When did mental illness become such a big deal?

So...when did mental illness become so noticed, so out in front, so...real?

When people with mental illnesses stopped being afraid of the stigma that came with actually admitting they have an actual "illness". This is not a bunch of "drama" or a way to "get attention", it's real, and how I realized that it wasn't people "just looking for sympathy, and feeling sorry for themselves" was when I actually went through a serious "depression" with my bestfriend.

Yes, I was one of the people who thought that mental illness was just a dramatic way of getting attention and I would roll my eyes and walk away, that is until I met my bestie in 2004. She wasn't my bestfriend yet we still had a couple of years before that bond happened, but she suffered from depression for a lot of years before we got that close, because I learned later that in the early 90's, she had been in an accident, and had been thrown off a horse and cracked her head open, she had to be life flighted to the hospital where her family was told she was most likely not going to live! They did an emergency surgery and she pulled through. In 2007 I moved in with her to help her with rent and she in turn helped me with a home, we got along great, all was well until the accident in 2009. She and her 15 year old son got rear-ended by a young girl and it crushed two vertebrae in her lower spine...this was the second time she had to have surgery on that region of her spine, so this time they had to put in a titanium plate to ensure she would not be crippled or eventually in a wheelchair, and it worked. She had the best surgeon in San Diego, he did a phenomenal job and the surgery was a great success, but unfortunately due to complications after, she ended up with a blood clot in her left leg and pulmonary embolisms that passed through her heart and almost killed her, but she made it through that as well. She spent 4 months in a nursing facility while they did physical therapy to get her back on her feet. I went to work, visited her daily to make sure she was getting the right medications(which they kept screwing up), and went home to care for her kids.

She finally got to come home and it seemed like she was fine, but what we were not aware of was that her medications had simply stopped working. She was taking three medications per day for bi-polar depression with mixed manic episodes, and before we could see what was happening, she eventually stopped getting out of bed, eating, and or caring about anything.

This was something she hid before I lived with her and I wasn't aware of how bad it really was until this happened right before my judgmental eyes. I had no idea that this was a real thing, or let's be really real, I didn't want to, because it would totally harsh my mellow, and who has time for that right?

Well, like it or not this is exactly how most people treated this illness before it became as prominent as it is now, I mean...nobody had time for it, nor did they want anything to do with someone with "mental" issues. It was like being a homeless person, people just walk by like you don't exist, they don't see you, because then they would actually have to admit that you are real and so is your illness right? Actually, no, they don't.

Quite allot of the population still believe that Mental Illness can and should be controlled by the "person" who has it, and that "it's all in their head"(well, that would be true but not the way they think), they also think that medication is just a "cover up" for the REAL problem. That is simply because, like myself, they don't know what it's like to want to kill yourself because you just can't stand waking up another day to being a living dead doll. They don't know how it feels, to literally not feel anything or be able to "care" about anyone or anything. How can these people just lay around crying, and not be happy? What caused this? Why...why...why? They cannot fathom how anyone would "want" to be this way.

I will do my best to explain this to those of you who just don't get it...like I didn't at first. Her doctor explained that it is the neurochemical alterations that can cause bipolar depression, simply put, it's like when your cars spark plugs aren't firing right, the engine won't start, well same with your brain. The brain sends signals to your body and that is how we function daily...imagine your brain sending mixed signals to your body, it would get so confusing that eventually your brain goes into survival mode and shuts down everything except for what the body needs to function, pleasure, excitement, all of it, and all your left with is, well...nothingness. That is not exactly how it works, but close enough that hopefully you get the idea. Just so you understand that people with these illnesses do not "want" to be the way they are, but they really cannot help it, and no there is no "cure" for it. It took four months of phone calls to different doctors who would take medical and Medicaid before we actually found a doctor who could get her on the right mix of medications that actually worked. It was a lot of trial and error but once they found the right mix, she was, and still is doing amazing(12 years later).

Before all the new scientific breakthroughs we have seen in recent years, her meds would quit working at the ten year mark and she would have to start all over again with her doctor figuring out which mix worked best, which could take months (sometimes years) to figure out, and it was completely frustrating and terrifying because she never knew if she would become seriously suicidal and actually go through with it this time. This is a real thing, it's scary to the person and their families, and now it's finally being recognized and people made aware. I am really glad, because now they no longer need to be ashamed or hide it, this way they can actually get help without an ugly shameful stigma stopping them. I thank god everyday for that. So, the next time you hear someone say they have a mental illness, if you can't handle it, then walk away, but don't judge them for something they cannot be held responsible or accountable for, that would be like telling to you to quit breathing.

Thank you for reading. If you feel any of the things I mentioned here, or have a friend or loved one experiencing depression, please reach out to SAMHSA(Substance abuse and mental health services administration) 1-800-662-help(4357). God bless.