The Stigma Behind Mental Health

The abundance of mental illness in high school life is shocking. This is one of the most stressful points in our lives but is it really supposed to be? Talking to people who are blessed with the wisdom of age and prosperity, their recollection of their high school life is gleeful and exciting. They remember the time when they were laughing and playing with their friends. “High school is the best time of your life” they say as they flip through the latest segment in the paper. But as our generation evolves that will not necessarily be the case. We will most likely recall it as being something that we “got through” and one of the main reasons why it has become so difficult is because we are factoring in mental illness more than every before.

The boy

Every day is tedious, simple things seem difficult. “What is the purpose? Why am I here? Why am I alive?” are frequent questions that run through the thoughts of his broken and damaged mind. He fights everyday to get up, to put on his clothes and shove something into his body as a form of fuel. When that ends up happening it is a good day. Then the moment of dread comes. Facing the world, but honestly anything is better than being alone with his own thoughts. He knows that people around him keep his alive. They are his support system, in theory. But, he feels as though he is a burden. Avoiding has become a common thing when in the company of the four walls of the school. Areas of solitude where he knows he's not going to hurt anyone. Not going to ruin their days. They don’t have to see the depressed kid anymore. They wouldn’t want their good mood to be ruined.

The girl

As the covers roll down her sweat soaked body from the night terrors she possessed the night before she freezes in though and movement. The happy people are at school. The people she envies, so damningly blessed to have joy be the number one emotion that they feel on a day to day basis. She knows that they won’t understand. That when she walks through the big burly doors she goes from being a girl to the depressed girl.

Them

For as long as they can remember they have always been the different kids. The kids who were a bit more masculine, or feminine. The kids who felt like they were not who they are in their own skin. That every breath of fresh air was entering the wrong kind of lungs. With maturity and acceptance they are able to flourish into the people who they are meant to be. The people that they identify with want to live the rest of their lives being. Frequently this process to acceptance is a long one and can feel like an eternity. Hormonal changes, gender identity.

The fairytale of mental health

Wind rushes through the trees, batting against leaves, snapping branches with ease. Wind, the gloomy feeling that intensifies the sadness. Drops of rain slide slowly across the hollow wooden body that houses the little creatures with paws that are tiny and innocent. Glee and energy, tiny creatures that are stuck in the wooden hollow scared to touch the rain or be blown over by the wind. A crack of lightning shocks the roots of the wise being who is struggling to remain standing tall. Echoes of thunder rumble the creatures that are curled up, burying their faces into each other’s chests. The tree is weaker and weaker now, the bark erodes, thinning out to paper. Small creatures that were once protected by the wood are now exposed to the harshness of the forest.

The constant torment that lingers the broken minds of kind souls is not a figment of the imagination. It is not a state of mind or even a mood that looms. It is a diagnosable disease. Many individuals who work in the positions of power, wether that be as a principle, teacher, boss, or board of governors, don’t quite understand the reality of mental health. If you as a student or merely as a child or a teen, go to someone to seek assistance or to explain the situation, there are many plausible responses that could be encountered.

The creatures have multiple pathways that they can take, the one that is bright, the one that looms with comfort and flashes with smiles drawing the small creatures in to the light. The pathway that is neither dark or light, simply bare, innocent looking and finally the dark and wet path with footsteps sunken into the mud. Mist flowing smoothly guiding the creature to salvation.

Ironically everyone of the paths are dead ends. At the end of each path is a person who contributes to the creature’s trek to find salvation.

The person who understands, who went through something similar and wants to help, this being the best case scenario when it comes to relief. This individual is kind and generous and works with you in a way that doesn’t feel like pity. They are the breath of fresh air that lifts the weighted down souls from out of the misty, dark, moat surrounding the castle of happiness.

The person that takes your not being able to do something in that moment at that specific time as a form of weakness and stubbornness; the person that makes you feel inadequate because your disease is something that you can’t control.

The bystanders who are a collection of people, staring innocently looking curiously at you hoping that, wondering if you are okay.

If you are an individual who is suffering from a mental illness you are not alone. There may not be one simple solution, one easy fix, but the phrase that helps keep me going is this:

“Take each day one day at a time, you can only do the best you can taking into account how you are feeling in that exact moment, you are not your illness.”