Can you imagine holding scars on your skin? The kind that’s self-inflicted through scratches, burns, bruises, or cuts? Could you ever stomach the knowledge of those little reminders coating your skin in their twisted colors and jagged lines or the way the skin swells round them? Not many can. Not many can hold onto the feeling of loss of one’s self, or loss of one’s battle. That’s what those gnarled scars mean; the battle with yourself is lost and you were unable to protect yourself from the deep and dark thoughts that haunt you’re mind down to the darkest spaces unknown to even yourself. Your mind shuts off and it’s like you’re being taken over as you pick up that weapon and mutilate yourself, only to “awaken” to the consequences.
If you had known all this, the emotions that go through harmer’s minds and what leads them to do such horrible things to themselves… Would you still ridicule that person and make fun of their psychological situations? Would you post triggering pictures as jokes and send messages stating “kill yourself“ so easily? Or, would you stop, think, and try to connect with this person instead?
Yes, there are Attention-seekers out there that do all of it just to get noticed by others whether family or friends and for people to feel sorry for them. Yet, there is still a majority of teens, and adults even, that face serious mental illnesses such as Depression, Panic/Anxiety Disorder, Eating Disorders, etc. Such disorders are real problems that many Americans’ must face daily and public ridicule of these disorders does nothing to aid their fight of recovery or their daily fight in general.
In the end, the whole point of this all is one simple fact: America does not properly react and/or believe in the seriousness of mental illnesses and they may not unless put in the place of one who suffers from such. There is far too much a display of lack of empathy for those truly having trouble with their illnesses. Do not harass a medical problem if you have not yet been through said problem.
When someone shows up online with cancer, asthma, or another medical problem, people flock to give their regards and support but once someone comes online explaining their mental disorder, everyone runs in the opposite direction, yelling profanities and threats that they would never tell to someone with cancer.
The main point is that you should not be so quick to tell those suffering with mental disorders about how their feelings are invalid; you wouldn’t like if they turned and pulled that trick on you, so why do it to them?
“"If you break your arm, everyone runs over to sign your cast, but if you tell people you're depressed, everyone runs the other way. That's the stigma." Kevin Breel