What
is Mental Illness?
Mental
Illnesses are specific biological illnesses and/or traumas that affect
a persons thinking, feeling, mood and/or personality. While it is
normal for every person to go through some sad and depressing events in
their lifetime, people with mental illnesses often have difficulty
dealing with certain life situations and their feelings.
Mental
illnesses are not "how people are." They are not brought upon people
because of their age, gender, race, religion, job or other mundane
detail that many people look to as finding the root of the cause.
Mental illnesses are not something somebody can just "snap out
of " as many people think. People with mental illness are still
people and deserve to be treated
with the same respect and dignity as every other person in this world,
not looked at with fear, misunderstanding, violence and hate.
Mental
illness is a medical condition and is treatable through medication,
therapy and understanding. People with mental illness should be treated
with the care, understanding and compassion we show for every other
disabled and sick person in this world.
Would you call someone
with cancer names? Avoid them? Refuse them jobs and a place to live
because of their condition? Of course not!
Then why is such behavior tolerated towards the mentally ill???
