MENTAL ILLNESSES
Mental illnesses are real. I see them everywhere. Walking down the school halls, I see empty eyes and fake smiles. I see long sleeves and tons of bracelets.
Depression might be the girl who hides her wrists, sits in the back of class, who’s always late, and is sleep deprived.
Depression might also be the girl who sits up front, has no cuts, smart, and pretty.
Depression doesn’t mean physical destruction. They don’t have to hurt themselves to be depressed.
Depression might mean laying in bed for hours because you can’t get up. It might mean over-eating or not eating enough. It might mean sleeping for 12 hours, or sleeping for 2. Just because they don’t look sad, doesn’t mean they’re not.
Anxiety might be the girl who stutters when she talks. She hides, doesn’t talk much, and is failing her classes because she refuses to present. She cries in the bathrooms and everyone knows.
Anxiety might also be the girl who can speak in front of the class just fine. She might have the strongest voice in the room.
Anxiety isn’t all about not being able to talk or say things for yourself, or trying to avoid social activities.
Anxiety might mean staying up late for no reason for fear of the future. It might mean crying for hours and hours non stop because you can’t stop thinking about worse case scenarios. It might mean absent-mindedly chewing your nails down until they hurt and bleed.
Anorexia might be the skinny girl everyone knows. The one who is talked about because people notice she doesn’t eat. She starves and fasts and purges until you can see every bone in her body.
Anorexia might also be the slightly chubby girl. The one who says she’s not hungry, or doesn’t like eating in public. You might not see her ribcage or hipbones but every night she listens to her stomach growl for food and she denys it, drowning it’s sound with gallons of water.
Bulimia might be the girl who’s barely there. They talk about her too, because they’ve seen and heard her force herself to throw up over and over to get it all out. She shivers because what used to be her is gone.
Bulimia might also be the girl who’s always “happy,” and “loves” food. Who will shove her hand down her throat when no one’s in the restrooms and upturns her stomach into the toilet bowl.
OCD might be the girl who cleans everything and is a perfectionist. The one who makes sure everything is perfect. Her notes are written over and over until she’s satisfied. Even the gashes on her thighs and wrists. Perfectly her way.
OCD might also be the girl who has to have an odd number of pencils with her. She might need to slam the door exactly 24 times because it’s “not right.” She might be the one who pushes her friends in the hall and is called “dangerous” when in her mind, it just wasn’t perfect.
Mental illnesses are NOT beautiful or romantic. They’re terrible and controlling. They hurt people and everyone around them. Don’t let them control you.
Do you, your loved one or anyone else you know have a mental illness? Show them this post and show them that they are not the only ones who go though it. Do not forget to share and leave comments below.
