Let’s talk about dealing with mental disorders

Grade 9 students in the Collective Voice program at Aden Bowman Collegiate share their lives and opinions through columns. Selected columns run each Monday in The StarPhoenix.

Think about anyone in your life — your sister, brother, best friend, classmate. Every one of them will be touched in some way by a mental disorder at some point in time. As a teen, I am part of the age group that has the highest chance of mental disorders, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Since mental illness is so relevant to today’s youth and society in general, obviously stigma plays a large part. I often hear people using mental disorders as adjectives — a careless and insensitive problem. “She looks so anorexic.” “My mom randomly started yelling at me — she’s so bipolar.”

“You nearly gave me a panic attack!” “Stop being so OCD.” “He’s being psycho.” “My Wi-Fi is down, I’m so depressed.”

Saying any of these phrases, or anything similar, is the same as comparing something to a life-threatening disease like cancer — which I expect would cause people to react with disgust. Using an illness to describe something is simply wrong. In most cases, people are not doing this to intentionally hurt people with mental illness; they have just been misinformed and lack education.

Misuse of these words can do more than hurt someone’s feelings. It can create myths. Saying all underweight people have or have had an eating disorder is one example. It can also belittle someone’s disorder (which could possibly cause people to not take it seriously) and it can keep people who have not been diagnosed from seeking help.

In school we are taught what I like to call the science of mental disorders, including a limited description of the symptoms. What the curriculum leaves out is the part when we talk about the people — when we recognize they are not their disorders. Let’s talk about their lives, how similar they are to ours, where we can find services, or ways to be supportive.

Education is the key to erasing stigma, but we will get nowhere if we don’t start a discussion, erase myths, and remind the person who calls someone “psycho” that “No, he has anxiety; why don’t we go talk to him.”

Not only do students require education, we should remember adults need it too, especially parents. If parents have the knowledge to watch out for signs that their child is developing a mental illness, they can get them help before it escalates.

While walking down the hall at school, I see a lot of posters for the gay-straight alliance club, or against using homophobic slurs, which is great. However, I have never seen posters for group counselling, or posters with slogans about using offensive mental disorder language. We need to shine more light on this subject.

Glamorization of these disorders has become an issue in recent years. Celebrities talk about “trying to be anorexic” or “wishing they were quirky like someone with OCD.” Anyone with a mental disorder will assure you there is nothing glamorous or quirky about the situations they face.

Just as disorders are not adjectives, they are also not something you should want to watch a “how-to” on. I cannot stress enough that these are real, serious illnesses that you can’t just self-diagnose.

Canada’s youth suicide rate is the third highest in the industrialized world, yet only one in five children who need mental health services receive them, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Mental illness in youths’ lives is only increasing. If everyone gets educated and accepts each other, the change that needs to happen, will. Remember that taking time to understand these illnesses benefits not only you but the ones you love.