Why is it so hard to deal with anxiety and depression as opposed to say something physical like cystic fibrosis?
When you deal with cystic fibrosis as I do, people often tell you that you're heroic even though you may not do anything heroic. You're just a victim of circumstance. Granted, the work those of us put in can be defined as heroic but just having the disease is not one bit heroic.
When you deal with something mental like anxiety and depression which I also do, people often tell you to "snap out of it." Not many people unless they deal with mental illness or work as a therapist see the heroism but trust me there are some days that surviving those 24 hours when your brain does not want you to could be labeled heroic.
Mental illness is stereotyped very negatively in this country because of some of the awful things that have happened regarding guns and mental illness. Trust me though, there are some amazing people in this world that deal with mental illness too. It could be your neighbor, your best friend or quite frankly anyone you know. Most likely, you'll never know because this disease is most likely "invisible" to outsiders.
I deal with depression and anxiety but I used to look at mental illness the way most people did. I saw it as a cop out. Now that I've been diagnosed and am on meds, I see the difference it has made in my life.
Nearly 1 in 5 Americans deal with some sort of mental illness and around 450 million people worldwide currently suffer from such conditions, placing mental disorders among the leading causes of disability globally.
Please help erase the negative stereotypes of mental illness and pull for the millions of invisible heroes around the world.
After all, one day, like me, you may realize that you are one of them.
Thank you!