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Stereotypes of Mental Illness

I was watching the news like I do every day, which some days I question why I do, it is only full of bad news. They never talk about good news these days. Anyway, there was a situation in Denver and the news mentioned that the person had mental illnesses and was unstable. See this is what I mean. Now people just assume that all people with mental illnesses are unstable. That pisses me off to be completely honest with you. 

I have mental illnesses but I am a fully functioning and stable person. I have OCD, Anxiety, ADHD, and Depression, this DOES NOT mean I am unstable. They need to elaborate what the situation is. Is this person supposed to be on medication and went off of it, and if so why? Was this person Schizophrenic? Are they Bi-Polar and had a psychotic break? 


Just saying they had mental illness doesn't give them the right to act out violently to others. Just because a person has a mental illness and could be on medication for it, does not make them a bad person. I repeat this does NOT make you a bad person. 

I am a wonderful person, with a wonderful view on life. I see the best in everyone and the positive side in every situation, yet I struggle daily with my affliction from these illnesses. I don't even like to call them illnesses because that makes people think I am sick. I am not sick, I have issues that I am dealing with. Some people call them "your inner demons" which I think is a great way to put it. 

Remember when you were a kid and you watched cartoons? Who am I kidding, I love a good cartoon now and again still. There was always an episode that had the main character where the angel version of them was on one shoulder and the devil version of them was on the other shoulder. That is kinda of like what I deal with. Not deciding on whether to do something bad or good, but the struggle with knowing what and how I am feeling/thinking isn't rational yet my "angel" is losing to my "devil". This isn't how everyone feels though. 

We are all different people, and my OCD isn't necessarily the same as someone else's. Sadly some people with mental health issues don't or can't get the help that they need. Medicines are expensive and so is therapy, and yet a lot of insurance companies won't cover mental health care. Why??? This is no different than someone with diabetes that needs daily insulin. I need my medication so I don't get so anxious that I can't leave the house. One day I hope I can overcome this and be able to not need medication, but right now I do. That doesn't make me a weak person, just the opposite it makes a stronger person that has a few weaknesses. It's my kryptonite. 

We need to stop all the judging of people. Love them like we taught when we were little kids. Why does that change when we get older? Because we see it every day, with people judging others on everything. They way we talk to the way we look and act. This is BS people, where did we go wrong when growing up? Let's change together and learn to love and accept everyone again like we did when we were little. Because mental health is the bad guy here we are to each other.
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