What if it was my kidneys? Stomach cancer? I already get the feeling we have all piled in behind breast cancer and leukemia and we are all obviously about making sure old men can still get it up.
How about my brain? Your brain? How about the brain of the guy with the moldy rags and aluminum cans in a shopping cart? The young lady sneaking off to vomit…again? Your friend who secretly washes his hands 10 times after a trip to the bathroom? The co-worker who has lost all motivation?
Why is it that our society immediately piles in behind any number of afflictions that threaten or complicate the lives of those afflicted but still shun those with mental health issues? Is the brain not an organ? According to the National Institute of Mental Health around a quarter of all adult Americans suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year. This translates into over 50 million people. The most recent statistics from the CDC show less than 200,000 people being diagnosed with breast cancer in a year. Are we being rational in who we are walking around that track for? With 250 times as many people suffering from mental health issues as suffer from breast cancer; more than 200 times as many as leukemia, are we really being fair in our approach to disease?
The brain is the most complex and least understood organ of the body and arguably the most important. When did we quit caring about health above the neck?
No one mocks the cancer victim. No one sees a person made homeless from Crohn’s disease and is immediately disgusted by them. Why are we so biased against diseases of thought?
Mental health is also quite possibly the health issue with the most stigmas attached to it. I frequently hear that there is a thin line between genius and insanity but no one wants to mention the thin line between dumbass and insanity. Or mediocre and Clinical Depression. Or average and Bulimic.
Perhaps, for just a little while you could start considering Mental Illness as…illness. And illness surely brings forth sympathy, empathy and an urge to assist, yes?
Think about it. Think about it clearly and rationally. And while you are at it, be grateful you can. You may even find yourself in a position to help.
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