Feminism, gay-rights, and anti-racism are massive people’s rights movements that are currently sweeping the world by storm. Between new laws, protests, and countless other attempts, people are creating a new open-minded society toward all these ideals. However, how much is really being done to raise awareness of and change the way society perceives Mental Illness?

The unfortunate truth is not nearly enough. Mental illness is such a massive part of today’s world that it is astounding how little people know about it. In fact, it is said that one of the reasons people who suffer from mental illness are ashamed is simply because of the way society perceives them and their fear of the rejection they may face from those around them. It is a tragedy in itself that this fear even exists.

“I think there are a lot of people who don’t believe mental illness is a problem in the world and who believe that people who say they have a mental illness are only seeking attention,” Junior Liz Konopka stated. “These people don’t want to accept that there are some things we can’t control with our minds, so they automatically write off mentally ill people as crazy or nuts. The mentally ill just aren’t capable sometimes of dealing with a that kind of stigma, so I think it’s a very legitimate fear of rejection.”

   Those who have asthma seem to have no problem telling people around them that occasionally they find it hard to breath. But people who have depression feel forced to keep it hidden, because if they were to tell the world that occasionally they find it hard to live, everyone around them would inevitably look at them differently. It is an interesting fact that one in four people in America will suffer from depression at least once in their lifetime while only one in twelve are likely to suffer from asthma. So how come an illness that is so widespread is so hard for society to accept?

Perhaps the answer lies in the misconceptions much of the world believes to be true about mental illness. For instance, one of the biggest falsehoods is that people who suffer from mental mess are dangerous. Many people believe their behavior to be violent and unpredictable, so reasonably many people look at others with mental illness with wariness. However, the truth is that people with mental illness are just as likely to be violent as the rest of us.

“People don’t understand the Mentally Ill, and anything we don’t understand, we are typically afraid of,” Psychology Teacher David Kuppe explained.

It is likely that if the world better understood what exactly mental illness is, then we would all, as a society, be more accepting. Take the most common mental illness for example. Depression: the word has become a part of everyday vocabulary, yet many people do not truly use it correctly. The reasoning is simply because many people do not know what the word truly refers to. Depression is immense sadness; however, there is far more to it than just that. It is also intense feelings of insecurity and self-loathing, sometimes thinking that there is nothing worth living for, and a lack of motivation to do anything at all. The hopelessness a depressed person is subjected to is hardly able to be understood by someone who has not experienced it. They can no longer see their goals in the future and it is likely they can see no future at all. They are simply stuck in the now, a bleak place where no one truly understands them and they honestly cannot remember what it is like to be happy. It has been said that while mentally stable people wake up out of their nightmares, those with depression wake up into them.

“I think it is hard for people who have not suffered from mental illnesses to understand what they really are because most do not put life in another’s prospective,” Freshman Keenan Penn considered. “If this is done then people can see all the struggles going on within the mind of a mentally ill person, and not just all the things on the outside.”

One of the most frustrating and appalling myths to the mentally ill is that many people actually believe that they could just snap out of depression or even bipolar disorder if they had great enough willpower. This is exactly like telling a person with two broken legs that they could get up out of their wheelchair and walk away if they really believed in themselves.

“Usually Mental Illness is a biological problem,” Kuppe stated. “Something in the brain is causing this chemical imbalance and snapping out of it is not something that is typically going to happen.”

The truth is that one probably couldn’t tell a mentally ill person from a completely stable one even if they hit them right between the eyes. An estimated 61.5 million Americans suffer from mental illness in any given year. This means that the likelihood of not knowing anyone who is mentally ill is practically impossible.  Fact is, there are no doubt many people in this very high school. However, it is entirely plausible that many of us have no idea what even some of our closest friends suffer with. Mentally Ill people walk among us unnoticed simply because they really aren’t any different than anyone else. It is past time that society realizes this. It is the highest injustice that 61.5 million Americans feel the need to hide their true identity from the world in order to be looked upon as “normal.” But if normal now refers to judging those who are a bit different, then it does not seem like a very appealing ideal to strive for.