Mental illness is something that is being talked about more in today’s society. It is becoming a sort of “normal.” So many people have been diagnosed with mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression, etc. The Mayo Clinic website has a lot of information about mental illness. Their website is: http://www.mayoclinic.org. From what I have learned, you can’t determine whether or not someone has a mental illness just by looking at them because it is an illness in the brain. Mental illness may not be something you can see, but it is important to bring awareness to it as well as educate and inform people that it is real and that many people are struggling with it.
Literature and popular culture have shaped what I know about mental illness quite a bit. In movies, you are able to watch how mental illness affects the person struggling with it and see how they go through their daily life with whatever disorder they may have whether it be anxiety, or schizophrenia. In books, the author will describe different scenes that deal with mental illness and the reader then has to fill in the gaps that are missing from the story. The biggest influence on the shaping of my knowledge of mental illness is socila media. On social media, some people talk about it, and others feel as if it is a topic that shouldn’t be broadcasted to the public. I feel as if the people who share their stories with mental illness deserve a major round of applause, because it isn’t easy for someone to talk about their personal struggles. From seeing people talk about their personal struggles it allows the audience to hear about a real life story and it helps bring awareness. There are some things about mental illness that only those suffering from it may understand, therefore they are able to inform those who are not going through the same things to gain a better understanding of the situation and what they are going through.
The poem by Kaitlyn Tramp really hit me in a way I can’t describe. It showed that those suffering from mental illness sometimes feel the need to lie because they don’t want to be seen as “crazy,” or “weird,” etc.
The poem by Anne Sexton is another one that shapes our understanding of mental illness. Some people who are suffering from it have suicidal thoughts because they feel as if all of their burdens as well as the burdens of others they are close with will go away. Mental illness truly takes over the lives of some poeple.
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