Throughout the years,Mental illness’ have been pushed aside as simply a choice,when it is actually the complete opposite. Mental illness’ are a serious threat to our youth and must be recognized by adults and parents alike in order to treat it right. Physically ill people are no different than the mentally ill.

As a victim of  PTSD(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder),I soon realized the damage mental illnesses have caused to me and people who go through the same issue. In today’s society,mental illnesses have been recognized as a serious issue by many individuals and have done their best to try to fix this. Others have tossed this aside as a “phase” in the teenage demographic and expect it to go away. This opinion does not necessarily make them bad people,but they are ignorant on the topic of mental illness and the negative effects it has on mentally ill patients.

Again,in this day and age we have acknowledged the mentally ill in our society. But simply understanding what victims of mental illness go through is not enough to help them go through the pain they go through. We can’t just sit here and expect an idea or cure to come out of thin air. The only way to help them is to actually start doing something. Anything to benefit the victims of mental illness.

If we want to help the mentally ill,we must end the ignorance on mental illness. If you want to be beneficial towards the mentally ill,we must know the signs of someone diagnosed with a mental illness. Some really simple signs are apathy,sleep or appetite changes,increased sensitivity,and withdrawal. When someone you know has been secluding themselves from friends and family,it is most likely that your friend has a mental disorder. But what kind you ask? It can be small ones like major depression,anxiety disorder and bipolar disorder. These are pretty common mental illnesses,but we must understand the damage it can cause to the human brain.

The damage mental illnesses have caused are seen as everyday unfortunate events(loss of friends,extraction from society,etc.),but is it really just bad luck? Or could it be that those with mental illnesses don't just damage themselves,but also the people around them? This applies to us all. What these people have and go through can also hurt the average person. Simply saying ¨it's not my problem¨ is a lie. If someone close you know has major depression,do you really think you won't want to help him?

It's time to stop leaving scars engraved in the minds of those who suffer and help. But how? How about our schools start having mandatory classes where we educate our youth about the mentally ill and how to help these individuals. The real question is,why does the damage outside mean more than the damage on the inside?