Mental illness is a touchy subject. Some people may feel like those with mental illness don't actually have mental illness (trust me, I've been told its all in my head.) The truth is this: We need to talk about mental illness. We do and we can't skirt around the issue and say oh it's not that bad. It is that bad and as a college student with a mental illness myself, it's hard. It's bad and it's hard and it's being ignored but also there's this point: I am not my mental illness and my mental illness is not all that glorious.

There are so many different mental illness's from anxiety to depression to schizophrenia to post traumatic stress disorder to addiction and so many more. Not one person with any of these wants to be categorized by their illness, why would they? If they tell you about it then they want you to know about it for a variety of reasons. Maybe it's so you can help them or maybe it's just so you are aware incase something were to happen like a break down cause those can happen out of nowhere.

We need to talk about mental illness because it's pretty common. College kids left and right are dealing with moderate to severe anxiety and possibly depression which makes going to school even more difficult. Those who serve our nation are coming back from deployments with varying degrees of PTSD and not getting the help they deserve.With it not being talked about, so many people in our nation are being denied care they so desperately need and want.

Take a look at the criminal justice system. We have a lot of repeat offenders in jail and prison. One lady has been in jail over 300 times due to her mental illness and she hasn't received any care at all but all the jail time could be prevented if she would have gotten it. College students with anxiety and/or depression may not make it through college simply because they're too scared to get help because they don't understand how it works or they're scared people will find out and taunt them. PTSD is so taboo of a topic that very few veterans actually get the help they need even when they seek it out. Something needs to change and that change has to start at the bottom and it needs to be talked about.

Addiction is also a mental illness even though some will dismiss it as one. Yes people willingly decide to make that first choice but have you realized some people have a harder time than others when trying to quit an addiction like smoking? Some can quit cold turkey and never go back, others can quit and go back multiple times. Addiction is an illness and those people who are in and out of jail because of addiction need rehab, not jail time. They also need that wake-up call. Expecting mom's who are addicts tend to get that call when their child is born addicted to whatever they are and that baby is put through the withdraw system and has severe tremors those first few days of life.

I am not my mental illness but it apart of me. It knocks us down and if we have the support system we need we can come back from that and be better but if we don't have that support we may continue to spiral downwards. The change starts with you. With learning about mental illness by talking about it. With asking questions like "how can I help" if someone is having a panic attack or if someone is depressed and needs someone to just sit with them. Ask questions if you know someone who is willing to answer them but don't poke if they don't want to answer. Everyone with a mental illness deals with it differently so remember that. What works for one person may not work for another.