Misconceptions of Mental Illness

Chandler Gouchee and Brielle Thompson; kids taken too soon by their own choice, or was it? These children amongst others have suffered from depression and other mental illness', doing their best to lock down any and all emotions until they broke. Teens and early twenties, usually between the ages of 14-24 are most vulnerable to develop these illness' (Murphey) so ignorantly called an epidemic in today's society, because now more than ever people are coming out to seek help, and not hiding in the closet. These people are coming out to face their demons in hopes of ridding the world of these hauntingly horrid disorders. Now more than ever we need to stop stereotyping those affected, and instead educate ourselves on the harsh realities of these illness'. 
Nearly twenty percent of all adolescents have a diagnosable mental disorder according to the 2013 Adolescent Health Highlight study by Child Trends, the nations leading non-profit organization for childhood/teen health trends, researching and analyzing to better inform practitioners and policymakers (Murphey). Being apart of this statistic is more common than most people would like to believe, and quite prevalent in the Kennedy halls. Facing the recent loss was tough to say the least, whether you knew her or not, we all felt something. She walked down these ghastly halls just like you and I. With middle school and high school being the holy grail of bullying and degrading, a thunder dome of self-shaming and peer pressure, we are the
ones who don’t get talked to, or for that matter even feel comfortable speaking on the subject. The thought of those kids who are gone or feeling absolutely helpless puts a pit in my stomach knowing that they felt they had no other choice, and no one to talk to or even talk about this with is absolutely a fault in our system, and something that needs to be addressed. As a consequence of being bullied, many of these victims suffer from depression, generalized anxiety, or some other variation of a mental illness. With this in mind, I pose the question, why are we as a school, as a district, and most importantly as human beings, who are living with and amongst these people not lifting each other up? We should be fighting this together, and educating ourselves, as opposed to shoving aside what Chandler, Brielle, and many others, like myself, feel everyday.
I think a major fault in our system as a whole is the lack of fundamental knowledge of mental illness, and knowing that it isn't something you get to believe exists or not. You would think that informing the age group most subjective to such epidemics would be given the respect of a working knowledge, and understanding of these ever prevalent and grueling thoughts. A common misconception of the kinds of people that suffer from these illness's are the ones with bad home situations, kids who wear all black, or lack of parental guidance; when in reality I have three, two parented, loving home, beautiful friends who struggle every day with such mocking thoughts, because this sickness does not discriminate. The difference between you and them? Nothing. They are involved in school activities, jobs, have social lives, boyfriends, all while maintaining above average GPA's; but they just need a little extra help to get them through the day. The people that suffer from this aren't lost causes, don't need to go to a 'loony bin', and most definitely are not damaged. The only thing that separates you from them is you, and you are the ones that we need most to help carry us through our darkest hours.
 Someone I know once had the audacity to say, "mental illness does not exist," and that "its just in your head," I had nothing to respond but silence to this profoundly illiterate statement. I found that Sabrina Benaim, a slam poet wrote, "Explaining My Depression to My Mother", a piece that described not only how she struggles with depression, but many other mental illness's describing them to a T, and how her mother reacts is somewhat similar to all people who doubt the capabilities of this illness. 
“…my depression is a shape shifter.
 One day it is as small as a firefly in the palm of a bear,
 The next, it’s the bear…
…Anxiety holds me a hostage inside of my house, inside of my head….
…each night insomnia sweeps me up in his arms dips me in
 the kitchen in the small glow of the stove-light.
 Insomnia has this romantic way of making the moon feel like perfect company,"
all quotes from Benaim, perfectly capturing the daunting realities of mental illness. A friend showed me this to hopefully help me understand in better words how I felt, because that’s the thing with mental illness, is you can't describe it, it consumes each victim differently, coming and going whenever it pleases. 
Sabrina Benaim said, "...my depression is a shapeshifter..", implying that although this illness is physically there everyday, it doesn’t mentally affect her the same way or at the same time day after day; this is true for most people. For me these feelings come and go, having bad days and then worse ones to the point where my thoughts suffocate me, and greeting my bed
feels like meeting an old friend. On the good days I forget I suffer from such things, and am not myself per say, but I get a little closer to normalcy on those days. Friends tell me that they would look at a clock and not be able to escape the thought of a greater code that needs cracked, or the one who can't get through the day without creating waterfalls of tears simply because she feels alone. Alone is a common feeling, a constant feeling even, but this is not just walking through the hallways alone. This kind of alone is the one that is only found at night whilst insomnia greets you, and you can't see through the darkness to your hand in front of you; alone. All these feelings come and go day in and day out, but I know if we all had a better understanding on what we're up against, we might not feel so alone. 
Although somedays consumed by the fuzz of a T.V. with no cable, or the eerie comfort of a dark room, mental illness does not define me or any other victim. With more kids than ever coming out of this darkness and seeking help, because the road that seemed to never end, seems to be getting shorter. Even though the 'Kindness Assembly' hasn’t really changed the ways of the kids or even teachers for that matter, it gives me an inkling of hope that maybe these issues aren't going to be looked over for much longer, and there is a brighter future for those struggling. If we can understand what people are dealing with, so we can be better equipped to help, this epidemic can be conquered, and never again will we need to mourn for the loss of one so young.