Mental Ilness

Mental Health Issues

When I was eighteen years old, I went to a psychologist, and the psychologist seemed as if they had no interest in anything I was saying. I was suffering from depression at the time, an illness not well understood by those that have not felt its effects personally. The psychologist, however, did not believe I had depression at all, even though I had nine of the eleven symptoms on the DSM-5 checklist for depression. My own personal experience with this illness sparked my interest in psychology.

If we are not well mentally, we will not be the best versions of ourselves, which is why mental health is important for everyone. Sometimes, mental illnesses go unidentified by both the individual and doctors because of the lack of information and research in the field. This is due to lack of funding for psychological research and medicine. Additionally, there is conflict among medical professionals about whether to only rely on prescriptions or on therapy. How can we make mental health be taken seriously in the eyes of insurance providers and pharmaceutical companies?

For mental health to be of higher importance to these corporations, we must get rid of the social stigma. We can fight this social stigma by educating high school and college students with courses that are mandatory for all students. For example, health class can talk about these psychological disorders in their curriculum. Part of the social stigma is that people cannot see these mental illnesses physically or understand the spectrum of the disorder. It is hard to explain the biological factors of these psychological disorders.

College students and all types of people would be interested in this topic of mental health. It should concern everyone, even people without mental disorders, because they could have a family member or friend suffering and not even know about it or how to cope. Addressing this issue would help people with mental disorders, by preventing them from harming themselves or misunderstanding their illnesses. To effectively cope with their illness, they should understand the symptoms and facets of their mental illness, as well as their options for treatment. Most importantly, getting rid of the stigma of mental illness will prevent suicides like the one our college campus experienced this fall semester. Perhaps if someone had seen the signs and encouraged him to reach out for help with his mental illness, he would not have chosen to end his life.