It gets easier

Posted by Chisom Rita Ibe on

Mental Illness is widely stigmatized within society. Even when we leave in an era where we have more understanding and aid for mental health, that hasn’t stopped people with mental illness from being misunderstood.  As someone with an mental illness, this issue has felt very personal to me. I always hear commercials about bringing awareness to mental health, but it always felt empty to me. Although, before I was diagnosed  I had a very little understanding of mental illness, and what I knew about it, I got from movies and television. This changed when I heard about the book “Turtles all the way down” by John Green.  I think the way this book depicts a character with mental illness was really moving to me. Especially as I can go back and relate to the character suffering from mental illness. For instance, I liked how the book showed there wasn’t a simple fix and its a lot of work to try to get better. I t wasn’t even afraid to show the really ugly parts of mental illness that a lot of shows shy away from. I especially love how the main character, Aza Holmes, was given obsessive compulsive disorder. As I feel a lot of media prefer to portray characters with depression and anxiety, which makes me feel as other illnesses are being ignored and further stigmatized. I also loves how much of a toll her health problems can take on her friends and family. They weren’t depicted as bad people for not being able to properly handle someone with mental illness. Which is how I empathize with my friends and family when my illnesses took a toll on all of my relationships. This book helped me realize that no one is too blame in this scenario and that it does get easier. It also made me try to look out for other forms of media that properly portray mental illness instead of glorifying and stigmatizing it. I was so impacted that some of my future research papers involved mental health. Showing how little help and attention mental health is given. I think it even helped me with my goal to become a psychiatrist.

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.

Chisom Rita Ibe

https://write2021.commons.gc.cuny.edu/author/cibe000/

Comments ( 3 )

  1. Emely Rodriguez
    Hi Chisom! First, I want to thank you for speaking so candidly about mental illnesses because you are right: it's a topic that's very stigmatized in our society. I like how you mentioned that there's a lack of representation in the media when it comes to different mental illnesses and how they are portrayed to the world. Many people would benefit from seeing the diversity of mental illnesses and the different struggles that come with it. I admire how you mentioned that you empathize with your loved ones who were not able to properly handle your mental illnesses. It's important that we start breaking these barriers of stigma so that we can also better equip society with the tools to support people who have mental illnesses. I will definitely be adding "Turtles all the way down" to my reading list!
  2. Tahsina Khan
    Hi Chisom, I think you're completely right! In most books and shows, the only mental illness that's spoken about is anxiety or depression. And although those are also very important topics to raise awareness on, all other mental illnesses are ignored even though they have much worse stigmas working against them. People have so many misconceptions about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, DID, OCD, sociopathy, and other mental illnesses. I always find it interesting to learn about people with those disorders because it truly erases so many misconceptions I had in the past. I really want to read "Turtles All The Way Down" by John Green as well, and I'm glad you mentioned it.
  3. Cypris Rodriguez
    Chisom, I love how you spun your argument into a goal; this idea of wanting to help other people that struggle with mental illness as someone with mental illness I believe is very empowering. And yes: this idea that we live in a world where people are becoming more understanding towards mental illness, but aren't at the same time, is a harsh reality. I hope you become the greatest psychiatrist that ever was.

View Comments (3) ...
Skip to toolbar