Mental Illness

By: Samuelle Beltejar    Feb 7, 2018

 

There are many words in the English language, however, I do not believe there is a word that can describe mental illness. Yes, it ravages against its victims but it is not quite as acute as the word “ravage” implies. Yes, it is cruel but “cruel” is far too gentle. Yes, it is debilitating but it is so much worse than that. Mental illness is… mental illness.

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It comes in many forms. There is bulimia nervosa, generalized anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity syndrome, and, unfortunately, many more. Every illness is different from another. They all affect people in various ways, as well. They are sick, custom-made maladies.

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However, there are many ways to treat these terrible illnesses. An extremely effective method is therapy. Going to therapy lets a person express everything their disorder makes them feel. Nonetheless, what makes therapy different from a simple venting session with a friend or a family member is that a therapist teaches their patients various, healthy ways to deal with their mental illness or mental illnesses. Another treatment method is medication. Medication balances out many chemicals in the body, yet it is not prescribed to anyone. It can be used when therapy and other treatment methods are ineffective or can be much more effective.

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Overall, the illness is brutal, as well as the treatment.

Therapy can take months to years of countless, expensive

sessions, yet I believe that the stigma surrounding mental

illness is what is truly cruel. Affected people already have

more than enough to deal with, however they are then

ostracized, isolated, abandoned, scolded, and misunderstood.

Nonetheless, our society is making progress.

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Society is moving towards accepting mental illness for what

it is in its true form. People are becoming educated and less

ignorant about the subject. What people thought was the

extremity of sadness, a normal human emotion, is truly clinical

depression. More people are starting to accept that people with OCD are not constantly cleaning because they love clean rooms, it is because they suffer from obsessions and compulsions.

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There are also many organizations that are made to educate the public and to reduce the stigma. The National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI is a well-known organization that does just that. The Health Occupation Students of America, or HOSA donated to NAMI last year. They also have NAMI speakers at this year’s State Leadership Conference to further the positive progress of mental illness.

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Shanti Das, who is an important person in the music industry, has also started a new movement in 2017. The movement is called Silence The Shame. It is all about freely talking about mental illness so that people who are affected can get the treatment they deserve, without any embarrassment.

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There is a lot of progress needed to make mental illness fully acceptable. However, I don’t believe our society is far from that amount of progress. With amazing organizations, like HOSA, who are supporting NAMI and more, there is no doubt there will be better ways for those with illnesses to have better treatments. People like Shanti Das will make the future a better place, as well, by silencing the stigma.