I wanted to share these thoughts to help people understand what mental illness really means.
I've been sick with schizophrenia since I was 18 and I'm 54 now. Mental illness can be deadly and is little understood in the world today (still). As a patient, I had to learn about my own illness in order to move forward with my life. People without mental health challenges need to learn about mental illness, too. We can't stay in the Dark Ages forever.
Everyday I hear someone say, "so and so is nuts/crazy/a lunatic" in an attempt to describe behavior they find offensive and contradictory to what they believe. Please refrain from attaching "insane" to evil or wrong behavior/beliefs. It makes you sound uninformed at best and unintelligent as well. We are sick, not evil. Thank you.
Photo Credit: Dominic Dean
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