Why do people judge mental illness so much?

So mental illness in general is pretty misunderstood. It has only recently become more prevalent in the media, but it is still a very taboo subject and I feel like the media sometimes either plays the situation up or down depending on the viewer they want to reach out to. News channels will usually play the situation down in order to not turn off the population watching whereas tabloids will play the mental illness up, often demonizing the illness in order to get a headline that will draw in readers.

It is like mental illness is still not considered a real thing. So many people label themselves as having mental illness in order to get likes on social media or even just to make a joke out of the situation. These posts can really have an impact on somebody that is really suffering due to mental illness, as they may feel as if they will be ridiculed if they talk to somebody openly about their struggles, or as if they are over-exaggerating an extremely serious situation.

I currently am not able to work due to my mental illness. Being able to work is a major goal of mine as I would love to have responsibility in a working environment as well as earning my own money. With the majority of my friends at university, people often think that I am just lazing about instead of being serious about career prospects. Either this or they believe that I did not achieve the grades for uni. Both of these are very untrue. I have always been someone who has worked very hard at my education, and this was shown by gaining a place at a Russell Group university. The choice to not go to university for now was a very hard one, but for me a very good one. I am not being lazy, I am working on improving my mental health for once instead of adding more stress. I do not want to start a job and then not be able to keep up with the commitments as I work through finding the right tablets for me, as well as undergoing another round of therapy. I am working, but I am working on me instead of on a degree that costs a crazy amount of money, and one I may not even use,

Mental illness is a legitimate thing. We are not overreacting, we are not attention seeking, we are suffering. I do not feel depressed for a joke or for the fun of it- I have depression. I do not feel lightheaded because I drank too much the night before- I have anxiety. These feelings are so real. I would not wish mental illness upon anybody ever, I just wish people would accept it for what it is. I am not a monster, I’m not going to sit there crying every 30 seconds, I’m just a normal person like you. Yes I have bad days, but I also have good days, and that is just a part of the illness. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have goals and ambitions for the future- in fact I probably have more than a normal person. I am not materialistic- I just want to live a happy life. I have been at rock bottom and I am not going to let myself get to that place again. I have to work extra hard to do everyday tasks, but that is just my illness and something that I am working to lessen. Just because I have mental illness doesn’t mean that I’m not human so stop judging it. It is called mental illness for a reason. It is an illness, that’s all.

Thanks for reading!
Zoe x