Mental illness is a term known to one and all but deciphered differently by various sections of the society. A larger stratum of this population tends to generalize the concept of mental illness into someone being mad. Mental illness is not just madness, but madness is just a part of it. However, the generalization of mental illness into madness has suppressed many individuals from getting proper treatment at the right time.
In today’s time, some of the mental diseases have become trendy in the form of insomnia and depression. These diseases have lost their touch and have turned into cool tags that everyone craves to possess. If someone stays up to 1 o’ clock at night, just because he/she slept during the afternoon, puts the status of being insomniac.
This trend has resulted in actual victims being labeled with various tags on their personality and the illness being subdued. If a person is suffering from a personality disorder, he/she is labeled as moody. If someone is suffering from depression and is reluctant to open up with others, instead of befriending that person and helping him/her cope up with it, we easily use the pretext of that person having a lot of negative attitude and ego problem.
So, next time if you see someone acting “weird” or strange, just try to make that person comfortable and allow them to know they are not alone. Friendship can go a long way in saving the lives as we often tend to open up the most in front of our friends. Consult a psychiatrist and make sure your friend gets the right treatment before it’s too late. After all, friends watch out for each other, right?
