Hey guys, it's Sarah. This month is Mental Health Awareness Month and I'm here to remind you. It's time for some straight talk.
In case you’re currently stigmatizing your friends and telling them to ‘get over it’, you probably did not know that May is Mental Health Awareness Month. You also probably didn’t know that nearly 1 in 5 Americans suffer from mental illness. And you most definitely had no idea that suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for people aged 10-34.
But who am I to make the wild assumption that you, the reader, are the kind of person who looks down on stigma squashers? Or scoffs at the latest Facebook post implying mental health is just as important as physical health? Why would I, one of many nobodies, be so incredibly blunt and straightforward to say there are still people out there, people who I personally know, who are so close minded and unaccepting of those with mental illnesses? Well, someone has to.
And while you’re editing the latest pictures you took on your trip to Japan, you’re also using mental disorders as adjectives. “Ugh, my phone froze. I literally had a panic attack.” “Yeah, that TV show gave me PTSD.” “My sister yelled at me yesterday! She’s so bipolar.” But you didn’t think of it that way, did you? And, after you finish your track practice, you know, the one where you go to remind yourself that you’re the prettiest, most popular blonde in your lineage? You’re pill shaming the girl next to you who suffers from anxiety. But we both know if those pills were for what you and your “Abercrombie & Fitch” looking family call ‘a real medical issue’, like migraines or epilepsy, you’d be offering her your water bottle instead of the scowl look on your face.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying your total ignorance to mental health is completely your fault. No, that is not what I’m trying to get at. Because if you’re anything like the reader I assumed you were, it’s very likely that you are in fact, uneducated. But that’s not your fault, is it? Because guess what? You’re also a statistic. And you’re probably, -whoops, actually- most definitely part of the 5% who believe a physical ailment is more serious than a mental illness.
~You are not alone. Your feelings are valid and you are so important. Feeling depressed? Text HOME to 741741, a free and confidential text message service for people in crisis.~
