Why a blog about mental illness? Because it's so prevalent - according to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 18% of the US adult population experiences anxiety for a year, and nearly 7% had a depressive episode in the past year, with that number shifting to 9% in adolescents. Source There's a lot of statistics out there, depending on exactly what's measured, but the point is, mental illness is out there, and in many cases, those affected aren't locked away in asylums somewhere. They're ordinary people that you interact with every day, and they're anything but invisible.
My ultimate goal in creating this blog is to prove that mental illness often lurks beneath the surface of those you'd never suspect - and they deserve respect, not dismissal or marginalization, for dealing with challenges many will never have the misfortune to understand.
The hope: Use the stories of ordinary people to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness.
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