You're so bipolar because your mood is constantly changing. I'm so depressed because my best friend can't hang out with me. I'm so OCD because my room has to be perfetly organized. Let's stay away from that schizophrenic, he's beyond crazy. That girl is so anorexic because she rarely eats. No. Let's take a giant U-turn. ALl these comments can be fell under the category of stigna. Stigma brings shame to the sufferers of mental illnesses as they feel hopeless, distress,and are reluctant to seek help. Stigma makes people feel alone and occurs as people are not educated about mental illnesses. People believe it's a joke, like it's nonexistent. Mental Illness, it's real, it's covered, it's an issue, it's hidden, but we need to do something about it. We must end the stigma attached with mental illness.

Bill Clinton once said, "Mental Illness is nothing to be ashmed of but stigma and bias shames us all." Mental Illness is certainly not a character flaw and society should be open to people who suffer from psychological disorders. No one realizes how stigma leads to isolation, quietness, silence, and even suicide. Stigma must change, must end. Society as a whole as the power to end it. The kinder people are, the more people will feel open to discuss their illness. By being more kinder, more people with mental illness will seek help instead of sitting in the dark suffering. The terrible notion about mental illness is that most of the sufferers do not know what is wrong with them. People need to recognize that mental illness is just not a phase, it's real, and it's something that must be addressed.

A wise man by the name of Kevin once said, "Unfortunately we live in a world where if you break your arm, everybody runs over to sign the cast, but when one says they have depression, everybody runs the other way." Hank Green, brother of John Green, of Crash Course, once said in one of his videos, "Never make fun of physical illness but mental illnesses are constantly joked upon. Psychological Disorders should not be nicknames for things that people do, think and say." It is extremely hard to deal with stigma as it is created by ignorant members of society. Larry Cook once said, "It's everyone's disease. Why is there such a stigma attached? It's no different than living with diabetes or cancer." Mental Disorders are no joke, it's not funny, and people can not help that they have a chemical imbalance in their brain. If we treat our mental health, the same as our physical health, we should be subtle. Some people believe that people are joking about having a mental health issue, but sufferers are not as it is not something that one would joke upon or pretend.

A comedian, OCD sufferer, Howie Mandel once said on live televison, "Corporate North America and Canada ask if they can leave at three to go see a dentist but you should see the looks when you say you need to go see the psychiatrist." For instance when one has depression and goes to confide to someone, people run, but when that same person commits suicide, suddenly more people care and runs back. Let's run back to that person when they are firest initially experiencing difficulties. Anorexia, OCD, Bipolar, Schizophrenia, Anxiety, and etc are certainly not a toy to play with; it's serious. Without proper mental health, it's extremely difficult to carry on with day to day life. Waking up when you're depressed suddenly turns into a chore but that could end with proper treatment. Let's change. Stigma can change.

1 in 4 people are affected with a mental illness and as the years goes by it is becoming more and more common. We as a society need to stop being ignorant and recognize mental illness as something that is extremely serious. Imagine a world where there was no stigma and we did not use mental illness as adjectives. On the contrary, top research is being done at universities such as Columbia, and more knowledge is increasing. Let's keep that knowledge important, it's beneficial, and it could seriously help one with with a psychologicla problem. We must take control and recognize serious medical conditions. We should learn that depression is not being down, anorexia is not skipping a meal, OCD is not being super tidy, bipolar does not equal moody, and anxiety is not being nervous for a test. If we all work together by educating ourselves and others, the stigma could end.