I have all the blessings in the world. A healthy, loving, unconditionally supportive family. Wonderful friends. A sheltered lifestyle of comfort. The gift of a great education. The opportunity to pursue my passions for gymnastics and dance. A bright future. I was dealt an amazing hand at birth. What more could I ask for?

I excelled academically throughout middle school and high school. I will be attending an awesome university this fall. My passion, work ethic and determination to succeed serve as inspiration to others. To the outside world, I am “friendly,” “cheerful,” “confident”, “bubbly”, “radiant.”

But there’s another side to this story- one kept under wraps, hidden behind a plastic smile and cheery voice.

Like many other teens and young adults around the world, I suffer from anxiety and depression.

In the beginning, I never revealed this side of myself, not even to my closest friends. I was terrified of what people may think of me, should they find out my secret. People will treat me differently, I thought. They will look at me as a victim, a pitiable creature. I’d have no friends if my greatest imperfection was revealed.

But slowly, with the help of therapy, I came to see mental illness not as a defining characteristic of my identity, but as a challenge to be overcome. Only by accepting and embracing my illness was I empowered to transcend it.

While presenting this side of myself to the public eye is not easy, I think the discussion of mental illness is an important conversation to have, and I hope my story will shed light on what life is like for a young person battling with mental health conditions. This post is the first of many more I will write about depression and anxiety. Through my series on mental health illness, I aim to humanize depression and anxiety to help others better understand the nature of such illness. I want to debunk the myths associated with mental health, educate others about how to help those going through a crisis and impart to silent sufferers the courage to seek help.

Mental health illness is much more common than many think, affecting one in five youth, and over 350 million people worldwide. While the recent strides we have been making as a society to raise awareness of this highly stigmatized topic has been great, we still have a long way to go to fully integrating mental health into our global society. It is important for people to understand that mental health is just as, if not more, important than physical well-being.

Mental health illness is real. Depression is not something you can “get over” tomorrow by “sucking it up”. Anxiety is not “overreacting” or “complaining” or being "worried about nothing". And these psychological disorders are incredibly difficult to overcome if a victim lacks the proper emotional support system to do so.

As we are currently on the forefront of de-stigmatizing mental health, it is more important now than ever to start spreading the word. Envision this: A family of five, sitting down at the dinner table, discussing depression openly, like they would cancer or heart disease, instead of letting the topic be the elephant in the room. No longer would victims of mental illness have to live in silent fear of judgement from their family, friends, peers, teachers, co-workers.

And hopefully, one day, mental health illness will come to be accepted worldwide. No longer will victims of mental health illness in Asia be labelled “crazy”, locked in institutions of appalling conditions, never given the chance to heal. Do we tell a man with cancer that we won’t treat his malignant tumor? That he will have to spend the rest of his days suffering, withheld from treatment, his life slowly wasting away? Of course not. That would be inhumane.

I want to conclude this article by challenging you guys to fight the stigma. Be a proponent for mental health. Have conversations with friends and family about different types of mental illness. Learn the signs and symptoms of common mental health conditions, and how to help those suffering.

And if you find yourself in the position I was two years ago- ashamed and afraid to seek help- please, please know that everyone, at some point in life, needs help. And that is nothing to be ashamed of.

Don't hide your pain and suffering behind a plastic smile.