The way society stigmatizes people with mental health conditions is unacceptable, it defies if not all human rights we have. Many media portray people with mental illness as the bad guy who is selfish and treats people poorly when in reality the media creators are the one treating mentally ill people poorly, assuming that they choose to be like this, but in fact, they are like this is because they have a mental condition which they did not ask for. Nobody would choose to be like this.

Nobody would choose to be aggressive to the ones they love.

Nobody would choose to see and hear things that are not there.

Nobody would choose to interrupt when you’re speaking because of a lack of impulse control.

Nobody would choose to either throw up after eating or not eat at all.

Nobody would choose to get bullied by their peers because of uncontrollable speech and movements.

Nobody would choose to stay up all night just to deal with a crippling anxiety that is destroying their self-confidence.

Nobody would choose to cut themselves in the wrist for wanting to feel pain somewhere else that is not in their mind. Only to get criticized by society and accused of “going too far to get attention”.

-Nobody in their right mind would choose to be like this. But why are we like this? Are we crazy, just like what society said we are?

- We didn’t choose to be like this, but ironically, we are like this. We’re not crazy, but we have mental conditions. We’re not crazy because we are not our mental conditions.

Mental health illnesses are one of the most common diseases that can occur in mankind. The causes of these diseases vary from multiple factors. It could have been caused by the chemical imbalance in the brain or by past traumatizing events. There are several symptoms associated with these illnesses such as depression, aggression, lack of energy, being less social, uncontrollable motor functions, hallucinations, and so on. Mental health conditions impact our body and mind mostly negatively and can affect our everyday lives. But just like any other disease, there are treatments and all conditions can be relieved.

Having mental health conditions is not a crime. It’s also not your fault. We are able to control these conditions through therapies, and prescribed medications in order to live with fewer challenges. Society should know that mental illness is not what we choose, it is what we have, we can control it and most importantly, it doesn’t give them the right to treat us unfairly.