What can be done to reduce the stigma and shame that still surround mental illness?
Mental Illness to some may not be as life threatening as cancer or heart disease, but for some it could mean life or death. Illnesses such as: OCD, certain phobias, bulimia, and depression all take a toll on your body its not just mental its physical too. That is what society does not understand, they crack jokes and think that these types of illnesses are funny and don't take the repercussions of what could happen to someone with these kinds of illnesses. I can use myself as an example, I have hydrophobia, which is the fear of water. Now, its not as bad as others, but it makes me nervous enough that when put in a situation where I think I might drown I can have a minor panic attack. I believe I have this phobia because first I can't swim so drowning because I won't be able to save myself frightens me more than anything else in the world other then being buried alive. When you have a phobia an overwhelming fear overcomes you and you can't control it. We as students and future educators should help people understand the seriousness of these illnesses by having seminars about these disorders and bring people in that have these certain illnesses so that they can explain how they live with their illnesses and what they are doing to keep them under control.
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