It's all about perception. How we perceive the world is how we react and respond to the situations and opportunities that present themselves before us. This is how we develop our personalities and this is what makes us all unique individuals. It's how we see the world. Some see the glass half-full while others see it full. Some don't see it at all and then there are those that can see the glass but have trouble interpreting what they are seeing. Are they blind? No. These are people that are struggling with mental illness.

Every day their minds evolve and one day they can see the glass clearly and open themselves up to the world like a blooming flower and then there are days where they can't see the glass or they feel like an empty glass -- shallow and full of despair. These thoughts come and go and can leave the person physically and emotionally drained. This is alarming to a normal person and a common misconception is that all mentally ill people are violent and homicidal. That's where the problem lies. That's why so many people go undiagnosed for months or even years. Mental illness seems to be a source of shame for American society.

But I'd like to let you know that I am the human side to this terrible disease. My father has struggled with schizophrenia for many years and I've seen him on his good and bad days. I would cry when he had his "episodes" because there was nothing I could do to help. He would look at me in such a way as to say "help me" but he would speak and act otherwise. It's as if something possessed his body but his mind knew something was not right. I never told my friends my father had this disease for fear of ridicule. I also had this fear that if I told the wrong person they would have him institutionalized which would break up my family. So I kept my mouth shut for years -- until now. People need to see the human behind the disease.

My father developed schizophrenia as a result of suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) from his time of serving in the Army. When I was younger I never noticed it until it came to a head one day when I was 10 years old.

My mom went to work and left me and my dad at home. She was the breadwinner since my dad was considered "disabled." He fixed me breakfast and served it to me. While preparing breakfast I noticed he began picking up the floor lamp and other items and placing them at our front door. After eating he said he needed to take these items to a friend that moved in down the street. I thought, "Why can't his friend buy these items himself? What a cheapskate!" One by one he brought the items outside and walked down the street with them. This went on for nearly an hour.

Then the phone rang. It was my best friend's mom that lived on the street behind us. She asked if my mom was home but she wasn't. Then she asked me if I was aware my dad was bringing furniture to an empty lot on the corner, placing them down and going back for more. I played dumb but I already knew where this was going. She ended the call stating she would call the police because he was "acting up again."

I panicked and called my mom at work. She rushed home just to meet the police at our door interrogating my dad and I. My mom and I had to make excuses for him. We needed the police to feel pity not suspicion.

He didn't take his meds for quite some time so we knew it was coming. They threatened to take him but what for? He was calm and almost charming when they questioned him. He said he took the furniture to a friend, he saw nothing wrong with that. Grudgingly the police left but they warned us that next time this happened they would Baker Act him and that would be the end of him (or so we thought). After that we forced him to sit down and shoved the medicine in his mouth and he swallowed it. He went to sleep until the next day.

He woke up and we asked him if he remembered what happened and he did not. A few weeks later he told us he had a dream that he took furniture to his old army buddy's home to help him move in. In his mind he was only trying to help but there was one issue -- his friend died nearly 30 years before that. He stepped on a landmine and was killed right in front of my father's eyes.

My father felt guilt for years over this and it manifested itself into schizophrenia.

Even though this incident seemed bizarre to an average person did you see the human side to this? We should all take note that all mentally ill people still have a human side even though their minds are considered flawed. Stop using it as an excuse and start giving it the attention it deserves.