Imagine waking up everyday and knowing that you have to walk a different road than the rest of the world. Knowing that your daily routine consists of a more detailed examination of yourself. You struggle to grasp who or what you are. Your brain shifts and thoughts intensify in your mind. Your mind deludes and fervent emotions arouse. Welcome to the world of someone with a mental disorder. People casually throw around phrases like,  “I have such bad anxiety,” “I am so depressed” or “I am so anorexic.”  Medical terms are being used as slang. Disorders that haunt the lives of millions are being turned into jokes, and it is not ok.

Anxiety Disorder:  What is anxiety? So many students claim to have severe anxiety, however, most of them have no idea what it is. Contrary to popular belief, it is not an emotion. It is not that feeling you get before stepping on stage. It is so much more than that. These disorders are diagnosed if a person’s response is not appropriate for the situation. Those that suffer from anxiety have no emotional control over themselves. Symptoms are expressed by horrible fear and pain, ranging from migraines to random bursts of anger and they lead to many other issues one including Panic Disorder. During a panic attack, people believe they are in life-threatening danger when there is no danger at all. Panic attacks are so severe and yet teenagers use them as exclamations of nerves in common language.

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD): “He is just socially awkward.” That is something I hear so often in daily language. Kids seem to believe that just because someone is shy, they have social anxiety. Just because someone is a little weird or is a little off, doesn’t make them disorderly. People with SAD experience reactions in their brains that cause severe fear when in public situations, not discomfort. It is not being nervous around new people, it is locking yourself in your bedroom for weeks, not eating, not going to school, nausea, migraines, all over something as simple as going to the grocery store.

Depression: Something we all know of and know the severity of it, yet it is something so ignored and generalized. We all have moments where we are down and experience loss of hope. Depression does not mean someone is having a bad day. It is not being able to breathe.  It is feeling so down that the possibility of feeling normal is gone. It is not knowing if happiness exists.It is the inability to sleep, drink, eat, work and, in several cases, live. Depression can literally last a lifetime, some extreme bouts last for over two years. Two years of living in the dark.

Bipolar Disorder: No, you are not bipolar because one day you are happy and the next sad. Sorry to break it to you, but that’s just how life works. Bipolar disorder is rapid emotional changes. It can be severe for not only the person with bipolar but for the people around them. Loved ones sit and watch a person they’ve known forever go from extremely happy to extremely sad within minutes. It can be the cause of losing once strong relationships.

Psychotic Disorder: Okay, so you are acting crazy one day. You go a day with random thoughts and actions. That doesn’t make you psychotic. Psychotic disorders are more than just a crazy off day. They are mental disorders that cause abnormal thinking and dazed perceptions. People suffer loss of reality and hallucinations of the world around them. They have no grasp of the real world and live life as a false delusion.

Schizophrenia:  Imagine your whole life being a fragment of your imagination. You wake up everyday and have imaginative visions of reality. Your body is deformed. The face you share to the world is flat and represents a lack of life. Common speech is a struggle for you. The functions of your body react differently from everyone else. Your memories fade and change due to extreme delusions. Your genes are permanently damaged. That’s what it’s like living with schizophrenia.

Anorexia: Please, I beg of you, stop saying you are anorexic because you didn’t eat for a day. You want to know what real anorexia is, here it is: anorexia is obsessing over every part of your body. It is not eating for weeks at a time. It is drug abuse and self-induced vomiting. It is denial and distorted body perception. It is fear and pain. It leads to bone thinning, brittle hair, yellow skin, anemia and muscle damage. It leads to constipation, low blood pressure, brain damage, organ failure, drop in body temperature and infertility. People with anorexia life their lives in constant fear and lack of hope. It is not something to take lightly. It is not being skinny, it is deadly.

Impulse/Addiction Disorder: No, you are not addicted to netflix or chocolate or reading. People living with actual addictions are trapped within the world of their addiction. They have no control over their mental ability to resist something and mentally cannot stop themselves. Alcohol and drugs are the most common forms of addiction and due to society’s stigma, people who suffer from addiction rarely get the help needed due the fear of judgement. Addicts ignore the world around  them and become so engulfed in their addiction, many of which lead to bodily harm or death.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): OCD is common disorder but is overgeneralized in our society. OCD can be extremely disruptive to a person’s life. OCD causes intense urges and fears. Symptoms generally lead to aggressive thoughts, excessive cleaning, precise organization, repetition of movements and compulsive counting. It is not being grossed out by germs or enjoying a clean room. It is the farthest thing from it.

Mental health extends far beyond what I will ever comprehend. It is not something to take lightly or to make jokes about. It is so easy for us to assume and become oblivious to the severity of something. Our society views mental health as something so taboo and exotic. When someone is struggling with a mental disorder, they rarely seek medical help because of the judgment that may follow. So many people in our world suffer from a mental disability and yet the idea of them is completely ignored. When someone is diagnosed with a disorder they become defined by it and placed in a category of our society. Youtuber Jack Harries said, “Mental health disabilities are an illness, not a weakness. They are an issue, not an identity. Mental illnesses are a thing. They’re real, and they’re very present. And we need to talk about them.”

Please. If you are struggling with a mental disorder or know someone who is, please don’t hesitate to get help. Mental illness is not something to take lightly and each disorder requires specific treatment. Please do all you can to help those struggling and again, if you think you may have one of these disorders, contact a specialized adult immediately.