Look into the eyes of the mentally ill and tell them all of the stereotypes about them. They will be hurt because they see their illness as a stigma, which must come to an end.

There are many illnesses in the world, some more noticeable than others. Does the average American know as much as they should about mental illness?

In this paragraph there is statistical evidence about the mentally ill and why their illness is such a stigma to them and how we are not helping them with their situation. In America 22.1% of people have depression. If people knew more about the illness, would they be so quick to judge? I would assume most likely not. 79% of people who are depressed experience physical pain as well as mental pain. The physical pain can be from self mutilation but it depression can also cause neck, back, and/or abdominal pain as well. A lot of Americans also think that people with a mental illness can be treated with therapy. The real problem about this is most people with depression either do not know they have depression or they do not want help because they feel it is a stigma or they think they can solve the problem by themselves. They just try and tell themselves to stop but the illness won't allow it. If we all could realize that these illnesses are not a choice and not something you can just snap out of at your own will, maybe they would not get as many stereotypes; it wouldn't be such a serious issue.

Now think, have you ever looked at someone and judged them based on their appearance? Now put yourself in their shoes, that's how the mentally ill are viewed if they act out, even if it's just a little bit. More people need to realize through a depressed person's or a schizophrenic's eyes they only see people laughing or giving weird look. They can't help their illness and we shouldn't judge them or treat them differently because of that. The thought that automatically comes to their mind when they see someone laughing is that they are the reason for their laughing. If everyone could imagine being so on edge all the time that when you saw someone laughing, you instantly thought it was about themselves, they would know how these people feel. If everyone had a personal connection with someone who has been diagnosed with a mental illness, I'm positive they would think twice before they judged and commented on them.

A way we can solve the issue about discrimination/intolerance towards the mentally ill, is to make our community more aware about this issue. We could diminish stereotypes by having a speaker once or a few times a year come to the schools and speak about the issues going around to keep us aware. We could have the speaker come on the 6th of October to the 12th of October because it is mental illness awareness week. It would be cool to make the week more recognized than it currently is. When the speaker would come we could discuss how to make the mentally ill not viewed the way they are.

In conclusion I would like to make mental illness intolerance diminish by making more people aware. This way, not everyone would be as intolerant or judgmental towards these people. If everyone realized the way of life they have was not a choice, not everyone would be so judgmental towards the mentally ill.


Works Cited
Depression, Understanding. "Understanding Depression." Understanding Depression. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2013.
Smith, Melinda, Joanna Saisan, and Jeanne Segal. "Depression Symptoms & Warning Signs." : Recognize Depression & Get Help. N.p., Jan. 2013. Web. 01 Feb. 2013.
Stahl, Stephen M. "Does Depression Hurt?" Does Depression Hurt? N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2013.