mental illness simply because they are not educated on it. Unlike a common cold that millions of people get each year, not everyone understands how something like anxiety feels. Educating people on mental illness will help them understand what people are going through and make them more prepared to recognize and support people with these illnesses. Projects such as the semicolon project are a great way to raise awareness and show others that you are never alone. The semicolon tattoo's purpose is to emphasize the journey, and the fight. It symbolizes that someone could have ended their life because they didn't think it would ever get any easier. But instead, they decided to keep fighting, and to rise above their mental disorder. This kind of awareness is so empowering, and even more meaningful when you see just how many people have been through a similar experience.

It is without a doubt very difficult to understand what a mental illness is like if you are not living with it. With a society that makes people feel safe and encourages them to seek help instead of making them feel like less of a person for having a mental illness, I believe that we can improve the stigma.