- Be Considerate of Those With a Mental Illness
If someone is suffering with clinical depression, recovery is not as simple as making a choice to be happier.
Insensitive people have often been found to demand people with a mental illness to “get over it” or “stop acting that way.”
Even if you don’t see the individual struggling with a condition while you are out for your weekly coffee, don’t assume they don’t have it that bad, or that they have been misdiagnosed.
Many people skate through life putting on a smile, while underneath they are suffocating by the weight of their own minds.
Be supportive by listening to someone with a mental illness if they want to share, but otherwise treating them like you would any other friend.
Educating yourself on the topic mental health disease American’s face will make you aware of what many around you are dealing with, and will better prepare you to not be taken back when someone shares their diagnosis with you.
A change in attitude toward the mentally ill won’t happen overnight, but being careful with your words and actions will go a long way in ending the stigma on mental illness, and help you to be a role model for others.
Please let us know in the comments section if you have a situation where you found a stigma getting in the way of a healthy human interaction, or if you have a mental illness that has been judged by others.